In 2014, during a trip through Europe with his partner Simon, Oliver Wilcox had a defining moment at the famed Paris Flea Market, Les Puces de Saint-Ouen. There, he discovered an evocative painting of a faceless woman turned away from the viewer—a style known as Profil Perdu, or “Lost Profile.” The gallerist explained that this technique, traditionally used by painters to refine their skills, required capturing a subject’s essence with minimal visual information. Wilcox found this idea profoundly poetic, and it resonated deeply with his own creative crossroads.

At the time, Wilcox was contemplating the trajectory of his career— between becoming an artist, a product designer, an interior designer, or a vintage furniture dealer. That encounter with the Profil Perdu painting crystallized his vision. Though he couldn’t bring the artwork home, it inspired the name and ethos of his future creative venture: Lost Profile Studio.

Established in 2017, Lost Profile Studio is the brainchild of Oliver Wilcox —a multidisciplinary creative whose practice spans art, design, and curation. Based in Coburg North, Melbourne, the studio produces a refined and minimal collection of lighting, furniture, and hardware, drawing influence from both Art Deco elegance and Industrial utility. In addition to its in-house designs, Lost Profile also curates a distinctive selection of vintage and antique pieces, marked by a moody, tactile aesthetic. These are sourced from across Australia, the United States, and Europe. Wilcox’s approach blends historical reverence with contemporary restraint, resulting in a body of work that feels both timeless and deeply personal.

1. Where were you born and where are you from ?

I was born in Sydney, Australia, and I lived there until I was 18. I’ve been living in Melbourne, Australia for about 13 years now.

2. What is your first memory connected to the art world ?

I have a very early memory of having a babysitter when I was a child who made folded paper art with us. I was fascinated and begged my parents to have her babysit us again, but unfortunately, we never saw her again.

3. Have you always worked in the art/design field ?

I studied Visual Arts, majoring in painting and sculpture. I started working for a mosaic artist named Scott Harrower while I was still studying, and later worked for another lighting designer named Christopher Boots for nearly 8 years. So for my adult life, yes!

4. What led you to the design creation ?

I’ve always considered myself an artist, making paintings and sculptures for as long as I can remember. It was when I was working for Christopher Boots between 2012 and 2019, I was really exposed to the world of functional art, fell in love with lighting and furniture, and started making design objects.

5. How would you describe your creative process and it influences ?

I am an avid collector of antiques, objects, and natural history. One of my most inspiring places to be is in a big antiques market or warehouse. I also take inspiration from the natural world, particularly anatomy, and also the built environment (architecture). I spend time in these environments, I process the shapes, the proportions, I analyze the things that excite me and try to uncover the reasons why they excite me. I have ideas turning over in my head sometimes for years before I seek to realize them into a design. It’s the ideas that are still in my head after many years, I know will be successful and are worth pursuing.

6. Could you describe a typical day of your work ?

I will spend my morning going over emails and checking in with my team of 7 staff, making sure they’re all up-to-speed with what needs to be achieved in the day. I’m currently renovating a showroom space for the business, so these days there will be a lot of liaising with the tradespeople and interior designer, and visiting the new property to make sure that’s all moving smoothly as well. I generally do a little bit of everything at work – some production, some sales and dispatching. I will meet with my industrial designer, discuss the latest version of a component we have 3D printed overnight, or touch-base on the progress of the new pieces we’ll be showing for Milan Design Week 2025. My favourite thing to do at work is build new prototypes and art pieces. It’s important for me to personally build new pieces for the first time, rather than have my team build them.

7. Why did you choose the specific materials you work with ?

The main materials I work with are brass and glass. These materials have a long legacy in lighting design, and I like the idea of sticking to traditional lighting materials, but creating designs that are far from traditional. Brass can be so robust, but also have such a delicate surface. It can be gold and flashy, it can be dark and moody. It collects hand prints and tells its own story. More recently I have been getting into cast bronze and aluminium. There is something so solid and permanent about these materials and the process. I’ve also been working with Four Seasons Quartzite a lot. I’m obsessed with the colours – the purples, greens, greys, rust colours. Colours that shouldn’t look good together, but in the context of this stone, they just work.

8. What are the technical particularities of your creations ?

The artisans who work with me have backgrounds in metal work, sculpture, and an understanding of electrical circuits. The surfaces that we work with are so delicate and reactive, a lot of care needs to be taken when handling the pieces. I think my designs are quite unique from a construction point-of-view, they have their own rules which need to be understood by my team. Sometimes it feels like the designs teach us how to make them, over time.

9. What advices could you give to beginning artists who would like to create sculptural design works ?

Aim for absolute uniqueness. Look to uncommon sources of inspiration. Understand what is already out there in the market, and aim to create something that has never been made before. Don’t use spray-foam.

10. If your works had to belong to a design movement, in which one would you define it ?

Probably Arts & Crafts, or Art Deco. I love decoration, in the smallest amounts, finding the right places to put an angle or curve.

11. What designers and artists have influenced you ?

Josef Hoffmann. Carlo Bugatti. Eileen Gray.

12. What contemporary designers do you appreciate ?

Lindsey Adelman, Vincenzo De Cotiis, Rick Owens.

13. What contemporary artists (in any kind of art) have you been inspired by ?

Nicolette Johnson (ceramics), Al Stark (painting), Jacques Green and Juno Mamba (music)

14. If you had to summarize your creations in one word or sentence, what would it be ?

Apocalypse-chic.

PROUST QUESTIONNAIRE
(The Proust Questionnaire is a set of questions answered by the French writer Marcel Proust.
Other historical figures who have answered confession albums are Oscar Wilde,
Karl Marx, Arthur Conan Doyle, Stéphane Mallarmé, Paul Cézanne…)

11. Which words or phrases do you most overuse?

Lol

12. Which talent would you most like to have?

 Speaking another language

13. If you could change one thing about yourself, what would it be?

Exercise more

14. What do you consider your greatest achievement?

 Building a healthy business

15. If you were to die and come back as a person or a thing, what would it be?

A whale

16. Where would you most like to live?

If not Melbourne, New York

17. What is your most treasured possession?

 Whale bones

18. What do you regard as the lowest depth of misery?

Loss

19. What is your favorite occupation?

Exploring the world

20. What is your most marked characteristic?

Calmness

21. What do you most value in your friends?

Understanding

22. Who are your favorite writers?

 Rick Strassman

23. Who is your hero of fiction?

Donnie Darko

24. Which historical figure do you most identify with?

Charles Rennie Mackintosh

25. Who are your heroes in real life?

Health care workers, scientists

26. What are your favorite names?

Poppy, NASA

27. What is it that you most dislike?

Closed mindedness

28. What is your greatest regret?

No regrets

29. How would you like to die?

In my sleep, but bury me at sea 

30. What is your motto?

Take Care