UCLA Journal of Radiation Oncology SUMMER 2024 - Flipbook - Page 67
UCLA RADIATION ONCOLOGY JOURNAL
For Wearstler, life should be 昀椀lled with experiences,
with curiosity and exploration. She has two
recollections that were pivotal in how she approaches
her life and her design work. Her grandmother
worked in a law o昀케ce for the same attorney for 50
years, and she wanted to look her best. Like many
fashionable women, she had a signature look: she
always wore a scarf from her large and diverse
collection. Wearstler shares, “I remember the colors
and the graphics of all the scarves, and I actually have
many of them still.” Her second pivotal recollection is
of going with her mother to vintage stores, auctions,
昀氀ea markets, and yard sales. “So, early on, I was really
educating my eye,” she recalls, thinking about how
she has retained that high level of curiosity and how
much she had enjoyed these excursions with her
mother. “I remember always turning things over and
looking at how they were made.” The intersection of
art and science has long been the crux of Wearstler’s
curiosity and drive.
“Everything, to me, is about storytelling, and being
a great designer is about really getting into the spirit
and the storytelling,” Wearstler says. She is cognizant
that when people visit Los Angeles, they want to feel
like they are in Los Angeles. When they visit Austin,
they want to have an authentic Austin experience.
“That’s why we work with all the di昀昀erent artists
and incredible local creatives that are in each city.
The studio’s design is about ‘old soul, new spirit.’ I
mean, I always say that. And I love vintage, and that
probably goes back to just going shopping and being
with my mom.” ‘Old soul, new spirit’ is, she says,
both the dichotomy of and philosophy of her studio,
a balance of antique and vintage pieces mixed with
contemporary, placing well-established artists and
artisans alongside emerging talents.
In discussing this dichotomy of marrying the vintage
with the new, Wearstler re昀氀ects on ways she can
ensure that her projects are not so 昀椀lled with new that
they lack soul. “You were mentioning the oak 昀氀oors;
we love something that has a little wire brushing to it.
Or if we incorporate a stone countertop, a lot of times
we leather the top, which gives it this really incredible
hand. It makes your projects where you can’t really
put a timestamp on them.” This gives her spaces
longevity; each space is a singular story that would be
di昀케cult to replicate.
Kelly Wearstler sees her role as one of a problem
solver, deftly balancing every aspect and working
with a team of as many as a thousand members from
di昀昀erent disciplines with the combined skills to
create a modern wonder. She explains, “The goal of
the work that I do is, at the end of the day, to evoke
emotion, you know, make people feel good, whether
it’s physically or visually. There’re so many tools that
are at our disposal when designing a space to create
something that is authentic.” The elements that she
has curated for each space, from lobby to elevator to
bar to guest room, signal how guests might interact
with their surroundings, so even in initial concept
stages, she is already asking questions about what the
end result for each space should feel like emotionally.
But she is also taking location into consideration.
Even if we can’t replicate a Kelly Wearstler space, we
could take aspects of the thought process she puts
in to incorporate into our own spaces to improve
our well-being. When expanding upon why she
thinks we should be more intentional when curating
our own living spaces, Wearstler says, “Having a
beautiful space that you feel good in, and you just
feel like you’re loved at home, like that’s something.
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