Maria Luz

Objects never sleep

Maria Luz's portrait

Untitled, 2023

Cleanings, 2023

Ways for silence, 2023

August 2024

Interviews with forward-thinking artists/designers like Clio Dimofski and Olivier Garcé, who share a deep passion for craft, art, and architecture that defines their work.

 Next in our interview series, we speak with Maria Luz, artist based in Lisbon, Portugal. 

Maria lives and works in Lisbon, where we met her at his studio. 

We were first captivated by the humility woven into her creations. Each piece seemed to whisper of a serene, concealed strength, a quiet power veiled beneath its surface.

I saw that you studied design, How it has influenced your practice?  

Yes, I finished the first year of the Bachelor of Industrial Design at ESAR.cr, in Caldas da Rainha, and only then did I switch to a degree in Painting at FBAUL. Studying at ESAD was decisive for the direction I ended up taking. ESAD is a polytechnic school, so the teaching method is very methodical and effective. It was on the Design course that I learnt to work in workshops and not to be afraid of experimenting and making mistakes. For a year, I was surrounded by incredible designers and artists who also brought me a new visual culture. Living in Caldas also meant learning to value living artists and having them not only as friends, but as references in the professional world. I think that's one of the great lessons design has taught me: to look sideways, to those who are thinking about the world at the same time as you, and not to be stuck to the past.

Aesthetically, I've taken extra care in the way I present all my work and also in the way I ended up starting to paint: the framing, the visual cleanliness, the objects... every millimeter counts. It's a care that's so refined that it's obsessive. Slowly, I've been letting go of some of these rigid rules. Painting needs more space than that to develop. In the painting series "Flowers for my Grief" I believe I have found a balance between the two. 

I was told a while ago that I was doing "Industrial Painting", a concept that I found funny. In fact, every designer has their own chair... I've painted them and created chair-shaped earrings.

How you define your emotions into your work between figurative or abstract?

I think my work is somewhere in between... I work a lot with objects, spaces, nooks and crannies, everything I come across and I find interesting. On the other hand, my work is directly linked to what I'm thinking or experiencing at a given moment and my emotions, so it has an abstract component. I don't portray things as they are. The places I've seen are no longer recognizable when I paint them. The emotional charge with which I carry the figures makes the image created an ambiguous space, a kind of place between dream and reality.

What defines your color palette?

The blues! It's very rare not to use blue in a painting. Even if you don't see it, almost all the colours I create have cobalt blue in them. It gives the whole image a colder atmosphere.

Why do you use oil on your work?

Oil is the only material with which I can create this fading effect of something that is gone or exists only in a dream. Oil has a strength all of its own. Even in the darkest and most enigmatic paintings, the way the colours touch and the effect they create cannot be reproduced in any other material.

How is your journey when you create?

My work is directly linked to what I experience and what is familiar to me. The beauty of having living artists lies precisely in creating a unique record of a particular period in history, which is why I keep my focus on the present time. A series can arise from a very strong emotion or just from a new object I've found. Everything I see goes through a kind of x-ray of what may or may not be material for creation. I can't remember the last time I switched off from this. I'm always on the lookout, always looking for images... there are many images to be found. I find inspiration in the most unlikely places... sometimes I just open an old box, forgotten in someone's grandmother's house, and in a few seconds I know exactly what I want to do. Other times, as was the case with the Flowers series, it takes me a long time to find the ideal visual narrative. Essentially, all the series tell a story, whether it's more or less personal, and the creation times vary according to the need for them. 

Who is your favorite artists?

Teresa Murta, Gonçalo Preto and Poppy Jones are the references of the moment. 

Why are your more inspired by contemporary artists, does it comes from your design background?

