‘There are hidden things out there, we just need to look’: Studiomama's stone animals have quirky charm

Among the pebbles and shells scattered along the Kent, UK coastline, a particular stone caught the eye of designer Nina Tolstrup while she was out walking with friends last summer. Its shape was strangely familiar, like a miniature vase from the Ming dynasty. 'We all stopped for a moment to take in its beauty,' recalls Jack Mama, who runs London-based design studio Studiomama with Tolstrup. 'This drew me to look more closely at the stones we were walking on. It wasn’t long before I spotted another stone and picked it up; it looked remarkably like a seal. I knew instantly that there were more stone animals to be found.'

Studiomama’s stone animals

The pair spent the rest of the summer scouring the beach looking for more and by September had gathered around 150. 'Finding them was relatively easy,' states Mama. 'Once you're tuned in, you can see so many things, a nose, an eye, a particular stance, character and personality.'

This tendency to see shapes or faces in everyday objects is known as pareidolia, an ancient survival technique, where the brain attempts to make sense of random lines, shapes, and colours. For Studiomama, this primal instinct has served as a springboard for several projects – a set of cast iron sculptures with abstract faces, a series of stools with winking eyes, a family of wooden creatures made from timber off-cuts, and now Stone Animals.

To document their beach finds, Studiomama worked with their close friend, photographer Dennis Pedersen, who specialises in capturing minute and intricate still lifes. 'We wanted them to appear a certain way to capture their character,' says Mama. In some cases, that meant propping them up, or focusing in on details that interested them the most – sometimes finding two animals within a single stone.

The results of this exploration are presented in a beautifully crafted hardback book, available for purchase on the studio’s website, along with a short animation that brings the Stone Animals to life. Created by Tolstrup and Mama’s son, Otto – a talented filmmaker – the animation adds playful, hand-drawn legs, sound effects, and gentle music, giving each stone character a whimsical sense of motion and personality. 'In this project, there is a great cast of characters as it were,' enthuses Mama. 'Some have the beauty reminiscent of a Henry Moore, but it's the irregular, odd and strange-looking ones that appeal most to me personally. They are harder to read and more open to interpretation, another quality I enjoy.'

While their earlier Off-cut Creatures (also documented in a dedicated book) were showcased in the recent Enzo Mari exhibition at London’s Design Museum, the Stone Animals await their moment in the spotlight. For now, they reside in a heavy sack in Studiomama’s studio as Tolstrup and Mama explore ways to showcase them.

Spontaneous, playful and full of child-like wonder, the Stone Animals project serves as a reminder to stop and pay attention to the natural world around us – to find new ways of seeing. 'We all have busy lives and never have time to “stop and smell the roses” as it were,' reflects Mama. 'There is something visceral in our relationship with nature and its beauty. We hope this little project can be a reminder that there are hidden things out there, we just need to look.'

Stone Animals the book is available from studiomama.com