Jorgelina Lopez and Marco Duenas are partners in life and business at La Loupe, their Baltimore-based design studio.
Lopez, who is from Argentina, is a textile designer by trade who folds and shapes laminated linen into sublime lampshades. Duenas, Peruvian by birth and a longtime Baltimore resident, is a woodworker who makes lamp bases and wall art. The pair integrate these disparate craft skills into modernist-inspired lighting that celebrates the handmade and brings beauty to the home. “I believe that the moment we connect our minds and hands with materials, craft techniques, and traditions to create something is when we connect with the world and its rich culture in a meaningful way,” says Lopez. The couple were featured in our coverage of Baltimore’s richly collaborative craft scene in the Winter 2025 issue of American Craft. Lopez and Duenas will also be at American Craft Made Baltimore at the Baltimore Convention Center this February 21–23, where visitors can see their elegant lamps in person.
How do you describe your work or practice in 100 words or less?
Our work integrates our skills in fiber and wood crafts to create luminaries, objects, and abstract sculptural art pieces that emphasize the principles of simplicity, geometric forms, and clean lines. In our creative process, the exploration of the interplay of form, space, and color through different expressions in craft techniques and materials serves as the foundation of our body of work. We both have an interdisciplinary approach in our practice, and that allows us to blend various techniques and media creatively.
Jorgelina, what is it about lighting design and paper folding that captures your imagination and/or interest?
In 2013, I began delving into the world of fiber as a way to create three-dimensional objects. I started experimenting with sculptural pieces, but I wanted to emphasize the usefulness of the objects created, so I started incorporating lighting into these pieces. Since then, I have found lighting to be very inspirational to work with. Paper folding has become a great technique that has allowed me to explore a variety of three-dimensional forms, as well as the relationship between structure and lighting. I have also had an interest in geometry—it always captivates me.
Marco, you make wall art from offcut wood from La Loupe lighting. What inspires that work?
I guess after working on the lighting pieces, my mind continues on that language of geometry, simplicity, and minimalism. I just see so much that I can keep creating with those offcuts. The process itself, the interaction between three-dimensional forms in space, calls for keeping the wood existing in another way that isn’t necessarily functional. Maximizing the use of beautiful natural materials is one way to control my consumption of natural resources.
Jorgelina Lopez and Marco Duenas working in their Baltimore showroom.