Yes, partly yes. As I said before, I prefer to look sideways rather than backwards. I like my goals to be realistic and achievable. Of course I value all the art that has been produced to date and I deeply admire the painters of past generations - especially the women who made it big, like Paula Rego - but times have changed and it's not fair to aspire to or compare my career with that of an artist who came of age in 1960. To be a good professional, in any field, we have to adapt to the times. It's no coincidence that I mentioned Teresa and Gonçalo earlier. Both Portuguese, former ESAD.cr students, slightly older than me. Funnily enough, they are also the older siblings of two friends of mine (also artists). This kind of familiarity is important to me: knowing the context, their starting point and the possible timings. 

What book is on your bedside table?

The Body Keeps the Score portuguese version (O Corpo Não Esquece). It's an intense read that I wouldn't recommend to just anyone... while the author gives his vision of a particular psychological trauma, it can be a trigger for the reader due to its precision and detail. It interests me a lot. I've always been fascinated by the human brain. I admit I'm reading more slowly than I planned, but it's worth it.

What place to do you cherish in Portugal?

I'm a big fan of Costa Vicentina... the landscape, the music festivals, the perfect temperature. Where I can't hear the airplanes and look at the sea, I'm fine.

What is your perception of Portuguese contemporary art at this moment?

We all know Portugal doesn’t support the arts as it should. Still, I feel like we have more and more women artists out there, which shows a more balanced art scene from a few years ago. As a person, Portugal is small and cozy, but as an artist, Portugal is just too small. We were not educated to care about art, which means we were not educated to think, recognize, evolve and act differently. I was taught the artists were the thinkers of the society. They wake you up, make you feel uncomfortable with yourself and open space for reflection. I believe a developed country has to trust their own artists and assume everyone can be criticized by them, including the country itself. Sometimes I feel Portugal doesn’t even accept their own artists, a country that doesn’t want to listen…

What is next?

It’s time to go abroad. The current housing shortage and poor quality of life here in Lisbon has made me realize that it's time to try something new. Before I go, I’ll be working on a fashion collaborative project with Mestre Studio and designing the next collection of Eixo de Luz earrings, both projects side by side with the new series of paintings.

Flower series, 2024

Columbano’s_chair, 2023

Charlotte Taylor

Simplicity

Charlotte Taylor seating on the daybed two tones

Daybed one tone

Ashtray two tones

Interviews with open minded creative people who, like Olivier Garcé & Clio Dimofski, resonate the same passion for collectible design, architecture and narrative places that defines them.

In our third interview of this year, Olivier Garcé speaks with the artist Charlotte Taylor, founder of Studio Charlotte Taylor She lives and works in London.

What is your background?

I studied Fine Art with a focus on space and installation, my passion for architecture has been a constant theme in my work which is now manifesting itself in concrete buildings.

What is your favorite icon?

Carlo Scarpa.

How do you define your architecture practice?

Unconventional and naïve; inspired and creative beyond architectural norms or educational presets.

What book is on your bedside table?

I have a bad habit of reading multiple books simultaneously. Currently I have ‘Atlas of Emotion’ by Giuliana Bruno, ‘A Man Asleep’ by Georges Perec and ‘Four Walls and a Roof’ by Reinier de Graaf.

How do you work?

Mostly in a rather chaotic environment surrounded by sketches, lists and a very energetic playlist.

What is your routine?

I am an early riser and generally start my day with a few Sudoku’s, some time with a book or two and a lot of coffee. My work day starts around 8, I’ll take a break for sports and the evenings are often dedicated to DIY or more hands on work like drawing or leafing through my reference books.

From your last visit in Porto with G&D, how would you define Portuguese handcrafts?

A wealth of refined local materials with extremely skilled craftsmen rooted in tradition.

What story do you want to tell through your design work?

The beauty in simplicity with focus on pure materials.

What object do you value the most?

I have an extensive collection of objects, my favorites rotate and change as I move them around my home.  

What is it for you to be a multidisciplinary creative?

It is everything. I am drawn to and exciting by so many different mediums, concepts and fields, it’s impossible for me to focus all my energy in just one pursuit.

What's the next story for you?

Moving more and more towards built architectural and interior projects.

