Over the last two years, I’ve been slowly traveling across Mexico, searching for a place to fall in love with, a community, a sense of belonging. I see it all through the lens of my training—which spans interior design, architecture, and product design—and I see it all with an underlying desire to move away from industrialization. To go slower, to take a human-centered approach to the design and fabrication process. To trade the faster, cheaper, more mindset with an emphasis on connection and meaning. 

As I’ve worked and wandered and traveled and experimented with materials and concepts, I’ve been making small leather goods and portable furniture pieces that help me feel more settled and sure no matter where I am. I’m most grounded when I am doing something tactile and using my hands. Contra takes this ritual and expands it—creating a way for me to share my experience, my work, my ideals with others.

—Christine Rohrbacher