Emotional Work in the Decorative Arts

Designer Tinatin Kilaberidze expresses her emotions in the decorative forms, shapes and prints she makes.

Well, really – how could she not? Design, she believes, is about excitement and discovery.

“That’s life!” she says. “The purpose of design is to make people happy – it’s a serious service.”

She likes natural materials for her lighting, wallpaper and furniture – especially local, sustainable woods like oak, ash and maple. It’s warm and comforting and close to nature, as are the bronze and fabric for arm chairs she creates.

She’ll unveil a complete environment of tables, consoles, benches, chairs, and lighting – all surrounded by her own wallpaper – on Oct. 19 at the Valerie Goodman Gallery in New York, 315 East 91st Street.

There’ll be nine pieces, with six different wallpaper designs. Thematically, it’s all held together by geometry. “I like clean, geometric forms,” she says. “I consider myself very plain.”

Plain may not exactly be the word that pops into mind here. Her work is dynamic – designed to get people involved and engaged in a participatory way. “An owner of the piece will want to touch or interact with the piece,” she says.

Her work, she says, is about honesty and bringing forth something clean, approachable, inspiring and – there’s that word again – emotional. “It’s something modern and timeless and simple – something that will fit in every environment.”

As for the challenge of making it all – well, piffle. “I always have good craftspeople around me in New York,” she says. “I know how it can be made – maybe my craftspeople get more challenged than me at first, but then they get excited.”

They are good together, she says. And emotional, too.

For more, go to www.valeriegoodmangallery.com and www.tinatinkilaberidze.com

[slideshow id=1701]