Colour plays such a big role in both your work and your private life. What does colour mean to you, and how does it influence your wellbeing day to day?
My brain sees a lot of the world as colours and shapes, probably at the limit of synaesthesia. Feelings have a colour, people and memories too. So whenever I imagine an object, or a painting, this is how they are built in my head. I like to see things in a naive way, almost like a child and I am trying to keep it like that in my art and work. I can feel wonderful in an environment when the general colours are nice to me, or I can feel awful and very anxious. The light has a lot to do with it and it is probably why I started creating lamps.
You grew up surrounded by antiques thanks to your father, an art dealer. How has that early exposure shaped the way you live with objects, and how you design and decorate today?
I have always been very attached to objects. There is a story or a memory behind most of the objects in my home: The place I found it, the holidays I was in, the family member it belonged to and the person who offered it to me. I genuinely believe that, especially if you are open to second hand, you can source objects with meaning for the same price as going to a shop. It does take a bit more effort but it’s worth it. I usually go for a hunt when I have in mind that I need something specific. It can take a while to find it but it’s a great feeling when you do. I also have a very compulsive behaviour sometimes and just fall in love with something that I encounter and absolutely don’t need, but I always find a spot for it. This is why we have way too many chairs in this flat.
You have just entered a new chapter of life as a mother. How has this transition affected you, both personally and as an artist?
I went through a long period where my creativity was asleep. That was the first time in ages. Maybe for the first time in my life. But I have been so focused on such a massive change and on this little human being, and I do think that it is what I needed. My brain had no room for the rest and I think you need to have a bit of headspace to create. Everything has shifted, my priorities have shifted. But my daughter is now 10 months old and ideas and energy are coming back. I am working on a glass project right now that is inspired by childhood, mine and hers and I am very excited about it. I like looking at the world through her eyes. It brings me back to this naivety and excitement to discover things for the first time. This has always been how I approached design, in a very simple and intuitive way and I have been fighting to keep it like that. It now feels even more natural.
Many of your pieces are handmade and take days to complete. What does circularity and designing for longevity mean to you?
I spend hours and days weaving some of my lamps and, when I don’t make the objects myself, artisans in France and Italy spend the same time making them. I think the value of an object can be a lot of things, and time spent to make it is of great value. Of course it comes with costs, but I have decided when I started my work to not work wholesale and only sell directly so I could keep my prices to the minimum, with a very controlled and ethical fabrication. It was the only way and I wasn’t willing to give up on this to grow bigger, produce more, far away, in bad conditions. I still stand by it 10 years later. This is the minimum I can do to keep the carbon footprint of my objects lower and respect my own values.
Living in Marseille, a city with such an experimental and vibrant design culture, how does the local atmosphere influence your aesthetic and the way you work and live?
More than the city itself, I think the weather, and especially light is a massive element in Marseille. It is a very bright, striking light most of the days and it makes the colours of the city the same way. There is no hiding from it. There is also something very honest about this city, and the people in it. I grew up in the South and those people feel like home to me, even though I spent 14 years in Paris. I don’t think Paris has ever shaped my creativity the way the south has, it is less a part of me.
You recently welcomed the Torio sofa into your home. What drew you to the design in the first place?
I fell in love with the bulky shapes of the Torio. It feels like a comfy little cloud where you want to lie down and relax. In a more practical way, the modular sofas are wonderful and the fact that I could build it to perfectly fit my home was great. Also, I just welcomed a baby and it is a new life of cleaning non stop and I needed a sofa that could be washed. The fact that we can zip off all the elements and wash them is a must !
We understand you are curating the Torio sofa alongside one of your rugs. How do these two elements complement each other, and what was your creative thought process behind this setup?
I have one of my rugs as a center piece of our living room and I wanted a sofa that was working perfectly with it. It is a big rug and it is quite colourful, so I gave a long thought to the colours of the Torio. It is also in the green tones, so on the cold side I wanted to warm up the whole flat. The Torio in the caramel colour does the job perfectly, it changes absolutely everything and I am very happy.
