Marisa Osorio Farinha
Co-Founder and Artistic Director of SIÈCLE Paris
Life is made of chance encounters, and when I left the Ecole du Louvre in Paris, I did not think that I would create this brand with Philippe. I was already destined to the Arts obviously, but more to the purchase and the resale of art objects. Yet I naturally put my keen eye and my sense of colour to the service of the decorative arts.
The first success of the 1985 cutlery design (replaced by the Fidélio today) is inspired by a drawing discovered in the detail of an early painting of the Louvre. I then took confidence in my sensitivity as a designer and developed a dozen cutlery designs, inspired by the shapes and materials of those of the seventeenth century, which I love. Then with my model-maker of the time, I imagined the “Leaf service” in Limoges porcelain. Quickly I added new techniques such as hand embroidery on linen, enamelled glass or other ceramic technics. Always hand made in the strict respect of an ancestral know-how.
But the desire to make objects with my own hands and not just to imaging them, was becoming more and more pressing and at the end of the 90s I undertook to adapt the old technique of Decoupage, which consists in applying hand cut engravings on wood or under glass.
SIÈCLE was awarded "Entreprise du Patrimoine Vivant" (French label for know how) in 2008, for this exceptional technique.
In 2000, my taste for crafts led me to design and launch the first jewel collections for SIÈCLE Paris, limited collections or unique pieces.
Today I enjoy knowing how to make objects, how to observe, how to assemble lines and colours. I always work with passion to imagine new collections for SIÈCLE Paris often through new techniques.
Since 2014, I have been rediscovering my country, Portugal, where I am now working on a new project - the House of Birds - which allows me to fulfill the dream of a complete achievement, from hand-painted frescoes to ceramics, printed linen together with vintage and contemporary furniture without forgetting the ever present fine tableware.
We asked Marisa 7 questions:
- What is your favourite SIÈCLE creation? The Fidelio cutlery for silverware and the Lavallière tablecloth for embroidered textiles. And all the creations to come!
- What is the work of art that has impressed you the most? The Renaissance and the mannerist painting movement
- The meeting that inspired you the most? Odette Boulanger from Lalique for learning about a luxury brand.
- What are your favourite techniques and materials ? Decoupage and ceramics.
- What are your 3 favourite songs? De Falla, Mozart, Amalia Rodrigues.
- What are your 3 favourite plants? Roses, lilacs, cacti
- A motto or a phrase that you like? God writes straight with crooked lines.