Studio Charlotte Taylor creates interiors and spaces that blend the sculptural with the practical; the futuristic with comfort. Exploring the boundaries between digital and the physical, the studio utilises ultra-realistic visual renders to reimagine real-world interiors. Pushing conventional rules and reimagining the tangible, the result is a unique signature vision, process and style.

Daybed in two tones

Pedro Batista

suavely chromatic

August 2022

Interviews with open minded creative people who, like Olivier Garcé & Clio Dimofski, resonate the same passion for collectible design, art and narrative places that defines them.

Next in our interview series, we speak to artist Pedro Batista. Drawing from a solid background in Communication Design, Pedro branched into developing his own artistic practice, reinterpreting the urban culture and atmosphere of the 90's that he found the freedom needed to express himself and pursue a career in arts to create his now recognisable and contrasted drawings. He is photographed here in his Atelier at Carcavelos.

What is your background?

As an artist I was very much influenced by the 90’s skate and surf culture in Portugal, specially where I lived in Carcavelos, near the sea.

I studied Graphic Design in Lisbon which was followed by an artistic residency at SVA in New York. Later I moved to Berlin for a while and participated in other residencies in Medellin and Tuscany.

You were living abroad, why did you decided to come back to Portugal?

Portugal is my home, where my family and friends are. It is where I can have the lifestyle I want and where I am the happiest. I have a very strong relationship with the ocean so I need to be close to the beach. It is part of my daily routine, together with going to the studio to work. I also started my own family here, so Portugal (with all its flaws and virtues) is where I feel at home.

What defines your color palette?

My color palette varies constantly according to my mood, my influences and what inspires me. I use color to find different places within my painting, but I don’t overthink it. I let the painting flow naturally. Sometime it works, sometimes it doesn’t.

How is your journey when you create?

I am always collecting photos, drawings and images that inspire me. Those are usually the starting point to that journey. During the process, I adopt an almost random approach and I let the stimuli, images and colours drive the work until I feel like I have reached an interesting result.

What is your relation to surf in your daily life?

Surf plays a very important role in my life so I try to incorporate it in my daily routine as much as possible. Surfing is unique in that it demands a constant adaptation to the sea, the waves, the conditions. It is driven by instinct and not only by technique. Surfing reminds me of being a child, carefree and happy.

What place to do you cherish in Portugal?

I have a special bond with the coastline of Cascais, from Guincho beach to Carcavelos. Carcavelos is my favourite beach because it is where I grew up and learned to surf.

What is your perception of Portugal contemporary art at this moment?

I think we are living a significant transitional moment. Portugal has changed a lot in the past 5-10 years with foreign investment that brought new art buyers and collectors to the market. Galleries and institutions are now more open to support a new generation of artists but I feel that there is still a conservative aspect of the art scene where decision-makers are very much averse to risk-taking.

On the other hand, the culture sector in Portugal is still underfunded and neglected by the government. There are little incentives to artistic production and a complete lack of strategy to support intellectual and cultural development in the country. It is of the utmost importance to invest in this sector and make evident the importance of art and culture as a means to a more enlightened and educated society.

What is next?

After 2 long years of Covid I am now working on an individual show to be held at the end of this year in Lisbon.

Pedro Batista bio

Born in 1980, Pedro Batista soon developed an interest in painting. However, it was amidst the urban culture and atmosphere of the 90's that Pedro found the freedom he needed to express himself and pursue a career in arts.

After graduating in Communication Design, Pedro enrolled in a Residency Program at the New York School of Visual Arts where he explored, developed and perfected techniques.

In 2010, Pedro decided to move to Berlin for 6 months for a creative retreat that allowed him to consolidate his passion for painting. Later, in 2015 he travels to Medellín, Colombia for an art residency at Campos de Gutierrez and in 2020, art residency in Villa Lena, Tuscany, Italy.

These and other experiences in different international contexts provided Pedro with the opportunity to rethink his working practice from a formal point of view and to contextualize it in a broader international scene.

Pedro has participated in several solo and collective exhibitions in Lisbon, Málaga, Medellín, Stockholm and New York, and he is currently based in Lisbon.

