Here, we ask designers to take a selfie and give us an inside look at their life.
Age: 36
Occupation: Designer, artist, collector, storyteller.
Instagram: @therealmattmckay
Hometown: Toronto.
Studio location: Chelsea, New York.
Describe what you make: I make interiors, furniture, and structures. I see everything I do as a form of storytelling. I absorb what a client is willing to share about their habits, routines, and inspiration so I can understand how they live. I then study the landscape, culture, and surroundings to site each project within a time and place. All of this is useful to build a narrative by which people can live.
The most important thing you’ve designed to date: My apartment. It serves as a test kitchen or blank canvas to explore ideas and play. It provides the opportunity to live with pieces I have designed and also serves as a reliquary for tokens of sentimentality collected over time—objects that interest and inspire me.
Describe the problem your work solves: To create personalized environments that improve the quality of people’s lives.
Describe the project you are working on now: Houses in the Hamptons, two apartments in the city, and a house in Austin.
A new or forthcoming project we should know about: Diving into development of additional furniture pieces to be released at the beginning of 2025. We’re going to play with new materials.
What you absolutely must have in your studio: My dog Squid, killer speakers, and lots of light.
What you do when you’re not working: You’ll find me at the gym, skiing out west, anything on or by the water, and traveling.
Sources of creative envy: Maria Pergay, Alan Watts, William Eggleston.
The distraction you want to eliminate: My phone.
Concrete or marble? Marble.
High-rise or townhouse? Beach shack or mountain cabin.
Remember or forget? Remember?
Aliens or ghosts? Both.
Dark or light? Dark.
Portrait by Joe Kramm.
