Here, we ask designers to take a selfie and give us an inside look at their life.
Occupation: Visual artist, image translator, creator of parallel universes.
Instagram: @orlyanan
Hometown: I was born and raised in Colombia on the Caribbean coast. I also spent my teenage years living in Tel Aviv, Israel.
Studio location: My studio is located in the heart of Mexico City, very close to the historic center of the city.
Describe what you make: I would say I am a maker of parallel universes—blending everything from culture, rituals, colors, set design, and costume design to create a new visual world.
The most important thing you’ve designed to date: I think all of my work as culminating into one big project. Everything has the same weight, so it’s hard to say. I can put together everything in one book and call it my life project. Whether the project was small or large, they’re all important, and my work explores different shapes and color combinations so it’s always evolving.
Describe the problem your work solves: We live in a tough world, so I always try to incorporate all the beauty, color, and inspiration in each of my universes in one place. This together gives us a lot of hope, inspires us, and shows that the possibilities are endless.
Describe the project you are working on now: Right now, I have a couple of new projects that I’m really excited about. The first is a project with Instagram, creating universes and portraying immigrants and their experience at the U.S.-Mexico border. I’m also working on creating new videos for a Colombian musician. And last, but not least, is a video installation that will be shown in galleries in New York and Mexico City all about color and art meditation.
A new or forthcoming project we should know about: I recently completed a series of universes with Maestro Dobel Tequila that officially launches today: the Maestro Dobel Artpothecary, a new platform celebrating the eternal pursuit for innovation in art and in tequila by highlighting the wealth of creatives and artists in Mexico. As you can see in the images, my inspiration for the project was Mexican culture and tradition, while incorporating the idea of alchemy behind the process of tequila. I was also really inspired by the legacy of Dobel, and wanted to keep an element of familial tradition ongoing in my work. The series includes traditional fruits and dress silhouettes that are unique to Mexico, bright modern prints, and characters which are representative of ancestral tradition.
What you absolutely must have in your studio: Music is a must! I’ll put something on depending on my mood… instrumental or classical for creative thinking, salsa, samba, or African music for painting and design. Another must are candles, incense, and essential oils. I love the calming effects of the scents, especially lavender. Whenever we start a new project, I always like to make sure the studio is entirely empty. We clear it out entirely—blank walls and all—and our decoration starts from the beginning, inspired by whatever we’re working on.
What you do when you’re not working: I like to explore nature and different cultures. I love to travel, shop for books and objects in secondhand shops, cook, eat good food, and go to the local market.
Sources of creative envy: I’m definitely most inspired by the arts, such as theatre, contemporary dance, and music. It’s all very cinematic. I also find that everyday situations can awaken me—seeing new faces around a new city, new cultures, a buzzy market—it’s all so beautiful to me, and influences my different works.
The distraction you want to eliminate: Ah, my mind can be very distracting! Sometimes I’m extremely focused, but usually I have so many thoughts and ideas bouncing around, thinking about the next project or even a new project that doesn’t exist yet.
Concrete or marble? Marble.
High-rise or townhouse? Townhouse.
Remember or forget? Remember.
Aliens or ghosts? Aliens.
Dark or light? Light.