Romain Jouffre

In search of excellence

Romain Jouffre in his workshop - Long Island City, NYC

Upholstered Lola Chair by Minjae Kim

Hand carver Douglas fir, stained and lacquered with boucle upholstery. Same old Lola, just a little cushy.

January 2022

 Interviews with open minded creative people who, like Olivier Garcé, resonate the same passion for collectible design, art and narrative places that defines them.

 Next in our interview series, we speak with Romain Jouffre, owner of Ateliers Jouffre based in New York and Lyon, France. 
Romain lives and works in New York, where I met him.
 Ateliers Jouffre has just relocated and renovated their workshop in Long Island City, for which Olivier Garcé helped Romain in a friendly way to develop the exhibition space in November 2021.

What is your background?  

I was born in Lyon, France. A city with a great tradition of craftsmanship that for centuries has flourished thanks to its silk weaving industry. I thought my career would be in a large service corporation but I actually started working in India at Vintage Rides, an amazing travel agency specializing in motorcycle tours across the world. I was a travel advisor and a guide. I fell in love with the country and actually named my daughter India 5 months ago! After that, I worked for a few months for a large sporting goods retailer but quickly realized that I would not be happy in that industry. At that very moment, my dad Charles who created Jouffre in 1987 needed help in New York. I offered help and moved to New York on July 5th 2014. I’ll always remember that day which changed my life. Since then, I have been the General Manager of Jouffre and I have two American children!

How Ateliers Jouffre ended up in NY?

My dad Charles has always been obsessed with New York, just like a good amount of French people. He had the chance to visit the city in the 90’s with his first work and got a sense of how important New York was to the art and decoration world. As Jouffre was growing in Europe and becoming a reference when it comes to high end upholstery and window treatment, his next challenge naturally became to conquer the most magical and astonishing market in the word: New York. He started coming back and forth in 1999 to meet with designers and try to convince them to work with a workroom located across the ocean, 2 hours away from Paris by train, Lyon. He did great and made a name for himself year after year, being patient but yet determined.

What is your relation to handcrafts?

Since I was a child, I have been working in the French workroom. For my dad, staying home doing nothing during weekends and vacations was never an option and if we wanted to go on a trip with friends, we had to pay for it. I am very grateful and proud that he passed on to me the value of money and his passion for work. I would therefore work at the workroom, mainly in the logistic department, whenever I’d have spare time. I’d pack the sofa, renovate and paint areas of the shop, move things around, and help the artisans with some easy tasks. Without even noticing it at that time, I realize today a passion for craftsmanship was already rooted deep inside of me by the age of 20.

Since I’ve started working full-time at Jouffre, my passion for this industry has been growing exponentially. I met some of the most talented artists and artisans in the world. I see them every week on the job and I am in awe of their expertise and love for their craft, the materials they choose to work with and the patience they have to accomplish their work.

What object do you value the most and why?

To be honest, I can’t think of one as I haven’t had a chance to acquire beautiful design pieces yet but I want to in the near future and I recently purchased a beautiful rocking chair designed by Göran Malmvall on the advice of my friend Olivier Garcé. For now, all my energy is dedicated to my family and to Jouffre. My ambition is for Jouffre to become the most high-end workroom in the world. We want to be the leader in Europe and in North America so it takes a lot of time and energy.

Who is your favorite artist?

I love Peter Lane who is a ceramist located in Brooklyn, NY. I had the pleasure to meet him a few years ago and not only is he a fantastic artist but also a beautiful person. He took the time to show me his studio and explain his techniques. I’ve seen many of his installations at job sites and every time, I feel like they create a very special moment.

What is your relation to design in New York?

I am so lucky I get to visit artists, galleries and workrooms on a weekly basis. I try to attend shows and exhibitions as much as I can while making sure I found the right balance for my family. I am also blessed that we've already had the opportunity to work for some of the most amazing interior designers and artists of the city, just like Daniel Arsham, Giancarlo Valle, or Tony Ingrao to name a few. We also have great relationships with galleries such as R & Company who gave us the opportunity to participate in an exhibition they named The Artisans a few years ago. With the amazing fabrics of our good friend Tara Chapas from Chapas Textiles, we reupholstered and restored some iconic Brazilian furniture from the gallery's collection.

