Meet the Maker behind Eso Studio
MEET HANNAH, JAMIE AND ANN…
the design trio behind Eso Studio that came together with their shared interest in materials and patterns. The three artists and textile designers create unique and timeless wallpapers based on their naturally dyed art pieces.
‘Eso’ is a word element meaning “inner”, from the Greek word eso “within”. This name represents Eso Studio’s intentions of exploring the innate connection to the natural world that we all share. Eso Studio celebrates this concept by utilizing discarded botanical material, like onion skins and leftover florals.
How did you come up with the inspiration for this?
We have always felt that there is a restorative power that comes from being surrounded by nature. Modern life has evolved in a way which removes us from the natural environments that we innately crave. Our designs are inspired by the fleeting aspects of the natural world, giving permanence to temporary moments – sunlight dancing on your bedroom wall, sand rippled by the wind, a field of wildflowers before the mower comes around…
How long have you been at your craft?
Each of us has some kind of fine art or design background as a point of entry. Cumulatively we have 30-40 years of experience. While working together as carpet designers we began a side-project experimenting with natural dyeing to challenge ourselves creatively. We began by using locally recycled botanicals and food waste from Hannah’s family restaurant as dye material and we realized there was so much more potential in this medium. This led to creating digitally repeatable wallpaper designs from these one-of-a-kind naturally dyed patterns, and thus, Eso Studio was born!
Describe your process, how does it differ from others in your field?
We look to nature on many levels for concept; be it in movement, the microscopic, or structures. Our work begins with a lot of experimenting, starting by scanning our naturally dyed textiles to create patterns for digitally printed wallpaper, but wallpaper is only the beginning for us. Having an interest in interior spaces and how we can push the boundaries of materials we are also exploring woven fabrics and carpet.
Why have you chosen this methodology?
We try to be very thoughtful about what we are seeing in interiors and want to push boundaries of how our wallpaper and textiles can be used to transform and create an essence of atmospheric space. We feel art should be lived with and intertwined with our daily lives.
What is your vision for your business?
To maintain our love for design by approaching it as artists first. Creating in such a way that is fundamentally timeless, but reaching for new levels of creativity and exploration. On a more material level, while working away in our basement studio, we constantly dream of a gorgeous studio space to host clients, put on classes and foster community.
We are a huge believer of celebrating the imperfections – some people view this as a flaw, we want to educate them more and help them understand that this is part of the natural beauty – how do you help people overcome this thinking?
We LOVE working with Style Rev! For this reason we want to embrace the “flaws” because it actually shows strength and resilience. Our first collection was born out of not overworking the design process, but rather letting the haphazard dye experiments in the studio lead the way. We look for beauty in the small details –like how the dye colors bleed into each other or how a simple fold can create a crisp line. We acknowledge contradiction be it with materials, combinations in patterns, or color.
We are constantly inspired by Eso Studio’s creations, check out their whole range here or pop into our showroom to get a full grasp of the beauty of their designs.