What is your story with art and design, how did it start?
My relationship with art and design began in childhood, surrounded by Persian art and poetry that shaped my sense of beauty, memory, and cultural continuity. Early on, I was drawn to how objects, a textile, a ceramic, a painting, can carry stories across generations and borders.This sensitivity led me to study philosophy, literature, and art history, and eventually open my own gallery. My interest in design evolved organically through my curatorial practice. From the start, my focus wasn’t just on exhibiting works — it was about creating spaces for dialogue, emotion, and connection. Design became a natural extension of this practice, especially during the renovation of my gallery with architect PJ Gonzalez. Together, we developed a spatial language that blends historical depth with contemporary perspectives, deepening my understanding of interiors as sites of identity and storytelling. Today, I approach interiors as curated experiences where art is the starting point. For me, art and design are inseparable, a shared language that shapes how we live, think, and connect with the world.
"Early on, I was drawn to how objects, a textile, a ceramic, a painting, can carry stories across generations and borders."
Which role does art, music and design play in your daily wellbeing?
They are essential. Not in a decorative sense, but as emotional and intellectual nourishment. Art, music and design help me process the world. They offer rhythm, depth and clarity in a time that often feels overstimulated and fragmented. Music, especially, grounds me. It helps me shift between inner stillness and outer engagement. I listen to a lot of ambient, spiritual jazz, experimental electronic music and Persian compositions. There is something about the repetition, the texture, the unexpected transitions that resonates with how I move through the day. Design and visual aesthetics shape my environment in a way that allows me to breathe. I believe that how we arrange space is also how we arrange thought and ultimately, how we care for ourselves. A well-balanced room, a quiet corner, a carefully chosen object can bring presence into the everyday. Art connects all these layers. It opens emotional and intellectual doorways. It reminds me to slow down, to reflect, to stay curious. So yes art, music and design are not just part of my wellbeing. They are my way of being.
"I believe that how we arrange space is also how we arrange thought and ultimately, how we care for ourselves. A well-balanced room, a quiet corner, a carefully chosen object can bring presence into the everyday. Art connects all these layers. It opens emotional and intellectual doorways. It reminds me to slow down, to reflect, to stay curious. So yes art, music and design are not just part of my wellbeing. They are my way of being."
You have done several artistic projects with Noah - also as part of your multidisciplinary event series The Loft, what does the brand mean to you?
Noah is one of the few design brands that I feel truly open to dialogue. There is a generosity in the way they approach creative exchange, a willingness to collaborate across disciplines, to trust artistic intuition, and to create space for experimentation. What I appreciate most is their courage to move beyond product and into narrative. Our collaborations, especially within my series The Loft, were never about showcasing furniture in a traditional sense. It was about building environments where sound, art, conversation and presence unfold naturally. I see Noah as part of a new generation of design thinkers and brands that understand that aesthetics alone aren not enough. What matters is meaning, and how design participates in larger cultural conversations.
“I see Noah as part of a new generation of design thinkers and brands that understand that aesthetics alone are not enough. What matters is meaning, and how design participates in larger cultural conversations.”
How did you first get involved with Noah and the Torio campaign, and what drew you to this project?
The invitation came at a moment when I was already reflecting on how curatorial thinking could shape commercial narratives in a more meaningful way. When Noah approached me, it was clear they weren’t simply looking for surface-level styling. They were open to building a visual world with depth, emotion and conceptual clarity. What drew me to Torio specifically was its modular and open structure. It immediately felt like a curatorial framework, a form that could hold softness and structure at once. As the creative director, my thought was to use a furniture piece as a stage for visual storytelling. At the same time, I became the face and protagonist of the campaign and this combination allowed me to build something deeply personal while offering a wider cultural experience.
What was your creative vision for the campaign, and how did you bring it to life?
My vision was to create an atmosphere that feels at once grounded and transcendent, a space where structure and softness, tradition and newness, intimacy and openness can co-exist. I wanted Torio to be more than a piece of furniture, a stage for dialogue, between colours, textures, materials, and artworks.
The two featured paintings by Wenxin Zheng, Earth and Heaven, became emotional anchors for the entire campaign. In her work, East and West, tradition and contemporaneity, individual psychology and cosmic connection all come together. Her brushwork evokes both inner reflection and a quiet sense of universal belonging, something I wanted the space to echo. Around these works,I developed a colour palette that reflects their tone and emotional atmosphere, shaping a visual world in which the furniture becomes part of a larger narrative. Bringing this vision to life meant working closely across disciplines with the wonderful team at Noah, the florist Holla Botanics, with the fashion stylist team Linda Erhl and Aathirai Teresia Valentine, hair and make up Kateryna Wulff and with photographer Clemens Poloczek, who intuitively captured the mood and depth.
You are known for telling stories through your multidimensional approach to art. What was your artistic narrative for Torio and what is your key message?
At its heart, Torio is a story about balance, about how opposites can coexist beautifully. The campaign explores the relationship between earth and heaven, body and mind, structure and softness, silence and colour. It is a meditation on presence, on how space holds emotion, and how design can invite reflection.Iwanted the space to become a kind of emotional landscape, open enough to project one’s own memories onto, and strong enough to hold a cultural dialogue. One of my key intentions was to show how art and design can come together without losing their depth.
What were some of the key inspirations behind the art installation you curated for the campaign?
The campaign was inspired by the idea of the home as a sacred space, a place where emotional, cultural and aesthetic worlds quietly converge. I wanted the installation to feel like an offering: intimate, thoughtful and full of presence. The starting point was a visual conversation between the two paintings, Earth and Heaven, and the modular openness of Torio. The sofa was a spatial metaphor, something adaptable, receptive and grounded. Around it was a curated set of objects that reflect slowness, care and cultural depth: ancient ceramics, embroidered textiles, botanical gestures, architectural fragments. Each of these elements brings its own story, its own texture of time. Inspiration came as much from poetry and ritual as from contemporary art. I was interested in how space can hold feelings without needing to explain itself.
"The campaign was inspired by the idea of the home as a sacred space, a place where emotional, cultural and aesthetic worlds quietly converge. I wanted the installation to feel like an offering: intimate, thoughtful and full of presence."
What role does art play in shaping a brand’s identity, and how do you think this campaign reflects that?
Art has the power to expand a brand’s identity, not by adding decoration, but by introducing depth, tension and meaning. When used with care and intention, art can open up new ways of thinking, feeling and connecting. It invites emotional resonance and cultural relevance. It slows things down, and that, in today’s overstimulated visual economy, is a form of resistance. In this campaign, art was not an accessory, it was the foundation. The emotional architecture. By weaving in original artworks, handcrafted pieces, ancient objects and curatorial thinking, we didn’t just show a product. We created a mood, a mindset, a space of reflection.
How would you style Torio in your home or gallery?
I would approach Torio the same way I curate exhibitions or living spaces: as a composition of contrasts and connections. In my home, I would pair it with antique textiles, hand-knotted carpets, and sculptural lighting. These are pieces that carry memory and material depth. I like when objects speak to each other across time. Torio has a calm, modular presence that allows you to build around it without losing clarity. It works both as a centerpiece and as a soft frame. In my gallery, I would use it almost like an architectural element. As a seating sculpture within an exhibition, or as a quiet place for conversation. It is a piece that adapts to different energies: contemplative, social, or simply visual. For me, it is less about styling and more about creating atmosphere. That’s what Torio allows for: space to think, to rest, to feel.