Artistic meet–up with Alice Roux
Discover the portrait of Alice Roux, decorator and designer, passionate about shapes and colors. She shares with us, with great emotion, her relationship with art, her fascination with décor and perspectives. Alice reveals the TIPTOE objects she has reimagined, from the GALET coffee table to the LOU stool and the shelf with the BRACKET wall mount. A truly distinctive visual identity emerges, one that is unique to Alice Roux’s work.
Hello Alice, could you tell us about your background and your creative project?
I’m Alice Roux, a decorator and designer. Since childhood, I have been fascinated by “Décor”: décor in the sense of a stage space, unusual architecture, or even an imaginary place. I have also always been drawn to décor for its ornamental qualities through pattern, objects, textiles and the Decorative Arts. What attracts me is the power of the “superfluous,” its magic and the beauty of the artisan’s work.
My studies in interior architecture and design at ESAG Penninghen in Paris fascinated me in this respect. I worked mainly with models: volume, light and color were my preferred modes of expression. Today, my projects—whether interior decoration, pattern creation, object design or furniture—are inseparable from an artistic practice I began a few years ago around color, through which I notably explore painted furniture.
How would you describe your universe? What are your preferred mediums and techniques?
What matters most to me is handcraft: composing color, shaping volume. I like playing with architectural perspective, optical effects, and relationships of scale and material. I always favor traditional modes of expression and making techniques. Technology then becomes a production tool within my creative process.
A wide range of experiences (theatre sets, fashion, art direction) has allowed me to consider the vast range of possibilities for applying my artistic practice and unfolding my painted, colorful universe, particularly in the fields of applied arts, the art of living, design, and patterns applied to the worlds of fashion and textiles.
What are your artistic or philosophical references and inspirations?
My strongest reference remains Sonia Delaunay. The exhibition devoted to her in 2014 at the Musée d’Art Moderne de Paris literally overwhelmed me. Her body of work is immense. She was one of the first to understand the importance and joy of bringing Art into everyday life by creating prints, designing clothing, painted objects and furniture, illustrating poems, and more. Artists such as James Turrell, Anthony McCall and Bob Wilson, who work with “Light,” are also a major source of inspiration. So much mystery and wonder emanates from their work; it’s fascinating.
What is your main project at the moment?
Today, I’m particularly exploring the world of painted furniture. I create the walnut furniture as well as the paintings I paint on it. I mainly work on bespoke commissions. Recently, I’ve begun offering a second line through collections and limited editions, as is the case with the wall-mounted consoles. I also continue to create patterns, work with fabric and develop set designs.
How did you discover TIPTOE? What do you like about the objects?
I discovered TIPTOE at the Maison et Objets trade show in 2018. Initially drawn to the colors on the stand, I was won over by the many possibilities the objects suggested to me. The BRACKET wall bracket was the object that particularly caught my attention. It was very clever to revisit the classic wall-mounting tool as a design object in its own right, a world away from the aisles of big-box DIY stores. I felt there was real design thinking behind an object that may seem ordinary. At the time, I was looking for wall-mounting systems for my “console-paintings,” which I wanted to be reversible. I created this first project with the BRACKET wall bracket. My lacquered paintings (front/back) on small wooden formats were ready, which allowed me to launch my first collection, “Islands, Shapes and Spaces.”
Tell us about the furniture you’ve just created using the brand’s objects.
In keeping with my work on painted furniture, I proposed creating several TIPTOE pieces for this portrait. I created new paintings. I wanted the color palette to be cohesive so I could remain free in the graphic work, moving from geometric compositions to free-form shapes. It was interesting to see the whole set of objects come together through materials, shapes and colors, like a collection. I really like the result.
What creation would you like to make with TIPTOE?
With TIPTOE, I would love to create a multifunctional “furniture-space” that uses the construction properties of table legs and BRACKET wall brackets: fixing, supporting, assembling. This way, we could reinterpret their original uses, holding boards vertically like partitions, fixing elements to the floor and suspending them from the ceiling. Somewhere between Gio Ponti’s “wall organizers,” Ettore Sottsass’s installations and Matali Crasset’s small constructions, I imagine an autonomous, graphic object that would be a true architectural element within the space.
Thank you, Alice, for this beautiful portrait and for your creativity with TIPTOE objects, turning them into unique pieces of furniture with personality. Discover Alice Roux’s work on her Instagram account.