the whole story - Carolyn Quartermaine

the
whole
story
Photographer: james merrell text: fiona m ccarthy
After almost 30 years of design
projects, Carolyn Quartermaine –
artist, stylist and textile designer
– returns to her roots as a painter.
Carolyn Quartermaine
in her London studio,
surrounded by her latest
works in all colours blue.
In the foreground is a
1960s ‘Pallu’ wicker chair
by Vittorio Bonacina.
“A good word to
describe me is
chercheuse: someone
who looks and thinks
and investigates their work
and their world,” she explains.
“It is all about going deeper
into your love and passions.”
Vogue Living Sep/Oct 12 33
as carolyn quartermaine drapes her barefooted frame
across a white wicker chair on her studio f loor in London,
swathes of fabric into which she has pushed endless swirls
of turquoise and indigo paint stretch across canvas frames,
lie strewn over chairs and laid out on the f loor like rugs,
seemingly immersing her in a meadow full of wild blooms.
“It’s a lucky thing, as an artist, to be able to come full
circle in one’s career,” she explains. Artist, stylist, designer
– Anglo-Swiss Quartermaine has worn all three caps, often
simultaneously, for almost 30 years, working on textile
collections, curating exhibitions, designing interiors and
furniture for homes, restaurants and hotels, collaborating with
global brands such as Donna Karan, Joseph, Fortnum & Mason
and Baccarat, and styling some of the most desirable images
for the world’s leading magazines, Vogue Living among them.
Her romantically inspired fabrics, imbued with whimsical
designs such as 19th-century poetry scripted across silk, sheer
cotton and velvet, and which now also encompass cascading
flowers, bold retro swirls and lace patterns blown large, were
a breath of fresh air during the mid 1980s and ’90s, a time of
all-white minimalism in interiors. Yet it is only now, she says,
on the back of the success of her collaboration on The Glade bar
at Sketch in London (featured in May/June 2012 Vogue Living),
where she helped create a dream-like interior within decoupage
forest walls, that she feels she can return to her roots as a painter.
Her current work is inspired much more by the abstract
– heroes include Pierre Bonnard and American artists
Cy Twombly and Helen Frankenthaler – but often it’s
the simple process of making which brings the most ideas.
Flowers are a recurring theme. “I’m more drawn to the
petals falling to the floor than the flowers themselves,” says
Quartermaine. With fabric as her canvas, she pours paint,
and herself, into every piece, “moving it around with my
hands and body, which is immensely satisfying,” she says.
“I love working in factories too – I’m always happiest in
the mess. It’s where you see the accidental mixes which
then spark an idea; finding the story within the story.”
Future projects will involve collaborations with chef
Pierre Gagnaire in Paris and fragrance house Fragonard, and
Quartermaine will undoubtedly lend them her eye for the
unexpected. “I use things that others would throw away – like
a pot covered in paint or the reverse of a rug,” she says. “I’m
very hands on – I don’t think there are too many designers
who work like I do, standing in the space and transforming
it with paint and collage then overseeing everything, right
down to what salt will go into the salt cellar,” she says.
“I’m there to the bitter end.” fiona mccarthy
For more information, visit carolynquartermaine.com.
34 Vogue Living Sep/Oct 12
Photographer: james merrell
Opposite, from top left: in the studio, Quartermaine’s iron is
always poised – a key implement in her design process, it helps
her to adjust paint stains on fabric; a chair by late artist and friend
Craigie Aitchison, bought at auction this year; a tiny cobalt knitted
baby’s jumper, bought for colour inspiration; further inspiration
comes from Quartermaine’s collection of statement jewellery
and a 19th-century girandole, below left. On a studio wall, this
page, hangs a dress painted for the Carte Blanche exhibition at
the Museum of Toile de Jouy in France. Quartermaine was the
only non‑French designer to be invited to participate.
Vogue Living Sep/Oct 12 35