Cincinnati, Ohio.
MAGAZINE · INTERVIEW
Phillip Jividen
Phillip Jividen is an American designer based in Cincinnati, Ohio, whose practice explores the relationship between sculpture, furniture, and functional objects. Guided by a refined minimalist language, he creates collectible pieces that balance geometric clarity with subtle material expression, transforming familiar forms into quietly sculptural compositions.
Working across furniture, lighting, and objects, Jividen combines meticulous craftsmanship with an intuitive approach to proportion and materiality. His work emphasizes simplicity, permanence, and restraint, resulting in designs that feel both familiar and unexpected while celebrating the inherent character of each material.
Let's know more about
Interview
Where were you born and where are you from?
What is your first memory connected to the art world?
The Prado.
Have you always worked in the art/design field?
Yes. I started out working in packaging and fragrance design for a few years while building up my design collection in my free time, then eventually moved to doing it full-time.
What led you to design creation?
I’ve always had an impulse to draw, paint, and build things as a child. I only felt energized and motivated by work that was aesthetically driven.
How would you describe your creative process and its influences?
My work lately has been inspired by the principles of Wabi Sabi – the beauty of imperfection. I tend to become obsessive with a particular quality of material, such as the natural patina of brass or the varied patterns of a certain stone, and express them in elegant forms.
Could you describe a typical day of your work?
I usually spend an equal amount of time between my computer and the workshop. I’m either working on 3D designs and concepts one day and at the workshop the next day refining new prototypes.
Why did you choose the specific materials you work with?
I like working with time-honored materials and interpreting them into forms and textures that evoke a feeling of the past, present, and future.
What are the technical particularities of your creations?
Highly refined minimalist forms that invoke a sense of warmth and timelessness.
If your works had to belong to a design movement, how would you define it?
Minimalist mixed with Biomorphism.
What advice could you give to beginning artists who would like to create sculptural design works?
Be willing to take risks, and don’t compromise on your design vision. Learn new design processes, techniques, or work with new materials, etc. Do what feels exciting and challenging!
What designers and artists have influenced you?
Nouguchi, Fausto Melotti, Gio Ponti.
What contemporary designers do you appreciate?
Vincenzo De Cotiis, Lindsey Adelman, Anne Holtrop.
What contemporary artists, in any kind of art, have you been inspired by?
Andy Goldsworthy, Anish Kapoor, Brancusi.
If you had to summarize your creations in one word or sentence, what would it be?
Subtle yet bold.
“Be willing to take risks, and don’t compromise on your design vision.”
The Questionnaire
The Questions
(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…)
What is your idea of perfect happiness?
Sunshine and expressing my creativity
What is your greatest fear?
Being held hostage or tortured
What is the trait you most deplore in yourself?
Overthinking
What is the trait you most deplore in others?
Ignorance
Which living person do you most admire?
My mother
What is your greatest extravagance?
Buying materials and tools
What is your current state of mind?
Let go let flow
What do you consider the most overrated virtue?
Contentment
What is the quality you most like in a man?
Wittiness, Honesty
What is the quality you most like in a woman?
Wittiness, Honesty
Which words or phrases do you most overuse?
“I’m just thinking out loud”
Which talent would you most like to have?
To sing
If you could change one thing about yourself, what would it be?
To be a little less distracted
What do you consider your greatest achievement?
Making a living as a designer/artist
If you were to die and come back as a person or a thing, what would it be?
A snow leopard
Where would you most like to live?
Spain
What is your most treasured possession?
My mind
What do you regard as the lowest depth of misery?
Living in fear
What is your favorite occupation?
Musician
What is your most marked characteristic?
Being considerate
What do you most value in your friends?
Honesty
Who are your favorite writers?
Walter Isaacson, Carl Jung, Victor Frankl
Who is your hero of fiction?
–
Which historical figure do you most identify with?
–
Who are your heroes in real life?
–
What are your favorite names?
Oliver, Sophia, Max
What is it that you most dislike?
Feeling isolated
What is your greatest regret?
–
How would you like to die?
In my sleep
What is your motto?
Follow your fears
“Do what feels exciting and challenging!”
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