Here, we ask designers to take a selfie and give us an inside look at their life.
Age: 50
Occupation: Designer and maker.
Instagram: @laetitiajacquetton
Hometown: Paris.
Studio location: Paris.
Describe what you make: I make objects with sincerity, hoping that what makes me happy will make others happy too. I listen to the energy of elements and channel it to help a dialogue between rock and glass. I keep them raw, as an expression of simplicity and nature. I make unique pieces and mostly vases. I feel like what I make is a result of a dance with the elements in which I don’t decide everything. I follow their rhythm with my own energy.
The most important thing you’ve designed to date: Probably a wedding dress. Something so important in somebody’s life. But my favorite thing is definitely to design unimportant objects, little things of ordinary life. The kind of object that you forget to design and once you’ve done something about it, it’s changing your everyday life so much that it makes you happy each time you use it. Like the object for the bar of soap that was always melting or sticking in there; or a plate, a bowl… There’s nothing more important to me than simple everyday objects, in which I refer to Japanese handicraft tradition.
Describe the problem your work solves: It brings poesy and nature into the home. My work brings something authentic and emotional that’s not “over-designed.” Even if you don’t have flowers every day, simply pour water into one of my vases and it connects you to what’s essential. It’s different for everybody.
Describe the project you are working on now: I’ve just finished this project with Lauren Manoogian. It’s very important to me as she was the first person to encourage me when I started to blow glass. It’s a very special relationship, even more about empowering than encouraging. One thing I like about working with Lauren is that she doesn’t need words. While walking next to my vase, she would just take away some flowers I’ve put there and it makes me instantly feel exactly what “less is more” really means. I was very much inspired by the texture and colors of her universe and therefore used more pale rocks for the project. And what I loved a lot about it is that I could use my favorite rocks, the quiet ones, the ones people usually don’t see.
I’m working on several different projects. I develop the wall hanging vases that I started as prototypes. It’s something that brings loy and lightness into a home and I enjoy it. I have a flame-working project, a new technique to me. And some more experimental glass and rock sculptures with glass blowing, and new glass objects to come.
A new or forthcoming project we should know about: A collaboration with ODU that we started and will be released in March 2021. It’s a collaborative space that revolves around crafts, seen through the lens of artists, designers, architects, and artisans.
What you absolutely must have in your studio: Light, music, plants, coffee, some mineral energy (a couple of little rocks can do).
What you do when you’re not working: Enjoying arts, friends, cooking, eating, and riding by bicycle.
Sources of creative envy: Constantin Brancusi, Isamu Noguchi, Alexander Calder, Charlotte Perriand, Le Corbusier, Lee Ufan, Giuseppe Penone.
The distraction you want to eliminate: None! I think we never have enough distractions and we work too much. I prefer the real distractions to the virtual/digital ones. I never have as many good ideas as when doing something real. I guess that’s why I work with my hands.
Concrete or marble? Both, mixed together.
High-rise or townhouse? Townhouse with a garden.
Remember or forget? Remember. I’m a little bit stuck in the past with movies and music.
Aliens or ghosts? Ghosts and castles and mysteries.
Dark or light? Light, I’m like my plants.
