Launch Recite Me assistive technology
A collage of a bright yellow room. A framed portrait hangs on the left wall, a chandelier hangs from the ceiling, and a single armchair sits on the right.

Nathalie Guinamard questions the way we live in her bold, colourful work

—
Date
25 September 2012

Recent Chelsea graduate Nathalie Guinamard is interested in how our memories and identities are shaped by the physical spaces we live in and the tangible objects with which we surround ourselves. Her work has evolved over the past few years but her fantastic latest updates see her add blocks of gouache to images of interiors from the 1950s and 1960s.

These interventions can range from simple sweeps of block colour to more subtle additions and manipulations all of which make us question our relationships with our living spaces and the almost theatrical precision with which we arrange and furnish them, well aware as we are what our houses say about us.

She says: "The paint is used as an editing tool to carefully select what parts of the image to show and which to hide, leaving certain elements, i.e. furniture, floating in a sea of colour.

“The pictorial space is flattened through the addition of colour, which I hope disorientates and dislocates the viewer. The images I use are carefully selected to be setup or aspirational interiors from mid 20th century interior design books, which acts to further disengage the experience of my work from the reality of lived in spaces.”

A bathroom with brown and gold geometric patterned wallpaper and flooring. A yellow towel with a black clover motif hangs over a radiator, matching a similar towel draped over the bathtub.
Above

Nathalie Guinamard: Bathroom

A small kitchen and dining area where every surface is covered in a repeating brown and beige geometric pattern. Four woven stools sit tucked under a narrow counter, beside a small oven and stovetop.
Above

Nathalie Guinamard: Mitchen

A collage of a sparse room with teal walls and a grey ceiling. A crystal chandelier hangs above a single white chair, beside an arched doorway looking into a darker room.
Above

Nathalie Guinamard: Chair 1

A black and white photograph of a formal living room with a large, textured stroke of orange paint layered over the centre. The room contains a chandelier, a bookshelf, and several classical chairs and sofas.
Above

Nathalie Guinamard: Untitled

A painting of a sparsely furnished room with olive green walls. A glass chandelier hangs over a simple red table, flanked by a matching sofa and a low red chair.
Above

Nathalie Guinamard: Untitled

A painting of a sparse, orange-toned waiting room with rows of matching armchairs and small footstools. In the foreground, a black coffee table holds several sheets of paper next to a tufted leather sofa and a lamp.
Above

Nathalie Guinamard: Untitled

A 3D render of a minimalist room with terracotta-coloured walls and floors. A brown leather sofa and a low black coffee table sit in the centre, flanked by two barred windows and potted plants.
Above

Nathalie Guinamard: Untitled

A black and white photograph of a modern living space with large windows and minimalist furniture. A grid of small, colourful dots is laid over the entire image.
Above

Nathalie Guinamard: Untitled

Share Article

About the Author

Rob Alderson

—

Rob Alderson is a freelance writer, editor and strategist. He was previously editor-in-chief of It’s Nice That and WePresent, and editor of Design Week. He publishes the newsletter Undo, which tries to make sense of how AI is changing design work, the design process and the design industry.

It's Nice That Newsletters

Fancy a bit of It's Nice That in your inbox? Sign up to our newsletters and we'll keep you in the loop with everything good going on in the creative world.