Musings with Lia Rochas
Artist and muse Lia Rochas welcomes us at her Parisian studio and shares her work process for RUS latest collaboration along with some insights on what inspires her.
Lia at her studio wearing the AMU cable sweater in butter.
Where’s home to you?
Half Swiss German and Portuguese origin, living in France, I am used to adapting to different places. But Paris, where I was born, remains a place that nourishes me and in which I feel inspired. I live in Chinatown with my daughter in the studio that belonged to my father - who was also an artist - with a small garden where you can hear the birds singing. We are lucky to live in a city with a window of nature. I like both equally. For me, home is a place where I can choose to be alone or surrounded, where I can create at any time, a space full of books, where you can find silence or listen to music loudly, very loudly, where you can dance, where you can welcome friends. The house opens up infinite possibilities.
What sort of things do you find inspiring? Where do you find them?
I draw a lot of inspiration from books, films and music. Sometimes, a sparkle can emerge from other forms of creation to feed my own practice. I often go to flea markets to find material, magazines, journals. These are places full of sources of inspiration and which bear witness to the passing of time, to history through all the objects sold on the stalls.
Walking around the city, as an anonymous person, that certain ideas fall into place. I need the urban hubbub as much as the quietness of nature, there is a balance between the two. I try to listen to my instincts to know in which context I could flourish. It's all about the moment. When I create, I go into a bubble. I often listen to music that puts me in a trance like Steve Reich, Philip Glass, Laurie Anderson. And when I finish a project, I need to decompress, I change the record and I dance, as if to evacuate energy. Also through conversations with my friends, the artistic practice being a solitary one, it is essential to share and to leave one's comfort zone to evolve.
Lia’s studio in Paris.
Lia’s collage work process.
Do you find useful following a routine during or do you prefer to follow your emotional impulses?
Apart from waking up early with coffee, I have no routine and let myself be guided by my inspirations and emotions. Never know when inspiration will strike.
What sort of shapes and materials do you feel attracted to?
Natural materials that fit the shape of the body and allow for movement. I like it when you can guess the curves.
Lia’s collage work process.
A corner of Lia’s studio in Paris.
Name three artists that inspire you.
Sooo many! And it depends on the moment. If I had too choose only three today : Agnès Varda, Birgit Jürgenssen, Trisha Brown.
How would you describe the RUS universe in three words?
Timeless, choreographic, fluid.
Do you have any garment you’ve loved for a long time? What makes it special?
Not just one piece, but several. My mother kept some of my childhood clothes and I am happy that my daughter can wear them. I think that clothes - as well as books - are things that can be passed on from generation to generation. And then, from generation to generation, other pieces will be added, others will disappear, it's the movement of life and its hazards. I find this emotional.
What’s on your horizon?
In September, I will be doing an installation during Paris Design Week at the Hôtel La Louisiane, a mythical Parisian hotel in the heart of Saint Germain which has welcomed many artists, philosophers and musicians since the post-war period, such as Jean-Paul Sartre, Simon de Beauvoir, Juliette Greco, Jim Morisson etc. It is a chance to experience this historic place.
And this autumn, Marie Robert, a philosopher friend of mine, is bringing out her fifth book, which I had the pleasure of illustrating.
And there are other projects in the pipeline!