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    Naama Hofman

    Naama Hofman

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

    I was born in Jerusalem, Israel. I lived most of my life in Tel Aviv – Jaffa and for the last two years I have been living in Berlin.

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

    My strongest memory is going with my grandmother to the Israel Museum in Jerusalem. I loved going with her and hear talk about art. It made me feel good. It still is one of my favorite places.

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

    I never worked in design, I never had a job as a designer. Immediately after finishing my design degree I started working as a freelancer.

    4. What led you to the design creation ?

    I started working with LED strips soon after finishing my studies. I was dissatisfied with the looks of lamps and wished that their looks would change with the help of technological developement. I wanted to challenge the way we use and design light in our living spaces.

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

    In the early days, my design process started with me taking a lot of pictures of everything that I found interesting, from a street lamp to a tree. I would make an archive of these pictures and pictures I found online. I would have a mental dialogue with these images and the light object was my last word in this dialogue. This was crucial for me in order to find my voice in light design and to understand what interested me. In the last few years, as my aesthetic language is more defined, I use more freehand sketches as I am more comfortable withe the materials I use.

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

    I take my son to the daycare and then I head to the studio. As orders are being prepared and shipped, it’s important that I am in the studio every day. I divide my time between the present orders and working on custom orders and prototypes for future light objects.
    I like being in the studio because it’s my own playground.

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

    It took me a long time during which I tried different materials, to finally decide to use acrylic tubes for my light objects. It disperses the light evenly and has maintains the light temperature. I found that this material works best for me and can be easily adjusted for my needs. I always feel I can design endless objects with it.

    8. What are the technical particularities of your creations ?

    The process of creating a light object is full of technical particularities and is very unique because, in a sense I create my own ‘light bulb’.

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

    Do It ! but know that it you need to give yourself time to create your own language, to do your own thing.

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

    I think art deco style with a dash of minimalism.

    11. What designers have influenced you ?

    Kumi Sugai, Tezontle studio, Alexander Calder and lots and lots of different endless images that I find online.

    12. What contemporary designers do you appreciate ?

    Ariele Alasko, Michael Anastassiades, Richard Caldicott, Rodger Stevens, Mara Hoffman, Daria Zinovatnaya to name a few.

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

    Ugo Rondinone, Paul Kremer, Gidi Gilam, John Nicholson are contemporary artists I am inspired by.

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

    Delicate with an Umph !

    15. Is there anything you would like to add ?

    Proust Questionnaire with very short answers (one or a few words) :
    (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…)

    1. What is your idea of perfect happiness?

    Calm

    2. What is your greatest fear?

    To give up my studio

    3. What is the trait you most deplore in yourself?

    I can be impatience some time.

    4. What is the trait you most deplore in others?

    Disrespect

    5. Which living person do you most admire?

    6. What is your greatest extravagance?

    Skin care

    7. What is your current state of mind?

    Anxious

    8. What do you consider the most overrated virtue?

    Being nice

    9. What is the quality you most like in a man?

    Passion

    10. What is the quality you most like in a woman?

    Curiosity

    11. Which words or phrases do you most overuse?

    12. Which talent would you most like to have?

    Playing drums

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

    I would like to be calmer

    14. What do you consider your greatest achievement?

    My family

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

    A cat

    16. Where would you most like to live?

    In a big city

    17. What is your most treasured possession?

    My studio

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

    Being apathetic

    19. What is your favorite occupation?

    Image watching… online… on my mobile…

    20. What is your most marked characteristic?

    Funny

    21. What do you most value in your friends?

    Not judgemental

    22. Who are your favorite writers?

    Karl Ove Knausgaard

    23. Who is your hero of fiction?

    24. Which historical figure do you most identify with?

    25. Who are your heroes in real life?

    My grandmother

    26. What are your favorite names?

    My son’s name – Lavy

    27. What is it that you most dislike?

    Bureaucracy

    28. What is your greatest regret?

    That my father is not alive to see my work and success

    29. How would you like to die?

    In my sleep and of old age

    30. What is your motto?

    I don’t have one

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