Search

Friday Five with Tanya Aguiñiga

Tanya Aguiñiga is a Los Angeles based furniture designer/maker. Her sensitivity to materials and interest in creating furniture that responds to the user’s spatial needs have resulted in a playful and organic modernist approach to form. She holds a BA and MFA in Furniture Design, and continues to hand make all of her pieces.

Her highly publicized work has been exhibited from Mexico City to Milan and she was recently named a United States Artists Target Fellow in the field of Crafts and Traditional Arts. In the past 12 years she has also carried out various projects throughout Mexico and the US to deepen her commitment to using arts as a vehicle for community empowerment and the spread of craft education.

The five things I choose are inspirational environment shots. These are beautiful art installations or interiors whose use of line and color I find extraordinary.

1. Boscolo Exedra Hotel in Milan
I just can’t get enough of this hotel’s interior. If I ever had to design a hotel, I hope that it would be as amazing as this. The colors, shapes and materials are crazy and absolute perfection in my book.

2. Gerda Steiner and Jorg Lenzlinger’s Brainforest
One of my favorite art installations of all time.

3. Chiharu Shiota
Chiharu Shiota’s 2008 installation I have had this image saved on my desktop for a while now. Chiharu’s work is dark, poignant and painstakingly executed. This particular image continually inspires and amazes me.

4. Gregoire Alexandre photography
Ahhhhh, such amazing photographs! I just love how incredibly imaginative he is with his sets and props. I love when fashion photography becomes installation art. This particular shot is one of my favorites. I adore color, but have a mega-soft spot for all white settings. They are somehow more poetic and bring forms out so much better than color does.

5. Rebecca Ward’s installations
So simple and so effective. Using tape and working with a space’s architectural details, Rebecca creates beautiful linear environments. I really like how the light becomes an additional design element in this installation shot.

Jaime Derringer, Founder + Executive Editor of Design Milk, is a Jersey girl living in SoCal. She dreams about funky, artistic jewelry + having enough free time to enjoy some of her favorite things—running, reading, making music, and drawing.