Nina Levett Vienna based designer of ornaments, tableware, wallpapers

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Nina Levett: Designer for Tableware Wallpaper and Textile Ornaments

Born in 1973 in Vienna, Austria ornament designer Nina Levett is best known for her provocative tableware designs and her inspiring works like her Sperm Sofa and colourful moveable wallpapers.

Nina Levett starts her working process with a china ink drawing on transparent paper. She simply lets her hand do the work for her. Completely letting go of any thoughts and trusting her visual impulse, her hand follows the visual images her brain produces, anticipating the next step in her drawing process.

The finished works are multi-layer artworks with harmonious colours. Her works are usually created using diverse techniques that she produces in-house in her own studio. She entirely controls all steps in the working process from the first drafts to the finished print or porcelain product.

Nina Levett finds inspiration from like the films like Abel Ferrara’s “Bad Lieutenant”. She says that her work is inspired by the three to five P’s: POP, PUNK, PORN, PROTEST and PAIN.

Nina Levett Designer de Ornamentos Viena Áustria

Nascida a 1973 em Viena de Áustria, Nina Levett, designer de ornamentos, é conhecida pelos seus designs provocantes de decoração e os seus inspirantes trabalhos tal como o sofá esperma e os coloridos e irrequietos wallpapers.

Nina Levett começa o seu trabalho com uma tinta oriunda da China e desenhando em papel transparente.
Simplesmente deixa que a sua mão faça o trabalho por ela. Desprovida de pensamento. confia no seu impulso visual e sua mão segue as imagens produzidas pelo cérebro, antecipando, assim, o próximo passo do processo de desenhar. Os trabalhos acabados são obras com diversas camadas com cores harmoniosas. Seus trabalhos, frequentemente, são criados usando diversas técnicas que ela produz no estúdio, em casa. Controla todos os passos desde os primeiros rascunhos até ao trabalho final, imagem ou porcelana.

Nina Levett encontra a sua inspiração nos filmes do género ”Bad Liutenant” de Abel Ferrara. Ela diz que o seu trabalho é inspirado pelos três de cinco P’s.
POP, PUNK, PORN, PROTEST and PAIN

About Vienna

As a design studio with interests in the elevation of the everyday domestic sphere to that of art object, we see our artistic roots in the rich decorative art tradition of Vienna.

The city is full of elements that resonate with, and inspire, our desire to integrate decoration and functionality. The signs of the Wiener Werkstaette and the Seccession are evident throughout the city. Less evident is the breach that occurred during the 1930s and 1940s. But, the work of many of the contemporary Viennese artists today can be seen within this on-going story of reaction, creativity, suppression and re-emergence.

Nina Levett’s work on textiles, wallpapers and interior furnishing follows from the work of artists and designers such as Hoffmann, Klimt and Moser, but also reflects the earlier interests of architects such as von Falke who clearly saw the home as a force for social control and cultural expression. The concepts which flow within all of the experimentation in decorative arts in Vienna during the last century have profoundly influenced her responses to the objects around her and provide the intellectual, if not the literal, inspiration for much of what she does.

A key element of Hoffmann’s Gesamtkunstwerk was the elevation of all of the elements of the interior to the status of art object, whilst at the same time, producing recognizably functional household objects. This has been a key concept in Nina Levett’s work, most notably with her cutlery and crockery sets that are currently on display at the MAK, Vienna. Designed to be completely functional items, they are, at the same time, high-end art objects that seek to objectify and explore the darker elements of the domestic sphere they are designed for.

Our aim is to allow art to enter the lives of people through small objects of daily use.

Searching for Meaning

Nina Levett is talking about “The Search for Meaning” in this video. She explains that she finds it interesting to watch videos or read about other artists and how they go about in their work. She relates to their struggles and the way they feel about their work. It helps her to keep alive the vigorous struggle for meaning that she finds she has to face everytime she sits down to work.

Nina Levett talks about her work at the MAK 22.11.2011

For the exhibition which was held at the Austrian Museum of Applied Arts in Vienna from November 2011 to January 2012 Nina Levett held a talk explaining how she made the tableware box which is now part of the permanent collection of the museum. She talks about the important moment in her life when during her wedding trip she received an email by the museum asking if she would take part in the Design Criminals exhibition. She was overwhelmed with joy when she read this email because the Austrian Museum of Applied Arts is right outside her studio and is very closely related to the University of Applied Arts in Vienna where Nina studied architecture from 1993 to 1997.

The work for the Design Criminals exhibition curated by Sam Jacob affected Nina Levett’s wedding preparations. She now not only had to prepare the wedding ceremony hosting 140 guests but also had to organize a photo shooting and a live video of the event which was to be shown at the museum.

The success of this exhibition was so great that the curator Thomas Geisler asked Nina Levett if the Austrian Museum of Applied Arts could keep some of her works for its permanent collection. The result of this was Nina’s creating a new tableware box for the museum. The results of this project were terrific which she explains as being thanks to the close cooperation between her and the curator Thomas Geisler.