Nancy Wolff
75 // Nancy Wolff was born in New Jersey, USA, and moved to New York City, where she still lives, after graduating in Fine Art from Skidmore College. Living in New York is all the inspiration Nancy needs: ‘It’s a very colourful place,’ she says, ‘surrounded by amazing architecture, wonderful window shopping, the best park ever, and in walking distance of some of the most incredible museums. From the moment I walk out of my door and into the street, I’m bombarded with inspiration.’ Nancy is drawn to mid-century modern design and tends to gravitate towards those influences in her work. Clients have included Kokka, Barnes & Noble, Galison and Great Arrow Graphics. Nancy’s boutique design company, Loboloup, created with her niece Elizabeth, specializes in hand-screened eco-friendly wallpaper. In the future, she would love to expand into fabrics and rugs.
Design Heroes: Alexander Girard, Lucienne Day, Sonia Delaunay
3D Cubes
Echoing the trend for all things scientific in the 1950s, this design uses black lines over solid blocks. The swizzle-stick motifs add to the mid-century feel.
Spools
Highly stylized cotton reels and buttons are pared down to simple geometric shapes. Nancy created these designs with rugs and fabric in mind. She starts the process by hand, with brush and gouache, then scans her images to complete the design in Adobe Photoshop.
Horseshoes
Freely drawn arches representing horseshoes are arranged in rows. Nancy varies the scale and direction to make the design less uniform.
All work © Nancy Wolff