Nathalie Du Pasquier

 B. 1957, Bordeaux

A self-taught artist, Nathalie Du Pasquier’s colorful compositions and geometric graphics grace numerous decorated surfaces, including textiles, carpets, plastic laminates, furniture, and objects. In 1979, she moved to Milan where she helped to establish the Memphis Group in 1981. In the years prior to 1986 she worked as a designer and afterward primarily focused on painting. Her distinctive style is both quirky and strikingly individual, imbued with the energy of the bright New Design era. 

Du Pasquier drew inspiration for her early work from the punk scene, African-printed textiles, and her meeting with future-husband George Sowden. From these influences, she has established for herself a visual vocabulary on which her more recent work is based, she sees it as “an automatic language I would use on anything”. This visual vocabulary of Du Pasquier’s particularly explores the notion of creating an illusion of space on a flat plane.

There is a sense of playfulness in her work, and excitement, which beautifully reflects what it is that drives her to make art, in her words “The pleasure of doing it, the sense of adventure”. The process of creating the patterns which feature on decorated surfaces designed by Du Pasquier is delightfully analogue; she relies on sketches with color pencils, cuts, and pastes, always thinking with her drawing hands. As well as her highly recognizable contributions to the Memphis Group, Du Pasquier has collaborated with a number of well-known brands, including Fiorucci (early 1980s), Wrong For Hay and Uniqlo (2013), and American Apparel (2014).