Were you always destined for a creative career?
We have a photo of me as a four-year-old, standing at an easel covered in paint, with a big smile on my face. I was always doing something with my hands, often textile based, whether it was cross-stitch, embroidery or learning to make my own clothes, so that inspiration came very young.
When did the 3D aspect become so central to your work?
When I visited the Taj Mahal as a student. I became obsessed with finding a way to translate the intricate marble carvings I saw into textiles. I was working with wadding in its raw form, because it had the right thickness with which to create a sculpted, relief surface. By combining layers, I could make it 3D.
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Why did you begin with chairs?
Vintage chairs were a free-standing and affordable platform for me to start on, such as a wonderful 1950s dentist’s chair I reupholstered in red leather with peonies, followed by two Arne Jacobsen Egg chairs and a contemporary commission for a pair of Philippe Hurel dining chairs.
What is your creative process?
My process may start with a line, but what matters is how I am going to interpret that line in a sculptural sense. I visualise the transition from 2D to 3D. My inspiration has always been nature; even with my structured patterns, the most intricate forms, patterns and geometry often connect to the natural world.