A room can be carefully considered in every detail - the furniture, the materials, the light - and still feel like something is missing. Often, it's art.
Totem Road has partnered with Art2Muse Gallery to bring original works by two Sydney-based artists, Olivier Rasir and Jude Hotchkiss, to our Paddington showroom. It's a partnership rooted in a shared belief: that art belongs in lived-in spaces, not just galleries.
We sat down with both artists to understand what the right piece actually does to a room, and their answers stayed with us.
Choosing art is one of the most personal decisions you can make for your home, and yet it's often the last thing people get to. We asked both artists three things:
- What feeling their work carries
- Where they picture it living
- What it means to them when it finds a home
Their answers reminded us that art doesn't have to be intimidating. At its core, it's about connection; to a feeling, to a space, to something that makes a room quietly, unmistakably yours. Rasir's intuitive, material-led works explore the beauty found in what has been overlooked; Hotchkiss brings a quiet tenderness to the familiar streets of Sydney. Both of their work adds something to a room that furniture alone cannot.
ARTIST - Olivier Rasir
Olivier's practice isn't the breadth of his reach, it's the quietness of his approach. He works intuitively with materials marked by wear and use, drawing out the stories embedded in objects that have been overlooked. There's a generosity in that, a belief that what has been set aside can still hold beauty.
"I'm interested in the redemption of waste, the ability of that which has been neglected and set aside to find new visual possibilities." - Olivier
Olivier envisions his work living in spaces where people and their environments are genuinely connected. Not showpiece rooms, but places that are actually lived in, where a piece of art on the wall becomes part of the rhythm of daily life. He speaks of his work as a connector: between people and feeling, between a space and the life inside it.
"I see this body of work in spaces of existence, functionality and beauty; Environments where people and spaces connect; Places of sanctuary and possibilities"
ARTIST - Jude Hotchkiss
Jude paints the streets of Sydney, not as documentation, but as an act of love. She walks the same streets every afternoon, in the same light, noticing the familiar with a kind of sustained attention that most of us only manage briefly. Her streetscapes are calm, warmly observed, and unmistakably of this place.
I walk these streets every afternoon, the sun is usually shining, and it looks so familiar to me. It comforts me, it's where I belong and am part of.
Jude pictures her paintings in well-loved homes. Not perfect homes, loved ones. Spaces where handmade things are valued, where a painting on the wall is chosen thoughtfully and lived beside for years. She talks about her work finding its place within an overall feeling of nurture and belonging, which is, we think, exactly what a home should feel like.
I envisage my work hanging in a well loved home, a place where there is care and appreciation for unique hand made things. If my painting can enhance a carefully arranged overall feeling of nurture and belonging, my work is complete
When she sees her work in a home that is cared for, she describes a sense of achievement and connection, pride that her painting has become part of a family's private world. There's something in that exchange, between maker and home, that we find quietly moving.
What we've come to understand through this partnership is that the right piece of art doesn't demand attention. It settles into a space. It adds something you can feel before you can name it, a mood, a warmth, a sense that the room is complete.
Visit the Totem Road Paddington Showroom for further information.
Art2Muse Gallery -
234 Jersey Road, Woollahra, Sydney
Service includes a complimentary Art Preview Service and Personal Art Consultations
Artworks, in order of appearance:
- Olivier Rasir - Untitled XV $8,800 Mixed media on Hessian & Canvas, 194 x 166cm
- Jude Hotchkiss - Parked Cars, Acrylic on Canvas, 97x97cm
- Untitled XVI $6,000 Mixed media on Hessian & Canvas, 153x 123cm
- Olivier Rasir - Untitled VI $2,800 Mixed media on Hessian & Canvas, 87x67cm
- Olivier Rasir - Untitled XXV $6,000 Mixed media on Hessian & Canvas, 153cm x 120cm
- Jude Hotchkiss - Pink Laneway, Acrylic on polycotton canvas in Tasmanian oak frame, 64x 64cm
