Polar Composites

Mark McMenamin and Yvonee Chan -- Interior Design, 11/1/2009 12:00:00 AM

 

While redecorating her apartment in Brooklyn, New York, artist Shanan Campanaro faced a typical makeover dilemma: paint or paper? As it turns out, she did both: She digitally manipulated sections of her own paintings to create wallpaper patterns. Then, when she also used them as backdrops for her exhibitions in the U.S. and Europe, she drew unexpected commissions—sparking the launch of Eskayel, an invented name, at this year's BKLYN Designs fair. Digital printing translates motifs and imagery from her artwork onto 2-foot-wide rolls of water-resistant paper reinforced with latex and nylon.

Her most recent series, Island, reinterprets watercolors that she painted in Bali, Indonesia, then showed in Iceland. "I thought about that seemingly contrary experience, how these two islands, both extremely striking in beauty, natural resources, wildlife, and craft-based culture, had influenced me collectively," she says. Polar bears frolic across Bear in Mind—but only on close inspection. From a distance, they morph into an abstract pattern, as do the noses of Culebra Cubic and the ears of Bali Stripe. The heart shapes of Capri Kiss are reminiscent of freehand pen-and-ink drawings, and Madagascar recalls indigenous block-printed textiles. Five additional patterns round out the collection. 858-531-9034; eskayel.com. circle 415