Visit Artist File 026 : Amelie Mancini （painter, printmaker, and textile designer）

Kokka Fabric (KF): What kind of work are you currently creating? What motifs, materials, or forms of expression are you particularly drawn to at the moment? Are there any projects or ideas you’ve been exploring recently?

Amelie: I’m a painter, printmaker and textile designer, working across different mediums from oil and watercolor to block printing and surface design. I like moving between materials and processes, because each one allows me to explore color, line, and subject matter in different ways.

My textile work draws inspiration from traditional folk art and textiles, children’s illustrations, and Japanese prints. In my paintings I’m interested in the way women move through the world, and the many roles they take on throughout their lives.

KF：You are based in Brooklyn, New York. What is your studio like?

Amelie: I just moved into a new studio very close to my house, so I’m very excited! It’s large and is split into two areas, one for painting and one for crafts and sewing, so that my fabrics don’t accidentally get paint splatters on them. I use a lot of different materials, from oil paint to watercolor, block printing, monoprints, inks, charcoal, and occasionally my iPad.

KF: So your new studio is much closer to home now! What does a typical day look like for you? How do you usually divide your time between your creative work and everyday life?

Amelie: I go to the studio every day after dropping my kids off at school, and work until it’s time for pickup. Some days are dedicated to painting, some are spent working on textile designs or prints.

I try to protect at least two days each week just for making art, no administrative work,
appointments, or laundry. I’ve learned that I have to actively protect studio time, otherwise
everyday life can easily take over.

KF: What do you particularly enjoy about designing textiles? Are there aspects of the process that you find especially rewarding or refreshing?

Amelie: I really enjoy drawing all the different elements: the animals, plants, rocks, trees, and birds. There are lots of little details to discover when you look closely. I love that feeling in a pattern, where something that initially reads as a whole landscape reveals smaller surprises the longer you look at it.

KF: On the other hand, are there any particular things you keep in mind when designing for textiles?

Amelie: I have many years of experience designing textile prints, from children’s clothing to blankets and home linens. Every project presents its own design challenges, though, and with yardage, getting the scale of both the print and the repeat right is especially important.

KF: For your first collaboration with KOKKA, What ideas became the starting point for the collection? When you began thinking about developing your work into fabric, what did you envision?

Amelie: For this collection, I took some of my linocut prints and drawings and developed them into three different landscapes: desert, forest and night sky. Designing repeat patterns is really fun, especially when there are lots of different elements to play with, from plants and trees to wild animals and birds. I’ve always loved botanical motifs in textiles. They can be so charming and elegant, and also feel familiar and evocative at the same time.

Since becoming a mother, I’ve often found myself drawing little animals for my children, they’re a great source of enjoyment for everyone. I hope this collection has that same sense of wonder and will resonate both with adults and children.

KF: What does the name “Terra Collection” mean to you? Why did you choose the word “Terra,” and how does it relate to the collection?

Amelie: Terra is Latin for “land” or “earth”, our only home! We sometimes forget that it’s not just home to us humans, but also to all living things, vegetal and animal, big and small. There is so much beauty and wonder here on Earth, and it is an endless source of inspiration.

KF: What inspired the Terra Collection? Were there any particular experiences, places, images, or memories that shaped the collection?

Amelie: I created the desert print after a trip to Joshua Tree, which blew my mind. Living in New York, it’s a striking experience to find yourself somewhere so different from the city. The light, the colors, the sense of space… For the forest print, I was thinking about the woods from the fairy tales I loved as a child: mysterious, untouched and brimming with life. From there, it was only a matter of looking up at the sky, and imagining owls flying through the clouds. These three landscapes became different ways of imagining the natural world, each with its own atmosphere and sense of wonder.

For this collection, the KOKKA team and I experimented with several different scales before settling on one that felt intimate and elegant, with a feeling somewhat reminiscent of a Toile de Jouy.

KF: The Terra Collection includes three patterns: “Forest,” “Owls,” and “Joshua Tree.” What images or stories are behind each of these patterns? Are there any particular details or elements that you paid special attention to when creating them?

Amelie: The three patterns—Forest, Owls, and Joshua Tree—were all inspired by my love of old children’s books and the magical worlds they depict, combined with the bold, graphic quality of linocuts and woodcuts. I love the minimal but expressive lines that come from carving into a block.

Joshua Tree is inspired by the landscape of the California desert, with its strange rock
formations and distinctive plants.

Forest is a more imagined landscape, drawing on the mysterious woods of fairy tales.

Owls grew out of the night-sky imagery, with birds flying through the clouds.

I wanted each pattern to feel like its own little world, filled with details that invite you to look
more closely.

KF: If you were to make something yourself using the Terra Collection fabrics, what would you like to make? And what would you like people to make or create with these fabrics?

Amelie: These fabrics would be great for small accent pillows, tote bags, and little pouches. If I didn’t already have so many napkins, I would make some of those too! And I may or may not have plans for a fancy shirt for myself. I love a strong print as a fashion statement.

More than anything, I hope people have fun with these fabrics and find their own ways to
incorporate them into their lives—whether in something useful, something decorative, or simply something that makes them happy to look at.

KF: Thank you so much for talking with us. We hope the Terra Collection will bring a little color and joy to many people’s everyday lives.