How do you define your relation to fabrics?

There is so much to learn about fabrics and I am starting from very far away! How they are woven, the different techniques, the varieties of materials and threads... Fabrics occupy a predominant place in our business. Without them, we do not exist and we cannot demonstrate our savoir-faire. My father and I have created over the years very privileged relationships with fabric houses and wonderful textile designers. I am fascinated by the work of my friend Ruka who weaves some of the most beautiful fabrics I have ever seen from her studio in Brooklyn.

Sometimes it's also a tough love relationship because a hard-to-work-with fabric can give us a lot of grief. That's why we encourage our customers to give us references up front so we can make sure the fabric is suitable for a given project.

Are you still learning how to manage? How do you progress?

Management is my second passion after arts & crafts. I read a lot of books that help me be a better manager. I challenge myself every day on that topic because I truly believe that the success of the company in the coming years will rely on our capacity to attract and retain talented artisans and colleagues. I face new challenges daily. Management can be the hardest part of my work but it is also the most rewarding. For me, there is nothing like seeing my colleagues being happy at work, motivated and proud to work for a company that works for the most talented interior designers in the world while being human, attentive and determined to make its teams grow.

What is next?

We are actually in a transition phase in many ways. My father retired 2 years ago and we have to learn to live without him while capitalizing on the colossal and wonderful legacy he leaves us. We need to make sure that we can keep his eye for detail and his high standards. He never compromised on quality; he loved his job too much for that. We have also started a digital transition: we are modernizing our working tools both in the workshops and in the offices. I want this beautiful company to be around in 100 years and even beyond! So we have to reinvent ourselves, question ourselves and shake up the status quo every day. Finally, we have to finalize the layout of our brand-new New York workroom . It's a tedious job because there are so many things to do, but little by little, we are getting there. Then maybe it will be time to open a new workshop? On the west coast of the United States or maybe in Asia?

Romain Jouffre bio

Since his youngest age, Romain has rubbed shoulders with Jouffre artisans and immersed himself in a unique universe made of fabrics, horsehair and needles: the upholsterer's world.

Romain, who never imagined that he would one day work with his father Charles, is now in the process of taking over the general management of the entire company, still driven by the same motivations: to defend and promote the arts and crafts, to develop a business and management model that is free and intensely motivated by the well-being of its teams. Every day, Romain leads its employees towards a perpetual quest for excellence initiated by Charles more than thirty years ago.

Exhibition “Eclecticism”

taylor Sofa in collaboration with Ateliers Jouffre

Minjae Kim's Upholstered Lola Chair

Hand carver Douglas fir, stained and lacquered with boucle upholstery honouring the savoir-faire of Jouffre Teams

Casa Serralves

Casa de Serralves - Chapel

“to create something that lasts,
the first thing is to want to create something that lasts forever.”

Emile-Jacques Ruhlmann

Originally conceived as a private residence, the Serralves House and surrounding park resulted from a project commissioned by the second Count of Vizela, Carlos Alberto Cabral (1895-1968) for the grounds of what had been the family's summer farm near Porto. Designed and built between 1925 and 1944, the House is considered the most remarkable example of an Art Deco building in Portugal, and was classified as a Public Interest Building in 1996. In 2012 the entire built and natural heritage of the Serralves Foundation was granted National Monument status.

The authorship of the House can be attributed, with some care, to the French architect Charles Siclis (1889-1944), whose contribution proved decisive in the overall design of the project, and to José Marques da Silva (author of the projects for the São Bento Station and the São João National Theatre, both in Porto) who developed, altered and executed it. Carlos Alberto Cabral, Jacques Émile Ruhlmann (1879-1933), and later Alfred Porteneuve (1896-1949), his nephew and architect by profession, also intervened in the project.

