Incollect Magazine - Issue 2

Are there principles of design you bring to each project? Jeff Lincoln: Absolutely. The general principle is first and foremost that the spaces work for the client. Things can’t be designed to be just presented in a magazine, they have to work for a client, firstly, and be aesthetically pleasing second, but over and above that, the overriding principle is comfort — people have to be comfortable in their home, in any space, really. Comfort also has two aspects, it has to be comfortable physically, but also psychically. It doesn’t matter how fabulous the designer or the design is, it has to sit comfortably in a client’s mind as well as their day-to-day use of space. To me, if a client feels well connected to the space and the design, they own it as their own, then I’ve done my job. I want to create something compelling, sure, but it still has to be created in the context of a service business and in knowing this is not my home. Previous page, top: Art in the context of design. A gallery installation view from last summer’s exhibition The Radical Mark, Jack Tworkov and the Advent of Abstract Expressionism. In dialogue with the paintings: Shiro Kuramata Glass Chair, 1976; Serban Ionescu, Zaag sculptural side table, 2019, in pink powder-coated steel; Carlo Scarpa 1970s Cornaro sofa; an exceptionally rare rosewood Wanderer coffee table by Wendell Castle; Brutal Matter molten glass side table by John Pomp, Johnny Swing’s Manta (Ray), a Unique seat in the Septem Maria (Seven Seas), made from welded nickels and stainless steel. In the foreground, hand-carved sculptural lounge chair by contemporary Brazilian designer Zanini de Zanine Caldas. And anchoring the scene, Paradise, an asymmetrical rug in wool and silk by LA artist David Wiseman. All gallery photos courtesy Jeff Lincoln Art + Design Previous page, inset: Jeff Lincoln and friends. Photo: Shawna Christensen In his Southampton gallery, Jeff Lincoln shows us how it’s done: Art + Design. A monumental Vine illuminated vertical sculpture by master glass artist Jeff Zimmerman twines through the air, adding architectural interest to the space above the gallery floor. Perched on a display platform, a trio of Hun Chung Lee’s Island ceramic stools, with a turquoise and brown glazed Long Bench just behind. At right rear, an exceptionally rare rosewood Wanderer table by American Studio Craft Movement legend Wendell “Why can’t furniture be art?” Castle. A pair of Hex stools by The Haas Brothers flank an amorphous coffee table made of gypsum, a unique piece by Rogan Gregory. 2022 Incollect Magazine 19 What about a story or narrative, does that figure in your approach to interiors? Jeff Lincoln: Yes, certainly, and once I begin the process of developing an interior concept with a client, the other overriding decision is having a narrative. This means that things are selected for a reason, that there is a through line in why things are put together the way they are. I’m looking for things to quietly dialogue with each other. That there is a light narrative that runs through a project I think is a necessary thing but that is not the same as a theme. I never want to be thematic, but I want a light narrative that runs through the project, that you experience gradually, subliminally as you engage the space; not some grand gesture that hits you over the head as you walk in.