"The Naturalist"

Closing time at the flagship Dior boutique in Shanghai, and in comes the night shift: security guards, cleaners, stockists—and a 28-year-old graduate of the Rhode Island School of Design named David Wiseman. He is there to grow flowers. Or, more precisely, to make them.

In the past few years, Wiseman has won a strong following for his lyrical, exactingly crafted decorative and functional objects in forms drawn largely from nature: bronze twig- or branch-shape table pieces and lighting fixtures with porcelain blossoms; metal, crystal and porcelain Collage chandeliers that resemble pomegranates, magnolia flowers and birds; and ovoid hand-ground bronze vases conveying the delicacy of an ostrich egg.

“David relishes the process of making like no other designer I’ve encountered. He employs time-consuming processes that allow him to truly know each material he uses,” says Evan Snyderman, of the design gallery R 20th Century, which represents Wiseman on the East Coast. (In L.A., his work can be seen at Hallworth on La Brea.)