My Space- Nicola Cerini
The Age
Saturday March 6, 2010
HODDLE Street is a stone's throw from Nicola Cerini's Richmond studio, but it could be half a world away. Inside a former chocolate factory, the home of Cerini's textile design business is reminiscent of a European farmhouse. Yellow and orange-washed walls are adorned with artworks and fabrics, richly coloured cushions lie on rustic furniture and a rear courtyard drips with vines. When she's not at her home on the Bellarine Peninsula, doing her "drawing and creative work away from the telephone", Cerini spends a few days here every week, overseeing the business and hand-printing fabric samples and limited-edition prints.Why this space?I was in the next street looking at another property when my neighbour, who was out walking his dog, told me the property behind him was up for lease. I really wanted a place that reflected who I was and I absolutely fell in love with it. I felt like I'd walked into a French farmhouse. It wasn't a slick, clean, contemporary space. It was really rustic and had a lot of character. I just felt at home. I like the rough edges and the history that is part of the place, the arches leading through from the kitchen, and the colours. I felt like all of my textiles and artwork would fit in perfectly. Because it's an old chocolate factory, it has this history as well. There are doorways in our place that would have led through to other parts of the building.How do others respond to the space?People are so surprised when they come in here. They're led down this alleyway and then they come in here and are really surprised that it's such a beautiful space. That is worth so much to me; I feel like it really adds to what I've created with my work. A space is so important to me, and the way I arrange my objects within that space really affects the way I feel.Does that go back to childhood?Probably. My parents really appreciate beautiful things. We grew up in a lovely old sandstone home in Warrnambool and my parents renovated that space the whole time we were there. They had an appreciation of old buildings and art and furniture, so I guess I was brought up with that. Within my family there were always people making things for the home, making textiles, building furniture. My great-aunt was a textile designer and painter. I grew up really appreciating handmade things and I feel that the object is instilled with that person who made it €” what they were thinking, what they were influenced by. That appeals to me, that there's this extra layer of meaning within an object if it's made by somebody you know or if you appreciate the effort that's gone into it.What do you want your designs to bring to people's homes?Nearly every image I create comes to me from nature. I've touched it in my life and I interpret it and re-create it in a work. I hope when people look at my work they can connect with those things, like native flora. I get a great response from people when they see one of my works and it reminds them of something in their garden or their grandmother's garden. I guess it's the stories that get carried on through these objects that add so much more meaning to our lives.Where does that love of nature come from?It's got a lot to do with growing up at Tower Hill, which is a wildlife sanctuary just outside Warrnambool. It's an extinct volcano. My father was sent there in the early '60s to organise the revegetation of it. I lived in this beautiful environment till I was six. We had a running track around the top of the crater and Dad would take us up there every Saturday for a race. My brother and sister and I would have different handicaps depending on our age and Dad would change them every week so a different person would win. We then moved into Warrnambool but I still spent a lot of time in the bush. A lot of people would bring injured native animals to my dad, because that was his work, so we always had those around. The echidnas would crawl into our gumboots and not be able to get out because of their spikes. That was a huge part of growing up.And you're now living in the country again . . .Yes, I was in the city for nearly 20 years and then I had a residency in Barcelona and all I could think of while I was there was moving to the country. When I came back, I moved down to the coast. I had this very strong pull to get out of the city and be near the ocean.What are the things within this space that have the most meaning for you?I really enjoy looking at the artwork that I've collected from other craftspeople and designers. In the kitchen, I've got one of Marc Pascal's Eyoi Yoi lamps. It works beautifully there. I've got some pieces from my great-aunt, and that really reminds me of where I've come from and the textiles tradition that I work in. I love pattern and colour and often the things that I have around me have pattern and colour €” in a different way to what I would do myself in a lot of cases €” but it's such an expression of who you are.Nicola Cerini is taking part in the AgIdeas Festival, April 26 to 29.agideas.net; nicolacerini.com.auA multimedia presentation on Nicola Cerini appears at nationaltimes.com.au next week.
© 2010 The Age