Here, we ask designers to take a selfie and give us an inside look at their life.
Age: 44
Occupation: Art director and designer.
Instagram: @valentinacameranesi
Hometown: Rome.
Studio location: Mlano.
Describe what you make: I work mostly as an art director and set designer, but I pursue a personal research into objects and applied arts. I am always interested in exploring different techniques as well as creating new connections to different artisanal masters.
The most important thing you’ve designed to date: Hard to say as it’s always a nice challenge. I did a lot of research around glass.
Describe the problem your work solves: I’m not sure it really solves a problem in a functional way, but I like to think it explores decoration and adds a new layer to traditional techniques with artisans.
Describe the project you are working on now: Designing a set of crystal glasses for a private collector. Exploring fabric techniques and their applications in the domestic environment. I’m also working on a beautiful project about craft for a fashion brand, where I’m collaborating as art director.
A new or forthcoming project we should know about: I just finished a series of objects in copper, glass, and wood for Jacqueline Sullivan Gallery in New York.
What you absolutely must have in your studio: Firstly, light and silence when needed. Then I like to have my materials, research, and books so I can look at images on paper, not a screen.
What you do when you’re not working: Sleep! I also love to read and really love to walk and see shows and my friends.
Sources of creative envy: More than envy, I’d say strong admiration. I admire people who are disciplined and coherent. Camille Vivier for photography, but also René Lalique and Anni Albers.
The distraction you want to eliminate: The stress of having to do something “new” for the sake of “new at all costs,” but I think I’m slowly getting there. Email as a source of confusion rather than organization. Constant communication that leads nowhere.
Concrete or marble? Marble.
High-rise or townhouse? Both?
Remember or forget? Forget to remember new things.
Aliens or ghosts? Aliens.
Dark or light? Light.
Portrait by Paola Pansini.
