One of the reasons Komo Collective was born, was that Charlie and I had bought our first home together in Topanga Canyon. Having moved from a small apartment in Brooklyn to a real house with great bones and a lush landscape, we were met with our own blank canvas and were very excited by the possibility of putting our design heads together.
Prior to being here, the pandemic had catapulted us to our first Los Angeles home, a tiny cabin in Topanga Canyon, nestled on the side of a creek and a glorious seven minute canyon drive to the ocean. Charlie had just bought a vintage Singer sewing machine from an estate sale in Seattle and we immediately got to work making curtains and pillows, going to fabric stores all over Los Angeles for inspiration, and working on things each week together. At the time, we had a small art collection, but most was in storage and needed larger walls than we had, so we kept things simple and cozy.
One year later we moved into our first real house together and welcomed our son, Hugo into the world. I found myself physically exhausted, deeply sleep deprived, and yet still perusing vintage stores and sites looking for the perfect pieces to fill our new home instead of napping. I was so energized by bringing the space to life in a way that felt true to the home, and true to Charlie and I, and that took over. I also found it very overwhelming trying to find painting and sculpture and furniture from the vast array of marketplace inventories out there. Unless I had the most specific search criteria, it would take hours and hours to wade through product page after product page, resulting in multi-month and multi-year searches to find the perfect piece. I knew there could be a better way.
We decided to move very slowly and intentionally, collecting pieces from our travels, consigning works and living with them for awhile, making wherever we were inspired, and bit by bit bringing our vision to life. As we did this, we began deepening relationships with artists in our community and in the Los Angeles area, finding incredible emerging talent all around us. This inspired us to approach our home as a rotating gallery, sharing works with friends and advisors and collectors, whenever we could.
I believe it’s really important for us to open up our homes, particularly when we’ve put love and care into designing them and have artwork on the walls that should be seen and shared. It’s an opportunity to share our stories as well, to snap us out of our transfixion, open our minds to what’s possible, and reconnect with the pulse and energy that moves through us all. You can talk to someone about your collection, go see shows together, but once someone comes into your home, they get it.
For curatorial support, reach out at hello@komoart.com or shop our curated marketplace.
