Gloria

landenberger

in CONVERSATION

Q. What is your morning ritual?

Lifting my curtains from bed to check if the sun is out. Then coffee, the first thing I’m looking forward to every morning. I’m quite specific about it so if I’m able to have a good one this can already make my day.

Q. Who are you and what is your profession?

I would describe myself as all-round creative, however my original profession lies in fashion. I’ve studied fashion design in Berlin and Paris and worked as designer and creative lead for various companies until I parallel started pursuing my other passions such as interior and ceramics.

Q. How’s quarantine been for you? What are some ways you’ve been staying sane and creative?

As I usually travel a lot between Amsterdam, Paris and Berlin I really enjoyed standing still for a bit, spending more time with my boyfriend, who usually lives in Paris and having the opportunity to work more in my atelier. I finally had the time to work on some bigger sculptures which I enjoyed a lot.

Q. Talk to us about your background.

I studied at the university of fine arts in Berlin, where in the base year you also learned the basics of industrial design, mould making, weaving, carpentry etc. I’m happy I already had such a versatile studies as I was, next to fashion always interested in so many more fields of designs. I would never want to settle just for one thing / area. Next to the ones I am busy with, there are also so many more to discover, I have quite a long list of crafts that I would still like to explore, glassblowing, basket weaving, welding, stone sculpting, designing bigger furniture pieces.

Q. Why the name 22_22STUDIO?

The name 22_22STUDIO was inspired by my lucky number and time 22:22. Since I was a teenager, I have been superstitious about it and believed that catching this time over and over was no coincidence. I always felt compelled to make wishes for a whole minute until this magic alignment of numbers passed.

Q. Working for a long time in fashion, what made you change to making ceramics?

Having spent over a decade in the fashion industry, I wanted to take my creativity and energy out from behind a corporate computer in order to create something that followed my passion and was made with my own hands. This is how I got into making ceramics. At first it was more some sort of meditation without the specific goal to sell the pieces. Just after a couple of people asked me about them this developed into the idea to start my own brand under which I would design, make and sell interior objects. I especially love working with ceramics because the process is very meditative and it can be so rewarding to eventually hold your finished object in your hands.

Q. What is your design process? Does it take shape along the way or do you have clear vision from the beginning?

Throughout the day I constantly have impulses or ideas for new projects ( gemini energy ), so I’m trying to collect them, by writing them down, evaluating them at some point and sometimes ending up working them out months later. So when I start, I usually have quite a concrete idea of what I want to make but I like to work intuitively and give some space to coincidence and let it partially influence the direction or shape of my work.

Q. What is your main source of inspiration?

My inspiration could really comes from everywhere, tribal art, flowers, traditional crafts, vintage graphics, architecture, photography, everyday observations. I love the works of Hepworth, Picasso, le Corbusier, Noguchi, Lina Bo Bardi, Calder, Brancusi, the Arp’s.

Q. For example the wobbly vase, how did that come to mind?

When I started exploring ceramics I worked in a neighbourhood atelier with mainly old people. I am selftaught but that’s where I could learn from the older ones by watching and asking for advice. There was this guy making personalised urns by using the traditional technique of coiling. I loved it but thought it was almost a pity that he would smoothen them in the end so you couldn’t recognize the coils anymore. So I decided to use the technique in my own way. When you work with coiling the softness of the clay plays a big role, if you build too many coils on top of each other your piece will collapse eventually under its own weight. I loved to see how the pieces direct their own shape and tried to integrate this momentum in my process. The outcome was my wobbly vase series.

Q. When visiting your instagram, I recently saw that you are working on sculptures. Is that something you are exploring at the moment or is that something you want to continue doing?

After ending up in a production loop with my masks, cups and vases I realised that I needed a free project again to stay motivated and enjoy what I’m doing. I really loved working on my sculptures and lamps and definitely want to pursue working on bigger and unique pieces rather than producing the same allover again.

Q. Lets talk about the mask, I am very curious of the story behind it what made you make these?

The mask was actually one of the first ceramic pieces I made, I was experimenting with faces and was fascinated how the expression of a face could change just by slightly moving the eyes apart etc. I eventually settled for sticking out the tongue because I liked the attitude, it’s not rude it only reminds you to not always take things too serious.

Q. Is that also your view on life, to not take things too serious?

Yeah I truly believe that a less serious and more positive approach to life makes everything much easier.

Q. So when making your sculptures and wobbly vases in your atelier, is there a favourite playlist you put on?

My playlists can vary a lot from Brazilian or Ethiopian jazz over techno to hip hop etc. Lately though I rediscovered listening to podcasts.

Q. What's the first place you'd want to go when it's safe again to travel?

I already went on my first trips mainly for work but also a long weekend in the south of France which was so inspiring and relaxing. This previous time of quarantine makes me appreciate traveling so much more again. I can’t wait though to have some longer holidays as I have been working nonstop for such a long time now. Some beach and sun are all I wish for.

Q. What is your favourite movie and why?

I find it very hard to pick a specific one. The last ones I watched were “Murmur of the Heart” by Louis Malle and a documentary about 2 teenagers filming their daily life in a mafia neighbourhood in Sicily, called “Selfie”. There were completely different but both great. I generally love the movie platform Mubi, as they always have such a great curated program.

Q. Is there anything you would have done differently, given the knowledge and experience you have now?

Not really, I somehow believe that you need to experience certain things in order for others to happen. So not sure if anything I did should have happened earlier. Maybe one learning is to just do things and not waste too much time on the if’s, you can also still figure them out along the way. Things anyways always come differently than you think. Generally I believe that its important to listen to your gut feeling as it is most of the time right from the beginning.

Q. What are your longterm goals?

Setting up my own business in a way that makes me more independent and enables me to experiment with new projects. I am also dreaming of my own showroom where I would curate my own work together with furniture finds that would change on a regular base. I have so many ideas for different objects, collaborations, workshops etc. I guess I just need more time.

Q. So where would your own showroom be, in which city and why?

As I am currently living between Amsterdam, Paris and Berlin my showroom/gallery would be ideally in one of those cities. I find it hard though to choose between them. A house and atelier next to the sea wouldn’t be too bad either.

Q. If you could collaborate with anybody who would it be?

I would have loved the chance to meet Charlotte Perriand and work with her.

Q. Best piece of advice given?

Just do it! Pretty cliché but just so true. Too much doubting will just block you. I believe that it’s important to start somewhere with a vision and then figure things out along the way.