Susi Bellamy x Nina Lang

I came across Munich-based illustrator Nina Lang's Instagram (@inkettoile) feed a couple of months ago and was instantly inspired by her expressive, flowing lines and rich colour palette. Nina's background in textile design and work in the magazine industry echo my own path, and this encouraged me to approach her about interpreting some of my pieces on paper. 

Nina worked with the design editor for Vogue and then European interiors magazine DECO Home, where she stayed for 7 years. After this, she worked as the creative director of marketing at a department store specialising in high-end fashion. Nina is self-taught, with no formal background in textile design or illustration, drawing inspiration from the visual playground of Instagram and learning by practice and persistence. She favours gouache and posca pens on paper, for their rich pigmentation and fluidity, creating images that focus on the ambience of a scene, rather than its rigid details. 

Nina explains that "she is a big fan of ancient Florentine designs, patterns and marbling techniques" and she was able to get "lost in the pattern" of my pieces. She states that the main task of the collaboration was to "illustrate the patterns - that use colour fearlessly and are at once calming and challenging. Susi trusts the coincidental colour combinations that arise from her creative process so it was great fun to dive into her unique aesthetic!"

Nina's take on the Susi Bellamy range focusses on the products within the home and the warmth of the interior setting as it is being lived in and appreciated. What appealed to me most was the abstraction of an already abstract product, and how even though the details of the piece have been obscured, the strong colours make them unmistakable to identify within the scene. This speaks to Nina's ability to capture the essence of an item. 

Gucci's own decision to immortalise its interiors collection in illustrations has also sparked a renaissance of the medium - perhaps moving away from the instantaneousness of photography in an era when our cameras are constantly in our pockets and looking for something with more artistic integrity. Nina's work is all of that, but with a side of fun and stylistic flair. 

 You can see more of Nina's work on her website.