For this second Artist Spotlight series, I am delighted to introduce Orla Lawn, who lives and works in Liverpool. Orla is an Irish designer–maker working in material innovation and interior surface design. She is a recent graduate of the Royal College of Art, with a background in architecture, textiles and weave. Orla spoke to Manderley Press about the ways in which her love of travel, family and Mr Darcy (!) has influenced her work. Check out her designs at orlalawn.com.

Could you tell us a bit about yourself, and how you became an artist and a designer?
I wanted to be an artist for as long as I can remember. My uncle is an artist - he creates amazing abstract paintings and sculptures. Peeking into his studio when I was little was mesmerizing: a messy space with paint tubes covering every surface. My love of spaces led me to study Architecture in Dublin before changing direction and moving to London to study Textiles at Central Saint Martins and the Royal College of Art.

What is your most vivid memory of an impressive building or house?
A building that takes up a lot of space in my head is the Palais Stoclet in Brussels. At the age of eight, I moved from a small town in Ireland to a neighbourhood near the Palais Stoclet.
To this day I've never seen anything like it: a huge blocky Art Nouveau mansion completely clad in champagne marble, tinged green by the roof's patina. It was designed as a complete work of art, down to the furniture and light fittings. I'd hear all these rumours and legends about the Palais and the Stoclet family. It's privately owned and closed to the public, which just makes it more intriguing. I think about it a lot and how I'd give anything to be able to explore it one day!

What are you reading right now?
My sister just gave me Pride & Prejudice as I've never actually read it. Between lockdowns I visited Lyme Park in Cheshire, the location for Pemberley in the BBC series. It was so beautiful, but a little lost on my fiancé who had never swooned over Mr Darcy's lake scene.

How do human-made structures inspire and inform your work?
With my work I try to bridge the fields of architecture and textiles. I want to create engagement in spaces through tactility. When you begin exploring human-made structures by touch you can understand more about what it is made from and how. Even the most pristine and minimalist spaces have tangible traces of the hands that built them, and I love that.

Where do you like to work and why?
I like to switch between great rough and messy spaces for making, and then cosy clean spaces for reflecting and planning. I've been very glad to have my studio space this year. The building itself, an enormous old warehouse in Liverpool's North Docks, shivers from October to April, but it's a wonderful hive of creativity.

If you could visit a favourite place right now, where would it be?
I'd go to my parent's cottage by the sea in Ireland. I'd walk to the other end of the beach and buy an ice cream, no matter the weather. I'd complain about the smell of fertilizer from the neighbour's field and the complete absence of phone signal, and I'd love it all!

Who was your most-loved author as a child?
I loved Jill Murphy. Her Worst Witch books were brilliant, the originator of boarding schools for magic! I also wore the pages thin on my copy of Five Minutes’ Peace, about a mother elephant trying to take a relaxing bath away from her elephant offspring. The illustrations were fantastic. I didn't realise at the time that Jill illustrated her own books too. I wrote her a letter once as part of my classwork, she replied and was so wonderful and kind. I still have her letter: the envelope was sealed with the emblem of Miss Cackle's Academy for Witches!

Is there an artist or author whose work has deeply inspired you to visit a specific building or place?
A few years ago I travelled to a tiny town in Italy to see Christo's Floating Piers, bright orange paths snaking through the town and out across the lake. It was an absolute trek but
it was the final day of the huge installation and I couldn't miss it. It was like being inside a dream - such a vast, vibrant intervention in the landscape. I've been massively inspired by the work of Christo and Jean Claude and getting to be part of this collective experience was magical. I'll remember it forever.

Have you got your eye on any artists, exhibitions or creative spaces to investigate once lockdown is over?
The Liverpool Biennial is taking place this year so I'm really looking forward to exploring the city as it reopens. I love being able to poke around and discover new spaces, probably more than I appreciate the art but I feel like I'm not supposed to say that! Liverpool is brimming with the most beautiful old buildings, I notice something new every single time I walk through the city.

Finally, can you tell us a bit about your latest work, or plans for the future?
I'm working on my surface material Spelk, an innovative,
hand-finished wood panelling for interiors, architecture and furniture. I'm exploring the versatility of the material in all kinds of projects and applications. I'm working on retail solutions for brands as well as one-off pieces for individuals.

Please visit Orla’s website for more information about her work, and of course, for her contact details.

Instagram snippets | @manderleypress