Written By: MIM!—If you keep up with the magazine, then you know that Malene Barnett is a Brooklyn based African American carpet designer with a multi-disciplinary background in textile arts, painting and illustration from New York's Fashion Institute of Technology who followed her passion for textiles and launched malene b, a company that manufactures unique, handmade carpets, inspired by her international travels.This summer, from May 15-18, malene b will debut its Textures Collection at the International Contemporary Furniture Fair. The Textures Collection echoes earth's patterns with bold abstraction, while celebrating nature's organic character. The carpets use multiple techniques to achieve complex textures and to evoke the colors and vibrancy found in nature's palette. Palm fronds from Tahiti are the inspiration for Moorea, a sunburst of pattern, color and texture. It will be shown in hand tufted New Zealand wool and silk textured Hi/Lo tweed construction. The turquoise water of St. Vincent, Malene’s mother’s home country, is the inspiration for this silk rich Tibetan hand knotted design. The textured skin of Kerala’s elephants are stylized in abstract to create a multi tonal pattern with silk highlights. It will be presented in a Tibetan hand knotted wool and silk with pencil carving for definition.
Learn more by visiting www.maleneb.com.
EDITED: Thanks to an anonymous commenter who noted that Malene is Caribbean-American. As Malene explained in an earlier interview with MIMI, "My family is from the Caribbean, St Vincent and Jamaica." Find out more about her by reading an excerpt from our Soulful Living interview: http://mimimagazine.blogspot.com/2009/11/november-issue-preview-malene-b-soulful.html.
(Photo Credits: malene b)
