Pattern : inaluxe - tractorgirl.com.au

When I first approached inaluxe for a feature, they were not quite surface and textile design – but they just fitted in SO well with my loves of pattern and colour! Mostly their work has only been available as framed prints, and they just recently made it available on bags and lampshades. However, the breaking news is that they have just announced they are currently working on a range of fabrics to be produced later in the year!!! So excited!

I love inaluxe. They have captured the elements of mid-century design that I adore – a great sense of the hand drawn, off-centre balance, and layered colour. And the palette! Turquoise, minty green, red, mustard…so much goodness. I have admired and lusted after their works for a couple of years now.

I’m not the only one. This couple’s work has been featured in numerous magazines and newspapers (including blanket, frankie, inside out, uppercase, and The Age). Not only that, they were asked to design packaging for Bloom cosmetics, and contribute to Kate Spade’s Artists Portfolio of Prints, and Year of Colour!

all seasons

Kristina Sostarko and Jason Odd met at art school “when there was no such thing as ‘too much beer’ and sleep was something you did when you were dead, or perhaps once a week!” Now however, their energies are focused resolutely on inaluxe – and they are firm believers in the idea that quality is better than quantity. That hard work shows.

When I asked them a few questions recently, I was struck by some of the similarities between Jason’s life & my own – a conservative upbringing in a country town, being terribly naive, and being obsessed with Dr. Who. On the other hand, my similarity to Kristina is that I also have a list as long as your arm of artists and musicians that inspire me greatly.

coda

What are your childhood experiences and memories of craft and/or design?

Kristina: One of my favourite memories is my first day at prep school. I had serious separation issues when it came to my mum leaving me with the teacher, and was a whimpering mess. My teacher, Ms Wriggler, was amazing. I still remember what she wore. She had a shock of short curly red hair, a la big 70s round style, a striped finger-painting top with a denim overall dress, and brown boots. She sat me on her knee and brought out a latch hook rug project with about four different shades of blue wool. I’d never seen anything like it – I stopped crying, and found myself happily working away. It was a beautiful design, bold blocks of blue in a wave like formation. This is my earliest, and strongest memory as a child. Looking back now, I realise I liked making things with my hands. It didn’t matter so much what it was, there was just this gratification with making things. I remember lots of macaroni frames, and my favourite necklace was one I made out of some nylon string, and a wizz fizz spoon. I wore it all the time!
Jason: Finger painting at kindergarten was quite a revelation. I didn’t really like getting my hands covered in paint, but recall the freedom of the medium with some fondness. At a young age I developed a skill of mimicking other work, albeit in a more childlike style. I consider my early inspirations to have come from comic books, mostly of a superhero and science fiction nature, which largely fuelled my imagination in my teen and pre-teen years.

one million short stories

Are there any creative people in your family background? Especially any that influenced you?

Kristina: I think both my parents have always been people who inspired creativity. Mum worked on a lot of traditional Croatian embroidery of table cloths, etc, and dad had a very lateral mind in that he would make pretty much whatever he needed. My grandmother was an avid and incredible gardener, who always had so many flowers, fruit and vegetables growing. My grandfather loved to make shoes. So there was always something going on in the workshop, garden or home that illustrated to me the enjoyment of making. My brother also loves to make things – it’s kind of like looking in the mirror with him. I think more than anything, it’s the joy for life that my family have given me. To believe anything is possible.

Jason: Although there is a complete lack of artistic drive in my family, my parents appeared to realise this and they compensated for it as we constantly seemed to be going to art galleries, exhibitions and museums. On one of my birthdays my parents took me on a tour of the National Library and I got to check out the micro-film archive. On one level I thought it was a strange present, but on the other hand I quite enjoyed the experience and appreciated it greatly.

orbital

the perfect snow

What has been the icing on the cake for your biz?

Kristina: Over the last year, I think some of the most exciting projects have been the designs we created for Earth Greetings, Blue Q, the recent packaging for Bloom Cosmetics, and design for Kate Spade New York. It’s a real pleasure to work with other people, and see our designs on so many lovely products. Being featured in the Print Pattern II book by Bowie style was also such a hoot. The biggest change for inaluxe since 2006 was when we went full time with the business a year and a half ago. We quit our day jobs, moved three hours out of Melbourne and bought the smallest house in the world (albeit with a massive backyard) and reduced our overheads overnight! It was part of the bigger picture for us, and we love it here. It’s hard to find a good coffee in the country, but it’s worth it!

Jason: Independence, that’s what works for me. After years of working lower echelon jobs in the music industry, I still have trouble conveying how positive it is not to punch in and punch out at a time clock. Just the fact that we can walk out into our own space – that sense of freedom is hard to duplicate in any other way. Of course working from home provides another set of issues, like knowing when to stop and take the time to enjoy the space we’ve created.

birdspeak

the speculators

Who do you admire? What/who are your biggest influences, past or present?

Kristina: Artists and musicians who made an impression on me over the years – Mark Rothko, Christian Dior, Jasper Johns, Henri Moore, Alberto Giacometti, Charles Blackman, Grace Cossington Smith, Robert Motherwell, John Coburn, John Coltrane, Miles Davis, Charles Mingus. There is a big fat long list of more, but who wants to read that! I have to say the biggest influences in my life are Jason, my family, friends, and all the amazing art teachers I have had over the years. Last but not least, our dog Kibi, who is hysterically funny, and lights up the room every time.

Jason: I adored most aspects of the 1970s as a child, and have only recently forgiven the 1980s for existing, effectively ruining my childhood (at least that’s what I thought at the time). In reality, living in a small conservative country town, with only two television channels, a local cinema and comics to provide me with a view of the outside world, I was terribly naive even by the time I went to university. As a child I was obsessed with shows like Dr. Who and the original Star Trek, which were basically 60s culture repeated throughout the 1970s.

I guess I have an affinity with the 60s, I don’t consciously dress or act that way, but a great deal of the music I listen to (jazz, mod, folk-rock, country-rock, prog-rock, etc) stems from that decade. And a childhood hero of mine was Andy Warhol, although I have tempered that love over the years with some cynical revisions. And after learning more about his contemporaries, I still feel the closest to pop art, even if my work no longer obviously reflects that.

What is the best piece of advice you’ve ever been given?

Kristina: “Love your life, and if you don’t love it, change it so you do love it”.
Jason: “Stick to your guns”. Not particularly sage advice, but it works for me.

"august" - for Kate Spade

You can find more of inaluxe’s work on their blog , and in their shop.

I would like to thank Kristina and Jason for being so generous with their time and their words, and for permission to use their gorgeous images.