At the Queens Museum, a Massive New Mural Inspired by Sign Language

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A Mural for the Moment

“It seems like everyday life is getting more and more brutal,” says the Berlin-based American artist Christine Sun Kim. Indeed, she conceived of her new 100-foot mural, “Time Owes Me Rest Again” (2022), while mulling the Covid-19 crisis, rampant inequality, environmental collapse and the crushing effects of capitalism.The installation, which just openedat the Queens Museum in New York, consists of black-and-white graphic renderings of the American Sign Language hand motions for the five words in the piece’s title — all of which require the signer’s hands to come into contact with another part of the body — alongside those same words printed in English. Kim, who is Deaf, is interested in exploring multisensory ways of depicting sound and in helping Deaf existence penetrate hearing culture. Though she didn’t originally intend for the markings to resemble shooting stars, clouds and rainbows, she’s pleased that they do and describes the work as “a score disguised as a series of shapes.” As for the title phrase itself, Kim, who is a mother of one, was struck by how her American friends work long hours, sometimes at more than one job, and never feel relaxed in their roles as parents. “Time is made to be a luxury,” she says. “But, ideally, it shouldn’t be.” queensmuseum.org

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A Flower-Holding Brooch

For Berliners, there are few things more coveted than a bouquet from Marsano, an artisanal florist located on the border of the city’s Kreuzberg and Mitte districts and known for its commitment to sourcing its blooms as regionally and sustainably as possible. Last year, the team there paired with the German jewelry designer Sabrina Dehoff and König Souvenir — a shop born out of a collaboration between Berlin’s König Galerie and its network of artists and makers — to create a petite vessel that facilitates wearing one’s love for blooms on one’s sleeve or, as is perhaps more likely, one’s lapel: This silver-plated brooch resembles paper wrapped around the stems of an arrangement, its folds achieved through a process of casting and hand polishing. The idea is that wearers will fill the conical piece with whatever flora is on hand or aligns with a particular outfit or occasion. They can start, however, with the seasonal Marsano-made posies that come with each purchase and transform the brooch from mere statement piece to mobile aromatherapy unit. $156, koenig.art

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Scents Steeped in Family History

Todd Nickey and Amy Kehoe, the team behind the Los Angeles design studio and home décor boutique Nickey Kehoe, found a muse for their line of candles and perfume oils in the grandfather Nickey never got to meet. “He was a gentleman who believed in style, not as a superficial gesture but as a guiding force,” says Nickey. A wealthy bon vivant in 1930s Germany, Bernard Niktschemny (later shortened to Nickey) survived a concentration camp before starting over in the United States. The five fragrances that make up the line, named in his honor, were also inspired by Nickey’s own wanderlust and the places he believes his relative would have traveled to if he’d had the chance: Meli evokes the sun-kissed souks of Morocco with jasmine, leather and honey, while Eira’s top notes of pinewood, clove and coffee conjure a cozy Scandinavian cabin in the winter. The candles and oils arrive swaddled in a printed cotton cloth that resembles the handkerchiefs Bernard once carried. Also available is the first book of Nickey Kehoe interiors, “Golden Light” (2020), which highlights the duo’s warm, witty designs, including Nickey’s own Spanish-style abode in Pasadena, Calif., and a colorful ranch house bordering the Pacific in Malibu. Candles and perfume oils, from $98-$108; “Golden Light,” $55, nickeykehoe.com

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A Geometric Light Fixture With a Soft Glow

Founded in 2009, the design firm Workstead quickly became known for the tailored millwork and cool, lived-in feel it brought to such projects as Brooklyn’s Wythe Hotel and the renovation of a mid-19th-century American cottage in Gallatin, N.Y. In all its projects, the lights, whether delicate chandeliers or ample globe pendants, are a particular point of focus, and so it made perfect sense that the firm’s three founders — Robert Highsmith, Stefanie Brechbuehler and Ryan Mahoney — soon started crafting their own. The latest addition to the line is the soon-to-launch Tube collection, which consists of a pendant and a vanity sconce both anchored by a single handblown glass cylinder paired with a brass, bronze or nickel sphere affixed to either end. It’s modern-looking while also harking back to midcentury styles, examples of which Highsmith often comes across while antiquing in and around Workstead’s office in Hudson. “I’ll find a spark while cruising the shops and take it back to the drawing board in order to provoke some aspect of that in modern-day form,” he says. In this case, the glass conceals a custom LED panel and is coated with a matte finish, which gives the 270-degree range of light a soft, warm quality. workstead.com

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A Crisp Button-Down by Comme Si

Though the stylist Danielle Goldberg is known for dressing celebrities such as Laura Harrier and Katherine Waterston in glittering gowns, with her own outfits, she often sticks to vintage men’s button-downs that she has taken in to fit her frame. Now, thanks to a collaboration with Comme Si — which was founded by Jenni Lee in 2019 and sells simple but impeccable socks and boxers rendered in Egyptian cotton and Mongolian cashmere — Goldberg has designed her own version of the sartorial essential, no alterations necessary. “It has that great fit of an old shirt but feels like it was actually tailored to you,” says Lee, who together with Goldberg spent 14 months refining a slightly oversize shape available in three shades — white, black and chocolate brown — of crisp Italian cotton made to soften with every wash. Free of pockets and venting, which the pair consider superfluous, the shirt does have a wide cuff, tonal buttons and a structured — but not stiff — collar. And, when tucked in, itcan sit securely open at the top — revealing an undershirt, bra or bare décolletage — thanks to a discreet, ingenious snap. “I wanted to give people the freedom to style it however they want,” says Goldberg. “That’s ultimately what makes a button-down so great.” $295, commesi.com

From T’s Instagram

A Cake That Tastes Like Milk and Cookies