“At Esque, our goal is to lead the movement of trend, by creating new notions and uses,” Andi Kovel says of the glass studio she and her partner, 
Justin Parker, began in New York in 1999 and now operate in Portland, or. “Our objects are meant to be used and handled, to inspire thought and ideas, emotions and memories. We want our pieces to represent the modern heirloom.”

Esque’s eccentric blown accessories, such as Kovel's Wax Collector and Ouf! (designed with Jill Daniel), lighting fixtures and architectural details are a new kind of art/craft/design hybrid, conceptual pieces for everyday living, neither constrained nor solely defined by their sophisticated form and fine workmanship. Function (or the suggestion of it) and the beauty of the glass are simply part of their allure. Their real magic comes from being handmade.

”The term ‘craft’ is important, as it makes us feel connected to the making,” Kovel says. “It feels authentic.”

Like their work, Kovel and Parker are creative amalgams. An alumna of Urban Glass in Brooklyn, she comes from a background in painting and sculpture (exhibiting with the likes of Claes Oldenburg, Kiki Smith and Damien Hirst) with forays into the worlds of fashion (designing glass lines for Ralph Lauren and Donna Karan) and culinary arts (working as a pastry chef for 10 years). He learned glassmaking from Italian masters and has had his sculptures shown at the Brooklyn Museum and other venues. In 2007 Time magazine named the duo to its Design 100 list of innovators and tastemakers, singling them out for their commitment to green practices (their electric furnaces are wind-powered and they recycle their excess glass into a line of eco-friendly products.)

The 2010 Esque catalog offers a lively variety of outré objects, from Kovel’s descriptively titled Femur lamp, to the Terminator-like Gold Front Skull by Parker. There's also the (Bar)barian Collection, a series of mixed-media collaborations with the design studio No.1 Son, of ”precious objects that distort notions of virility and decadence through unexpected choice of material and reference.”