Here, we ask designers to take a selfie and give us an inside look at their life.
Age: 37
Occupation: Designer.
Instagram: @oh_minna
Hometown: East Lyme, CT.
Studio location: Germantown, NY.
Describe what you make: I’m both an artist and a designer. As a designer, I’m the founder, creative director, and CEO of Minna, a certified B Corporation that specializes in creating ethically made home accessories, fabrics, and, more recently, wallpaper. I collaborate with artisans throughout Latin America to weave our line of bedding, pillows, rugs, throws, kitchen, dining, and bath textiles. As an artist, I’m a painter and a weaver.
The most important thing you’ve designed to date: Building Minna—and I’m thinking of design beyond the physical products. It has evolved and grown and shape-shifted over the years and allows me to explore creativity in different ways: building an ethical company, building partnerships across cultures, and strategically setting us up for success.
Describe the problem your work solves: I’ve always tried to use design to create a positive impact (on people) or to leave as minimal of an impact as possible (on the planet). Using design, I’ve been able to build partnerships with artisan groups throughout Latin America working with incredible Indigenous textile techniques, creating a positive impact by building employment opportunities. We’ve always been careful to source sustainable materials.
Describe the project you are working on now: The Portals Collection is our debut assortment of hand-painted, digitally printed wallpapers and fabrics. This collection is deeply personal to me as all of the patterns come directly from my painting practice, which I often refer to as Portals. My painting practice explores repetition and pattern, communication and thought, as well as mapping and visual placemaking. A lot of my inspiration comes from the Bauhaus period, as well as exploring vintage textiles.
This collection takes aspects of my painting and explores them on a larger scale for wall coverings and fabrics. We partnered with a printing company that specializes in sustainable printing, using digital pigments or dyes and less water consumption than most printing techniques.
A new or forthcoming project we should know about: The Portals Collection has been my biggest focus lately, but we’re also launching a new rug program in May. This will be our first all-over textural rug in partnership with weavers in Lima, Peru. The Pebble Rug will be entirely customizable in an array of curated colors and made-to-order. We’ve been working on this rug style for nearly two years so I’m excited about this new offering and way to interact with our customers and trade partners alike.
What you absolutely must have in your studio: Tea, seltzer, and my dog usually close by. When I’m painting, I go back and forth between working quietly, listening to an audio book, or having (likely a terrible) TV show on in the background.
What you do when you’re not working: Usually painting or spending time outside with my partner, Mary, or playing with our dog Soba and cat Bear. We’ve been working on an ever-expanding garden, so likely also tending to that. Whenever I have time, I like to travel. Being away and a stranger in a place is often where I find the most inspiration.
Sources of creative envy: The artisans I have the privilege of working with in Latin America are a constant source of creative inspiration—there’s nothing more inspiring than spending a day in a workshop surrounded by textiles, swatches, yarns, or pottery. I forever find inspiration from the works of Sol LeWitt, Anni Albers, and Agnes Martin.
The distraction you want to eliminate: Instagram.
Concrete or marble? Concrete.
High-rise or townhouse? Townhouse.
Remember or forget? Remember.
Aliens or ghosts? Ghosts.
Dark or light? Light.
