Argentinian Oil Paintings Inspire Orley Shabahang’s Wool Rugs

Discovering the oil paintings of Argentinian artist Antonia Guzmán, Orley Shabahang founder Bahram Shabahang found a fellow traveler. “Being an architect, I love the abstract,” he says. “I saw how she plays with light and shadow, and I wanted to show that through textiles.”

Digital techniques could have translated the geometric compositions into rugs. Like an artist, however, he insisted on the human touch. So the paintings were rendered on grid paper to create the Guzman collection’s patterns in hand-knotted wool. They’re distinguished primarily by color. Brown and gray frame blue in Dos Ombligos. Rust tones dominate Union Imposible. Some seem distressed, for example spotted Justo Ahi and streaked Distancia Ritmica. In Ciclo Fertil, definition is more distinct. 

> See more from the February 2017 issue of Interior Design