Frida Kahlo Installation for Kerry Joyce Textiles at Hollywood at Home Design Studio
Custom, hand-made installation inspired by Frida Kahlo for the La Cienega Design Quarter "Legends" Event.
OBJECTIVE
Create two custom, hand-made art pieces inspired by Frida Kahlo on behalf of Kerry Joyce Textiles to install in the display front windows of the Hollywood at Home Showroom for the La Cienega Design Quarter “Legends” Event.
CHALLENGE
Incorporate Kerry Joyce textiles and corrugated cardboard into large-scale portraits of Frida Kahlo in order to celebrate the modern simplicity of the textile designs in contrast with the bold chaos invoked by Frida Kahlo’s work.
BACKGROUND
The La Cienega Design Quarter hosts it’s annual “Legends” event to invite celebrated designers and tastemakers from around the world to create pieces to be displayed in store-front windows along the “design quarter” block of La Cienega blvd in Los Angeles. Award-winning textile designer Kerry Joyce was invite to participate in the event and he commissioned Mili La Concha Design Studios to create the piece on his behalf. At the time of the commission I worked as the Project Manager for Mili La Concha and I facilitated the design concept, creation, installation and presentation for the event.
PROCESS
Discovery and Research: Textile Designer Kerry Joyce came to us with the idea to combine his textiles with one of his personal sources of inspiration, Frida Kahlo. He had seen our design studios’ recent creative work with corrugated cardboard and encouraged us to incorporate use of that material into the pieces.
I researched Frida Kahlo’s life and work in addition to the background and creation process of Kerry Joyce’s textile patterns. Our design team chose two of Frida Kahlo’s self portraits from different times in her life: “The Frame” (1938) and “Self Portrait, 1948” (1948).
We were initially drawn to the vibrant use of color and bird imagery in “The Frame” and ultimately chose it because it was one of Frida’s only experiments with mixed-medium which we felt lent itself perfectly to our mixed-medium project using fabric, cardboard and chalk pastels. “Self-Portrait, 1948” was chosen mainly for aesthetic reasons – we were drawn to the ruffles in her traditional Tehauna dress that mimicked design moods found in Kerry Joyce textiles. We also appreciated the contrast in emotion between the two paintings and thought they’d make an interesting juxtaposition in the two Hollywood at Home windows.
Our design team was also influenced by the thorns motif in many of her paintings and we incorporated that element into our designs as well.
Mockups: Based on our research, we created a mood board and hand-sketches to mockup our design ideas. We wanted to recreate the portraits of Frida Kahlo’s face using chalk pastel to add depth and then use Kerry Joyce textiles and corrugated cardboard to re-create a 3D version of the background in each of the two paintings.
Materials Planning & Sourcing: Materials for this project included: 6’x6′ industrial foam core, corrugated cardboard, chalk pastels and a selection of Kerry Joyce textiles.
Set Creation and Build: This was a large-scale installation requiring an immense amount of hand-crafted detailed work. I sourced an entire team of specialized crafters in Los Angeles in order to bring this project to life. My personal contribution as project manager was to hire and supervise the team and give creative direction when necessary. I also created many of the 3D elements including the cardboard flowers and ruffle trim. It was my job to arrange all of the cardboard elements onto the 6’x6′ frames and assemble the piece as a whole. I also conducted progress meetings with Kerry Joyce and led the on-site installation at Hollywood at Home.
PRESS
This piece was featured in Interiors magazine as a part of Kerry Joyce’s Studio tour
About the Client: Kerry Joyce
(abridged bio from www.kerryjoyce.com)
Celebrated for their interiors and architecture, Los Angeles-based firm Kerry Joyce Associates embodies a passion for timeless design and flawless execution. Led by one of the country’s most celebrated designers, Kerry Joyce, the firm’s various projects have received notable acclaim.
Joyce has received numerous awards and honors from some of the most highly regarded organizations in design and entertainment. He has been awarded the “Star of Design” by the Pacific Design Center, won an award for Residential Interior Design from Interiors magazine, and, notably, won an Emmy award for set decoration. Most recently in 2011, he was selected as the “Who’s Who of American Design” by House Beautiful.
Project created in association with Mili La Concha Studios