Architecture Must Be Truthful
From the very beginning of my work with interiors and architecture, I quickly formulated a simple realization: paintings are often used to cover walls when people don’t know what to do with them.
When an interior is weak or unfinished, people try to "save" it with art. To fill the void, to create an artificial sense of life. But in practice, this almost always looks like masking rather than a solution. I don’t like using paintings and only do so in rare cases: either if the client insists strongly, or when the piece itself holds personal value for the client—as a memory or an important photo. Only then is it justified.
At the same time, I am perfectly fine with solitary accents. Sometimes, on a very large wall, one small piece can look interesting. It creates air; the work becomes a focal point rather than just a "spot" on the wall. But when walls start being cluttered with decor, the space loses its silence.
I have a similar attitude toward decor. I almost never arrange it in an interior just because it’s "REQUIRED." To me, decor is not a set of items bought in a single day just to "fill the shelves."
I sincerely believe it should accumulate on its own. These could be things from travels, objects you made with your own hands, or accidental finds that caught your attention. They carry context and memory. Because of this, they resonate within an interior much more powerfully than any trend. When a space is filled with random objects without a history, it feels like a fake. Just a set of forms imitating life. To me, it always brings to mind a cheap hotel: everything seems to be there, but it’s all foreign and, frankly, pointless.
Sometimes an empty shelf looks much stronger than a filled one. Or one single item—but yours. A small ceramic vase you made yourself. Even a random object bought simply because you "felt like it" at the time—but one that you chose personally. It starts to work because it is connected to you, to your emotions and memories.
The main point I want to make is this: architecture must be truthful in its structure and materials. If a building is designed correctly in terms of proportions and construction, it doesn’t need "decorations" to look dignified.
In my interiors, architecture, light, and materials provide the foundation. Everything else should appear gradually and naturally. If you don’t like your interior in its "pure" form, with bare walls and empty shelves, don’t count on decor. It won’t fix the foundation.
