Graphic Art Russian or Scandinavian or Italy or Israel
Westward hen Liselotte Watkins moved with her family to Rome from Milan four years agone, it was in such a rush that she had time to expect at only one apartment. The previous owner had lived there for thirty years, and wouldn't let her accept photographs, and then "my husband, Jonas, had to take my word for it," she says. It was painted nighttime colours and the layout wasn't practical, but information technology was close to Jonas's new job, a decent school for their children Wim, 10, and Ava, eight, and Villa Borghese park. Swedish-born Watkins, an artist, illustrator and designer who has collaborated with Prada, Marimekko, and the Italian porcelain visitor Bitossi, works from a studio at home.
"It'due south not your classic, elegant Rome flat: the kitchen is small, the heating and h2o come and get, and in that location's no storage. But it does have big windows, which can be difficult to find here, and some lovely original flooring," she says. "Though it turns into a greenhouse in summer."
Like most Romans, the family rent. But they were allowed to paint the flat white, and redo the kitchen and bathroom floors. Today, it's a bright, colourful three-bedroom home, filled with vintage furniture and Watkins' own pieces. Scandinavian and Italian design sensibilities clash happily: in the hallway, an original patterned tiled floor sits alongside a pair of graphic Marimekko curtains.
Watkins moved to Dallas, Texas when she was 17 to study. There followed a spell in New York, followed past six years in Stockholm, before she moved to Paris, which is where she met Jonas. So where is dwelling house?
"We lived in Milan for 12 years before moving here, so I exercise feel quite Italian now," she says. "The kids were built-in here, and are extremely Italian. Just the longer you stay away, the more romantic your idea of 'dwelling' becomes. I miss the stillness of Sweden, the forests, the architecture. But it's a tough climate, and information technology shows in the people – it took years for the lady in my local supermarket in Stockholm to say hi to me. Hither, the weather allows people to be more open, more joyous. Simply I'll never fit in completely. I'm always a bit on the outside."
Wherever she lives, Watkins loves picking upwardly i-off finds, and the apartment is full of them: a retro Ikea sideboard, posters, oil paintings, a Thonet sofa, a bench and a steel chiffonier, all from flea markets across Europe. "I am a collector, but at that place'due south no intention backside it. Normally, I've no idea what things are, I only notice cheap stuff I like." This includes a pair of Eames chairs left out on the street on New York's Upper East Side in the 1990s – sadly, no longer the fertile hunting basis it was. "People have wised up to the value of vintage at present," she says. The odd contemporary piece comes from Jonas. "He loves smart article of furniture – I bring the junk. It's a reflection of who nosotros are," she smiles.
Concluding autumn, Watkins collaborated with Swedish design company Svenskt Tenn on her first interiors collection – a series of colourful graphic vases, cushions, lamps, a tray, and a wall textile. She named information technology Via Sallustiana, later on her accost in Rome. It was a long-awaited dream to piece of work with the visitor, which is still best known for its iconic textiles past Josef Frank from the 1930s onwards. "I only kept on asking, until finally, when I had a show at my gallery in Stockholm, they asked me," she says.
Since then she has worked with the British company, Established & Sons, on a collection of four vases. "I similar these modest collaborations, where the focus is on craftsmanship," she says. "And I like the fact that what I'k doing is both art and pattern – I've realised you don't accept to choose."
Source: https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2020/mar/07/swedish-graphics-italian-tiling-rome-flat
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