Unami

Unami is named after the native dialect of the Lenape tribe, and it is Calico Wallpaper’s latest guest designed collection, created with artist, educator, and curator Joe Baker.

Baker is co-founder and executive director of the Lenape Center in Manhattan and has been working in the field of Native Arts for the past 30 years. Created for Joe Baker’s exhibition at Cooper Hewitt’s Smithsonian Design Triennial set to open in Fall 2024, this collection celebrates the tulip tree, its leaves, and the tree’s connection to the Lenape tribe. The show will examine the state of home across the U.S., U.S. Territories and Tribal Nations, inviting audiences into a conversation about this country, its value systems, people and landscapes.

The tulip tree, known in Unami as Muxulhemënshi (meaning a tree from which canoes are made) was once common in Manhattan and holds an important place in Lenape culture. These towering giants can still be found at the far northern tip of the island, in Inwood Hill Park. Their distinct tulip shaped flowers are strangely tropical in appearance – waxen shaped petals of pale yellow, orange and citron green.

“Walking along the trails in early spring in the park at Inwood, you can gather these splendid saucer shaped blossoms that have fallen to the ground. As seasonal subjects they are mysterious and complex,” Baker says. He began by first observing the blossoms in nature and then researching botanical drawings and photographs. This led him to create a series of quick gestural line drawings exploring the architecture of individual blossoms. He was fascinated by their distinct quality. While they were all similar, each one was also unique, creating beautiful diversity among the trees.

“I was not interested in the exact depiction of the blossom but rather the essence, giving myself free reign to experiment with color and shape.” The result is a compilation of both flowers and leaves, layered together upon a glistening surface of hand-applied metal leaf paper.