Since the rise of 3D design, artists and designers have been drawn to the strange, uncanny potential of digital materiality. Toronto-based designer Kerry Xu of Automara takes that impulse further with the Husk Collection, a sculptural line shaped by contamination, adaptation, and the tension between the human body and the digital processes that reimagine it. The pieces feel less like accessories and more like artifacts pulled from a world where evolution is still underway.
Husk positions itself inside this space of becoming. Xu approaches the collection as a study in how form absorbs influence. Curves, cavities, and exoskeletal lines carry traces of contact, shaped by the systems we inhabit as much as by any deliberate hand. The work resists clean conclusions. Instead, it sits in the uncertainty of bodies and objects shifting in response to their environments.
Shot by photographer and director Christine Do, the campaign places models Milana Noel and Fiona Sun inside a controlled, almost clinical atmosphere. Light slices across each sculptural surface, emphasizing texture and density while keeping enough emptiness in the frame for the pieces to feel alive. Anatomy and object fold into each other, creating silhouettes that behave like living structures rather than static shapes.
The design language draws directly from bone and shell. The Migi variants are built from the geometry of the pelvic bone, functioning as a kind of wearable anatomy. The Scorpion bag sharpens that logic into something more defensive, its form echoing an exoskeleton. Together, they build a narrative about protection, vulnerability, and the architectures we create around the body.
Stylist Angie Jayasinghe reinforces this through looks that treat garments and sculptural pieces as a single system. Nothing feels added on. Everything feels integrated. Makeup artists Sydney Brown and Ash Pizzini keep the models grounded in a palette that mirrors the material qualities of the pieces. The effect is subtle, but it reinforces the liminal space the work occupies. Each piece is made in limited quantities with a focus on material intention and minimal waste. Rather than producing a speculative idea of futurism, Xu creates objects that feel rooted in the practical realities of contemporary production.
Husk shows a designer working with intention and building a language piece by piece. AUTOMARA may still be emerging, but the collection signals a practice that understands form, material, and process with clarity. It’s a thoughtful step forward, and one that feels genuinely promising.
Cody Rooney is the Editor in Chief and senior contributor at liminul.
He is a PhD candidate, digital content specialist, writer, editor, multi-media artist, and photographer.