 In 1987, the Portuguese State acquired the property from Delfim Ferreira's heirs with the intention of installing a museum of modern art there. The House was opened to the public that same year, as a venue for exhibitions of modern and contemporary art until the opening, in 1999, of the new Serralves Museum of Contemporary Art, designed by architect Álvaro Siza Vieira. In 2004, Siza supervised the restoration of the House and its interiors. Providing spaces for exhibitions and artists' projects integrated in the program of the Museum of Contemporary Art, the Serralves House constitutes, by its architecture and design, a museum in its own right.

 The architectural design of the villa can, with some caution, be attributed to the French architect Charles Siclis, and to José Marques da Silva, a famous architect from Porto at the time, who was closely associated with the work throughout. In addition, the architects and decorators of the Ruhlmann house were also responsible for the interior design.

 The longest façade of the house runs along Rua de Serralves, facing the garden. The interior, where the lioz stone dominates, is composed of three floors. On the first floor are the kitchen, pantry and service areas; on the first floor, the living and dining rooms and atriums; and on the second floor, the private area. Above the main entrance we find a glass canopy in articulation with the door and a semicircular widening of the park wall. The other entrance reveals a patio nestled between the volumes of the building and allows an articulation and distribution of space along the major axis of the house.

The villa, constructed between 1925 and 1944, is a rare example in Portugal of Streamline Modern domestic architecture, but with interiors reflecting neo-classical, romantic and art deco elements.

The Villa is on three floors – ground floor including all the living rooms, dining room, hall and library; private quarters on the first floor; and the basement contained the kitchen, pantry and service areas. Entering the Villa through the main entrance, one is struck by Ruhlmann’s elegant new-classical lines in the impressive two-storey central hall with René Lalique’s large skylight, beyond a view to the central parterre and grounds, to the right the large salon with a view to the lateral parterre, to the left the dining room overlooking the garden, and Edgar Brandt’s fine wrought iron gate which separates the social zone from the Villa’s private quarters and library.

Marques da Silva coordinated the project and took responsibility for the completed work, Charles Siclis may have sketched the image of the façades, Jacques Emile Ruhlmann may have suggested the scale and the nature of the main rooms in the house, Alfred Porteneuve may have detailed the design, Jacques Gréber may have defined the form of the gardens, but the decisive character that brought everything together was Carlos Alberto Cabral, the client of Marques da Silva. Cabral had the vision, the taste, the desire and the necessary resources to conceive his house.

“This bathroom offers an unparalleled refinement between the modernity of the marble and the radical lines of the architecture”

The quintessence of arts

 The most important European names in furniture design contributed to the interior of the Serralves House. Émile Jacques Ruhlmann designed the dining room, the hall, the hallway and billiard room, René Lalique was responsible for the skylight in the second floor hall, Edgar Brandt created the wrought iron gate that separates the common area from the private quarters, and Ivan Da Silva Bruhns, Leleu, Jean Perzel, Raymond Subes, and Alfred Porteneuve chose the color of the house. Much of the furniture is now dispersed, having been sold at auction.

Garance vallée

An open mind

 September 2021

 Interviews with open minded creative people who, like Olivier Garcé & Clio Dimofski, resonate the same passion for collectible design, art and narrative places that defines them.

Next in our interview series, we speak to artist Garance Vallée. She lives and works in Paris. Inspired by the straight line, she transforms the angles, plays with the perspectives and imagines curious spaces.

What is your background?  

I graduated with a Master’s degree in architecture with a specialization in scenography to work on smaller- scaled architecture in 2017. I grew up in the painting studio of my father KRIKI, between paintings and punk music. Throughout my entire childhood I continuously sketched and created objects on the floor of my Dad’s studio in Paris.

What inspires you?

The Human being. My closest connection is with the human and rebuilding the connection of consciousness for the human being, which is sometimes forgotten in our dehumanized society.

You are an artist-designer working across architecture, sculpture, scenography, furniture design. What is the main thread that runs throughout your practice?

