Here, we ask designers to take a selfie and give us an inside look at their life.
Age: 42
Occupation: Artist and designer.
Instagram: @mounserstudio
Hometown: Houston, Texas.
Studio location: Los Angeles.
Describe what you make: I’ve always been deeply inspired by nature and the feelings it conjures of being intimately grounded and simultaneously expanded. I take the things I’ve seen in that context and create abstract and sculptural jewelry, art, and art object interpretations of them.
The most important thing you’ve designed to date: The evolution of my work is what I’m feeling is most important in the greater trajectory right now. When I began designing the jewelry this season, I focused on the creative process as a whole exploring different mediums throughout. I began doing these stream-of-consciousness drawings inspired by the cycles of the moon as an exercise in developing new shapes for the jewelry. This has now evolved into a larger painting series called Lunar Studies as well as one-of-a-kind ceramic art pieces. With this one brainstorming practice, I was able to visualize an entire pathway for the brand’s future.
Describe the problem your work solves: I aim to bring the viewer (or the wearer) of my pieces an emotional response of joy through my work. It’s a simple goal, to surprise through the unexpected and delight with color and light.
Describe the project you are working on now: The Lunar Studies painting and ceramic series are new and ongoing. I’m working on wax sculptures to cast new jewelry shapes and soon will start a new series of sculptures inspired by waves. My creativity flourishes when I work on several projects in different mediums in tandem.
A new or forthcoming project we should know about: I just launched by AW 2020 jewelry collection online. Lunar Studies paintings, and Lunar Studies in Bisque (one-of-a-kind ceramics) are set to launch for sale at the end of the month.
What you absolutely must have in your studio: Definitely music—Brian Eno, Air, Radiohead, and the Grateful Dead are my go-tos for a solid workflow. I also require endless black coffee. My space is pretty minimal so that I can work from a clean slate, however I have a ton of books that I constantly thumb through for inspiration, and one giant 6’ x 5’ painting I did of a pink sunset with a rose gold round mirror that I find soothing. My windows look onto a giant bougainvillea in the front garden and that also brings me happiness throughout the day, to just see a sea of pink blooms.
What you do when you’re not working: Roaming. Hiking at the beach or anywhere in nature.
Sources of creative envy: Le Corbusier, Mies van der Rohe, Cy Twombly, Dan Flavin, Helen Frankenthaler, Isamu Noguchi, James Turrell, Jean Arp, Steven Parrino, Yves Klein, and Franz West to name a few.
The distraction you want to eliminate: Online shopping is the number one as we’re saving up for a desert house.
Concrete or marble? Concrete.
High-rise or townhouse? A house that I design and build from the ground-up is the dream.
Remember or forget? Remember.
Aliens or ghosts? Ghosts.
Dark or light? Yin and yang.
