MAF X NGV Design Commission
The inaugural MAF X NGV Design Commission has been awarded to Naarm/Melbourne-based artist and designer, Anna Varendorff.
The commissioned work will be unveiled at Melbourne Art Fair 2026 before settling into its permanent home within the NGV collection.
U lights and vases, 2025
For the Commission, Varendorff will present her most ambitious composition to date of her iconic U lights and vases, expanding her hallmark of tubular forms into a striking installation of ceiling lights, suspended vases and monumental floor vessels. The suspended elements are fabricated from aluminium U-shapes, mirrored in pairs — one upright, one inverted — to create rhythmic compositions that can both hold floral and cast light. Spanning ceiling and ground, the installation is anchored by monumental floor vessels that echo the suspended forms above, grounding the work with scale and gravity.
Anna Varendorff
Anna Varendorff is an artist and designer whose practice spans jewellery, sculpture, product and lighting design. Since 2013, she has worked under the moniker ACV Studio, producing design works that are at once minimal and expressive, achieving cult recognition in Melbourne and beyond. Trained as a metalsmith, Varendorff fabricates with precision in metal, yet her works retain a poetic lightness. Defined by pared-back tubular forms, graceful arcs and slender brass or steel lines, they culminate in refined objects that merge craft discipline with industrial clarity.
