A conversation with

Natalie Tischler

Will you tell us about where you’re from, originally, and the house you grew up in?

"I was born and raised in Woodstock, New York. My family still lives in the house I grew up in. When I think of home, it’s both here and in my grandparents’ house, a mid-century home from the 70s next to the stream. It was large and warm and light-filled, with wood paneling and a maze of rooms. And filled with tons of objects and art my grandparent’s collected over the years."

What's your favorite room at home? Why?

"When I go upstate, I stay in the bedroom I’ve always had (and has gone through many iterations). My room gets a lot of light and is always very quiet. There’s a floral upholstered armchair in the corner that was my grandmother’s, I like to sit in it and read or nap."

Natalie Tischler standing in shadow at Salter House

Natalie wears the Original Ghost Dress layered with Apricot Silk Organza Ghost Dress.

We’re exhibiting your lamp design at Picture Room, a really enticing steel and latex form. Tell us a little of what you were thinking about when making this design.

"The Ghost Lamp came together over time. About a year ago, I bought some natural latex sheeting, and shortly after, I received a sponsored ad for very very tiny fish hooks. I was really into the moment the hook stretches the latex to a point of tension and creates a small hole from the stretching. Originally, I had imagined the lamp to be cube-shaped. After a few months of being unable to find the right frame, I went into a restaurant supply store on Canal and found two circular pieces of metal. I piece-mealed them together with steel bars and epoxied the entire thing, and this ended up dictating its current form."

You’ve had a really broad-reaching creative practice—design, writing, drawing, ceramics, photography… is there a throughline that has brought you to each of these? How do you think of your practice primarily now?

"I think the only way I can explain it, even to myself, is instinct. I find myself interested in one thing - a material, a process, a pattern, etc—and I follow it until I exhaust that interest. Sometimes this manifests in words, or collections of images, or physical objects, other times as ideas that sit and manifest and come to the surface eventually or never at all. Sometimes this instinct is extremely emotional; I feel a deep need to release and/or understand. This is when most of my writing happens. There are definitely through lines in instinct. I’m consistently surprised by what I’m interested in and surprised by how consistent my instinct is. I get excited when I notice myself getting excited! And when that excitement happens repeatedly over time. Which is how I think of my practice now: I “practice” in everyday life, and the making comes when I synthesize these ideas. A lot of my “practice” (I put practice in quotes because it’s often passive) is just allowing myself to follow instinct without any goal or intention, then every few days or weeks or months, looking back through what I’ve seen or heard or written, and creating (or not creating) something out of that. Noticing is a big part of my “practice”; noticing, then synthesizing. Allowing things to come, to disappear, to circle back…"

Natalie Tischler holds the ghost lamp at Salter House Natalie wears the Organza Sleeveless Buttondown & Layered Pencil Skirt.

I think many people will recognise you through your recent modeling work. As someone who has worked on spatial design, how do you think about modeling as a practice, your broader work on the body in space?

"Hm… modeling feels pretty separate and distinct from any creative practice I have. Though in some ways I think in modeling, I give my body a freedom that resembles the freedom I give my mind when creating. It’s a comfortable and liminal space to exist in.
Otherwise, the big impact modeling has on my creative practice is the network of wonderful people it’s opened up my world to."

What would you say is your relationship with historic design traditions and thinkers? How do you think about your role in a design timeline? Is there a specific tradition you feel you’re most a part of?

"My way of thinking and making is heavily influenced by my background in architecture. In all of my work is some underlying system of logic or structure. I have a very systematic way of thinking: I often draw diagrams while I write to visualize an idea; I take and organize collections of photos thematically; I design iteratively and with tons of references. I’ve always been intimidated by the idea of calling myself an artist because I’ve never had a definite medium or practice. I have a hard time placing myself within any specific tradition because I have a hard time defining what I do—I think this uncertainty is part of what shapes my work. Most of the time, I don’t know what exactly I’m doing or what it will become. It’s in these moments that I feel most like an artist.
Most of my inspiration exists outside of any referential tradition. I use almost any thing as a reference. A line from a book. Trash on the street. A lamp. A conversation overheard. The crack in the sidewalk. A mark on the wall. Light. Etc. Otherwise, my interest in tradition comes in waves, but I’m consistently drawn to work that questions perception and distorts the everyday human experience. I gravitate toward conceptual and minimalist art, toward material that explores the immaterial. I’m always interested in the work of Agnes Martin, Eva Hesse, Clarice Lispector, etc."

Natalie wears the Original Ghost Dress and the Silk Organza Ghost Dress.

I love your website, which you describe as “....here is how I see, understand, and make sense of the world”. Have you learned anything about “how you see” in the process of sharing things that way?

"Absolutely. I created the website as a place to share my work. It’s organized chronologically, with each month containing the things I made during that time. This structure has completely shaped the way I see because I build each month in retrospect, revisiting the previous month’s journals, photos, notes, sketches, ideas, etc … it’s through this process of looking back that I truly begin to see."

Have you repaired or restored anything recently? (We like maintenance and mending.) If so, tell us about it!

"Not recently. But this is a good reminder to fix a broken lamp that’s been sitting in my room for too long!"

Natalie wears unreleased Cami and Pants, styled with Cotton Ruffle.

What is your favorite house museum or historic home?

"El Museo del Tiempo (Museum of Time) in Mexico City. It’s run by one man, Markus Frehner, who has developed an extensive collection of time-based objects and displays them in his home: phonographs, gramophones, music boxes, radios, clocks that are 500 years old. And the Capuchin Convent Chapel by Luis Barragan, which is very close to El Museo del Tiempo."

Any standout films / books recently?

"Not so so recent, but last year I read Seeing Is Forgetting the Name of the Thing One Sees which is a survey of the life and work of Robert Irwin. It’s still a standout. I also saw Buffalo ’66 for the first time a few months ago and thought it was great."

Natalie wears the Organza Sleeveless Buttondown & Canvas Deep Pocket Pants.

Do you have a favourite Salter House garment? How do you wear it?

"Yes! I love the Batiste Sleeveless Buttondown. I wore it a lot this summer with dark denim jeans and ballet flats."

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