Anya Larkin discusses her wallpapers, inspiration

During DDB's Spring Market last week, Stark hosted a presentation by Anya Larkin, who spoke about the inspiration of her wallcoverings and the creative process. Larkin worked in film and fashion, including a decade with Mary McFadden. "I really loved being a part of the making process," she says. "While working with Mary I developed a line of textiles, when a client asked me to do wall coverings. I searched the DDB and I didn't find anything that I would want in my own home. It all felt too commercial. So I went to the art stores, and I played around with rice paper and different textures, and then I learned how to back it." Her line of wallcoverings, all handmade by her team of artisans, is represented at Stark. Here's a recap of what she shared with the audience of bloggers and designers.

"I always go to the Metropolitan Museum of Art for design inspiration. Just to be in the temple of art and to feel the great artists and be inspired. I look at ceramic glazes, Japanese armor. Not to copy but to plant the seed of inspiration. My prints are all classically derived. A fleur de lis has been drawn thousands of times, so why do I need to try to reinvent it? I'll change the color, scale, but always start from a classical point. A non-print starts with an inspiration from a glaze, for its colors or textures. I contemporize something that was centuries old and I try to make it refreshed. I never learned how to make a repeat in art school, so I hand draw it all, which might be crazy, but it makes for patterns that reveal subtle differences.


This design [pictured below] was inspired by an origami box we did for a client gift, which when I disassembled it, was so beautiful.




We have a factory in Long Island City, we just moved from 28th Street. Quality and craftsmanship are critical to me: I hire textile people, who are used to doing the same thing over and over again. Artists want to do everything different each time. Everyone with me has assisted for at least a year before doing any sort of production. We examine everything personally before it goes out. I don't want my name attached to anything that isn't done right.



On Color: In the 70s and 80s I was with Mary McFadden when she was doing brights. I had to work to refine my palette, but at first I couldn't seen the subtleties. I looked at white for a while. I'm interested in colors that flip between two colors--greens-blues-greys. I use full spectrum colors (yellow, red, green) to make my beiges. Once we spent two weeks making a beige. I don't like clear bright colors. We have big windows with north light. Sometimes in the winter we go out onto the street to look at colors. Size and scale is incredibly important. The negative space is as important as the positive space. Many different techniques are involved, many with multiple techniques per final product."