Designer insights with Rebecca Hossack

Rebecca Hossack is the founder of the Rebecca Hossack Art Gallery, an internationally renowned innovator of individuality, with over 25 years of experience.  Rebecca’s gallery is one of the few to have not only survived the 1980s but thrived in the years since. She is a great champion of Non-Western artistic traditions, including tribal artwork. Rebecca even has a following with esteemed celebrities, such as Sir Paul Smith, P.J. Harvey, Peter Gabriel and Griff Rhys Jones. So we are proud to bring you the Designer Insights of Rebecca Hossack.

Image Credit: 1) Dries Vann Oten 2) Little Greene 3) Circa 20th Century Antiques & Design 4) Rebecca Hossack Art Gallery  5) Duro Olowu

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1) In your own words describe your unique style and creative aesthetic?

I hate following fashions, - there’s nothing worse than chainstore beige. Instead, I love anything well made or handmade.

2) When starting a new project, what is your creative process?

I never make a map or a plan before I do something, but respond to things and colours. I look at doorknobs, light fittings, patterns, reacting to what I see.

3) Out of the creative people you have worked with, who is it that you respect and admire the most?

I love working with the brilliant Alan Chandler of Arts Lettres Techniques, one of the most creative architects around today. Little Greene’s Robert Paul has a superb sense of colour. And of course, I work with incredible artists – Karen Nicol, honorary fellow of the Royal College of Art, Rebecca Jewell, former Leverhulme artist-in-residence at The British Museum, Ann Stokes and Aboriginal artists. Just when you think you’ve seen it all, they astonish you—like Owen Yalandja’s wooden mermaids.

4) When looking for inspiration is there a particular thing you do to get inspired?

Everyday when I wake, my surroundings inspire me - colours and patterns, dresses by Duro Olowu and Dries Van Noten, jewellery by Pippa Small, shoes by Emma Hope. It’s about looking and responding.

5) What has brought you to this point in your career? And what is your advice for people looking to follow in your footsteps?

My slogan for the gallery is ‘work hard and be nice to people’. It’s up on the wall in neon, and I truly believe this is the key to success. I came to this country with no money or friends, but I have worked really hard, and now I have everything that I want.