I don't believe that there is a single technique for every idea. For me, experimentation is primary. The inner connectivity in the process is essential. For example, if I show my drawings as finished works, they somehow trigger the beginning of another project. I am simultaneously drawing and building the space in my mind.

What book is on your bedside table?

The Poetics of Space « La Poétique de l’Espace" is a 1958 book by the French philosopher Gaston Bachelard.

How do you define your relation to ceramic?

I like the fact that it is a living material, that it has to be modeled, and the relationship that it establishes with the body and the hands of the creator. When you work with ceramics, it's a dialogue between two organic bodies, I like to feel the materials, to model, to have a real contact with the textures I use.

Are you still learning? How do you learn?

Of course I am still learning everyday ! I often use a Socrate’s quote « All I know is that I know nothing ».

Garance Vallée, embodies a creative youth, with an uninhibited eclecticism. Graduated in architecture in 2017 in Paris, she emancipated herself  to propose a global universe between sculpture, architecture, painting, and design. 

In 2018, she worked in an architecture agency called Lot-Ek in New York. A decisive meeting that pushes her to go solo and formulate her own stylistic vocabulary, whatever the medium. It was during the last Design Week in Milan 2018 that Garance was discovered, during a carte blanche given to her by Milanese press secretary Martina Gamboni. She had designed a living room where she celebrated the matter of the Mother Earth through an organic decoration with mineral texture and shapes.

She creates a multiform personal universe with modernist influences, and objects with hybrid use, sometimes abstract, sometimes formal, to which she confers a strong architectural dimension.  Which are characteristic of the designer’s artistic identity. 

Minjae Kim

SINGULARITY

Photography by Justin Chung.

Lacquered chair : Hand carved Douglas fir, stained and lacquered. Two is better than one.

 August 2021

Interviews with open minded creative people who, like Olivier Garcé & Clio Dimofski, resonate the same passion for collectible design, art and narrative places that defines them.

In our first interview series, we speak to artist Minjae Kim. A self-professed obsessive looker and arranger of forms, Minjae's career has spanned sculpture, installations, and interiors. He is photographed here in his last show at Marta gallery, by the photographer Justin Chung.

How did you end up in New York?  

I moved to New York for school in 2015 and have been around ever since. I had just finished my military service in Korea and was itching to move on.

Do you remember your night dreams? What are they?

They fade away rather quickly. But often my favorites are the dreams where I am in an alternative version of a familiar space. Sometimes I have dreams where I find out I had all these extra rooms in my apartment and get very excited by the prospects of the space, then wake up disappointed.

What’s currently your favorite material

Wood is consistently my favorite material to work with. I would like to start working with metal soon.

What is your next idea?

I’m working on a show with my mother Myoung Ae Lee who is a painter based in Korea. It will be a dialogue between us where we are able to address the admiration and influence, we have in each other’s lives and work.

What book is on your bedside table?

On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous by Ocean Vuong.

What is your fetish object?

I like wooden pillows. They no longer make sense, especially in Western living, but it's a reminder that other dwelling styles exist. Also, it reminds of my grand mother’s place where we spent a lot more time sitting and napping on the floor.

Where is your favorite place?

Quite possibly between my mattress and my blanket.

How do you improve your practice?

I’m really just figuring it out right now and there are so many aspects that go into improving a practice. At the moment I’d say I’m focusing on making more. The takeaways I get each time I try an idea is huge.

Minjae Kim is a Korean artist working in New York with background in architecture and furniture design.

His practice in furniture & objects acts as an antithesis to the restriction in architectural practice in time, scale, and accessibility.
The results are simple, quirky, imperfect, incohesive, impractical, irrational and often emotional one-liners revolving around an idea.

Upholstered Lola Chair

Hand carver Douglas fir, stained and lacquered with boucle upholstery. Same old Lola, just a little cushy.

Floor Lamp with a 'mirror'

Hand carved Douglas fir, stained and lacquered, with quilted fiberglass shade
Some mirrors are better without a reflection