My flat is much more to me than just a place to live, since I can’t afford a studio at the moment, I use it as my canvas. I think that’s apparent to anyone taking a cursory glance, even as they enter the front door.
Luckily, my boyfriend and his children are usually happy to join in the various projects around the place, we really created this ‘gesamtkunstwerk’ together, and feel like it belongs to us completely. I can’t stop making things, I think I produce like a little factory, warding off some evil spirits with handcraft.
All the lampshades are home-made, curtains, cupboards, shelves, cushions, quilts, clothes, toys, kitchen units, wallpaper, beds… my dream is to live in a space where I have made everything, (except perhaps the fridge, that might be a bit hard). Of course, I have designed about a hundred houses since childhood, I hope one day I can actually build one.
Sometimes there are moments where art pops up unexpectedly. A bookshelf and some children’s laundry, or even better, when someone else takes it upon themselves to make our home a more beautiful place.
Julika Vaci is a British sculptor, who has lived in Berlin since 2008. Visit her website here.
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