Culebra by Gabriel Escámez

With the Mediterranean being home to some of the most influential ancient civilizations, where mythology lies at the core, snakes are a familiar presence in every sense. It’s only fitting, then, that Gabriel Escámez’s new fine design collection, conceived as a dreamlike interpretation of the region, bears the name Culebra — the Spanish word for non-venomous snakes, a species commonly found across the Mediterranean.

Born in Barcelona, the director of COBALTO STUDIO takes huge inspiration from popular culture: “I place emphasis on rituals and legends,” he explains, “It’s part of our culture, as it is of many others.” His inspiration, however, also lies in seemingly simple scenes that constitute Mediterranean tokens: “There’s something in the crackling of the forest, in the dry leaves of an olive tree, that can evoke something in me—something that perhaps can be more deeply rooted in the Mediterranean, and that inspires me immensely.”

Gabriel’s work, which spans painting, sculpture, craftsmanship, and interior design, is a constant homage to his heritage and its emblems. With Culebra, he channels this inspiration into an abstract and almost magical realm. Here, nature and architecture converge, and the snake emerges as a metaphor, as well as a lightning bolt setting fire to a forest, where the organic and the monumental coexist. The contrast between the old and the new, and the interplay between functionality and boldness, find their expression through the fluidity of sinuous lines and the geometry of traditional constructions.

When designing a new piece, Gabriel draws from two main dimensions: “the more dreamlike side, which comes from storytelling, something more childlike, that we could call magical realism,” he elaborates, “and, on the other hand, the architectural and design-driven side.” These two concepts are shaped by his personal background and the world of design and guided by more forceful, brutalist, and rationalist forms. But how can all of this come together in a piece?

“From the ‘culebra,’ which climbs through the forests, alone and serene, beneath the sun and the moon every day, until suddenly it sees a lightning strike, setting the forest on fire… emerges the Ebonized armchair,” he remarks. In this sense, “the mirrored metal planes, that in some way break with known reality—together with the ebonized finish or the reinterpreted skin of the ‘culebra,’ they fragment us and shift our understanding into the dreamlike realm.”

Gabriel’s creative process is determined but eternally fluid. When creating, his focus is on his vision and the imagery behind it, and it then naturally falls into a discipline. “It’s easier for me to focus on the idea per se and then let others define what territory it falls into,” he expresses, “it all begins with something that comes from an inspiration—one that’s stored through a daily obsession with observing, analyzing, understanding, and gradually building.”

By taking the vernacular into another territory, reframing it from a more evocative lens, the luminaires and designs in Culebra stand as a poetic metaphor for the Mediterranean’s fluid and layered identity. “If Culebra wasn’t a collection of fine design, it would be the sound of a snake slithering or even the moment it might inject venom—although snakes in the Mediterranean don’t have toxic venom,” he implies. 

Essentially, Culebra is a representation of Gabriel’s evolution as a designer and as an artist. Fluidly moving between disciplines but maintaining his essence across everything he creates, the snake appears almost as an alter ego. “A ‘culebra’ is a snake that can’t inject venom, but it’s a way of moving through things—they’re quite discreet and resilient, and there must be some kind of evolution in mine,” he suggests.