Last November some of our Zoo made an extra special trip to the Omotesandō store in Tokyo! It was so inspiring to accompany my animals to a land I’ve always dreamed of visiting. So many thank you’s are in order. I only hope something brings me back to Japan again in the future.
For Paris Fashion week last year, Louis Vuitton commissioned some extra special animals for what was to be a one-night-only, magical event. The historic taxidermy house, Deyrolle hosted the Maroquinaris Zoologicae, intermingling hand bag animal with taxidermied beasts of all shapes and sizes.
Meet Sebastian, he is attention seeking sock monster. Likely Story asked me mock up their character for their production ‘The Locked Door‘, a children’s show for all ages about a girl who wishes for more than she bargained for. Likely Story have a wonderfully inventive way of bringing a story to life and I sincerely hope that The Locked Door gets the reception it deserves to gain the funding it needs to reach the next level.
I owe so much to Tom Phillips RA for encouraging me when I came out of university. He’s inspired me and pushed me to explore my skills, I don’t know how to begin to thank him. After assisting him to install his piece in The Club at The Ivy, he suggested that I design a piece for a particular space in the club.
Club rules prevent me from showing the full piece but I shall describe the idea to you. The piece was to be fitted to two downward slanting walls in the loft area of the club and I was asked to create something abstract to compliment other artwork in the loft. My aim was to produce a piece that used perspective and colour to make the wall appear more vertical and less imposing. I hand drew the design (the only way I know how), using perspective drawing then got the intricate piece lazer cut in birch ply. The colour has been created by collaging strips cut from magazines.
I can’t reveal much about this big guy but the idea is that he’s made from affordable materials with instructions anyone can follow.
After the massive interest in Louis Vuitton’s Collector windows, LV and Chameleon Visual decided to make a little video of me making the latest animals. Huge thanks to Emma, Clemence and François for making it happen!
Chameleon Visual takes me under their wing again as I make some larger and more exciting bag animals for Louis Vuitton.
These new critters were designed for the launch of Louis Vuitton’s Mon Monogram service for small leather goods. Each animal highlights an element in the design of the products. The Armadillo was to highlight the soft yet durable quality of the leather. The Chameleon displays the variety of colour. The Grasshopper is constructed from products with zips and poppers that make satisfying noises like that of the musically gifted insect. And finally my favorite, the Beaver, who’s functionality chops wood, builds dams…and provides cleaver ways of organising ones life in men’s bags and wallets.
MY FIRST INTERVIEW! And it’s in GREEK Vogue, my grandmother would be so proud….unfortunately neither myself or anyone in my family can read Greek anymore, so I’ll never know what it says. But it’s wonderfully exciting non the less.
The interview is out now in June 2011′s Vogue Hellas, and for those of you who do read Greek, there’s a high resolution PDF here.
A flowery project for Spring. Art Director, Gael Roussel commissioned me to make this ‘flowerhead’ for a shoot in this June’s issue of JFW (Jewels, Fashion and Watches) magazine.
The Issue is out now and can also be viewed online here.
I particularly love the final shot where our gentleman has been plucked….
Paolino in pen and pencil.
