Isabel Moncada
Isabel Moncada is a Mexican designer and artist known for her sculptural lighting and collectible objects. Based in Guadalajara, she has spent more than three decades exploring traditional craft techniques, developing her own methods and mechanisms to transform materials into expressive works that balance functionality with artistic experimentation.
Drawing inspiration from organic forms, asymmetry, and the richness of handmade processes, Moncada works across materials including metal, blown glass, porcelain, and cast elements. Her practice merges design, engineering, and craftsmanship, resulting in lighting pieces distinguished by their sculptural presence, material complexity, and poetic sense of form.
Interview
I was born in Guadalajara, Mexico and I live in Zapopan, Jalisco (Mexico).
Ever since I can remember, I’ve been devoted to inventing and creating things with my hands. I have a natural ability to generate ideas and bring them to life. During my adolescence, I was part of a theater group, exploring various means of expression. After completing my education, in the ’90s, I began to engage in more formal artistic pursuits, exhibiting my work in art galleries.
In response to my philosophical inquiries, I earned a degree in psychology. Although not an artistic career, I believe it provided a valuable approach to my art education. I began questioning, analyzing, and discerning in essays and discourse about existence. After my studies, I started teaching artistic expression and psychomotor skills and working in studios of established sculptors, eventually exploring utilitarian design, particularly in lighting.
Inspired by female artists, I initially created sculptural objects with non-traditional techniques, incorporating electrical installations for light. Some became functional for illumination. Over time, I ventured into utilitarian design, particularly in lighting, filling a gap in the market. My goal was to innovate by designing lighting that wasn’t available, eventually working on projects for international hospitality chains.
My creative process has evolved, from initial ambiguity to disciplined and rigorous ideation. Ideas come spontaneously, and my imagination doesn’t adhere to a schedule. I draw to solidify concepts. Designing functional lighting requires tenacity and keen observation. Constraints enhance creativity, blurring the line between utility and art in my pieces.
I’d fill all 24 hours if possible. Despite insomnia, I wake up early. I manage a company with my husband, overseeing design processes, manufacturing techniques, and human resources. I enjoy being at home, cooking, and finding inspiration in various activities.
I’ve revived the almost-lost craft of metalworking in my workshop. Brass pieces are cut, formed, and welded using traditional techniques like forging and hammering. Some designs retain the hammer marks intentionally. The lost-wax casting process is laborious but integral for certain pieces. Blown glass, a centuries-old tradition, is done without molds for unique shapes. Wooden pieces, like those in the DE PALO collection, use the ancient Japanese Shou sugi ban technique.
Beyond spiritual self-awareness, hands-on experience is crucial. Learn welding, handle tools, understand physics, and experiment fearlessly. Develop a relationship with materials, exploring their possibilities. Sculpture, as Rodin said, is within the piece—find it.
Influenced by various movements, I align with a transmodernist, biocentric, and sociocentric vision in the 21st century, respecting nature, sustainability, and promoting equity.
Growing up in Guadalajara, I was influenced by the Midcentury Modern Style and Mexican architects like Luis Barragán. Clara Porset’s fusion of modern design with Mexican craftsmanship also inspired me. Classic designers like Achille and Pier Castiglioni left a lasting impression.
Ingo Maurer, Noguchi, Carla Fernández, Hector Esrawe, Jorge Pardo, Hella Jongerius, Mathieu Lehanneur, Mark Newson.
In the ’90s, Niki de Saint Phalle and her disruptive paintings influenced me. Later, Louise Bourgeois became a guru with her powerful, feminine energy and elegant depictions of organic forms.
Strength lies in subtlety.
Admired poets, writers, and musicians: Juan Rulfo, Akira Murakami, Walt Whitman, Erik Satie, and David Bowie.
“Without humility, there’s no learning.”
The Questions
(The Proust Questionnaire is a set of questions answered by the French writer Marcel Proust.
Other historical figures who have answered confession albums are Oscar Wilde,
Karl Marx, Arthur Conan Doyle, Stéphane Mallarmé, Paul Cézanne…)
Create, dance, and eat well.
Slowly dying.
Impulsivity.
Prejudice, arbitrariness.
–
My pieces.
Obsession.
Intelligence.
Embracing femininity.
Courage.
“Without humility, there’s no learning.”
Language proficiency.
Spent more time cultivating good friendships.
Workshop with all for creation.
Wixárica Maracame.
Some place in the Pacific Coast of Mexico.
Workspace.
Abuse of power.
Building things, rifle or dart shooting.
Histrionic.
Sense of humor.
Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz, Juan Rulfo, Patricia Smith, Virginia Woolf, Franz Kafka, Edgar Allan Poe, Roberto Bolaño, Haruki Murakami.
Robin Hood.
Adela Velarde Pérez “Adelita.”
Noam Chomsky, Jacques Derrida, Jean Baudrillard.
Juana, Adela, Petra, Pedro.
Intolerance, racism, prejudice.
Not learning English as a child.
Peacefully and painlessly.
Humility is freedom.
“Constraints enhance creativity, blurring the line between utility and art in my pieces.”
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