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Modern Matter Blog
Collaborator Spotlight: Doug Meyer
Doug Meyer’s multidisciplinary work merges art, history, and design to create captivating home products and fine art pieces. Renowned for his vibrant resin cameo portraits adorned with semi-precious stones, Meyer’s creations span rugs, lighting, furniture, and more. His latest collaboration with Modern Matter brings his unique aesthetic to hand-crafted hardware, offering a fresh take on timeless design motifs.
Q: Could you share some insights into your upbringing and how it influenced your decision to pursue a career in art?
A: My parents were very stylish—I grew up in Louisville, Kentucky, in an all-white modern house they designed and built in the 1960s. My mother had this wonderful innate sense for styling beautiful tablescapes, which she did so effortlessly. I was constantly in awe watching her create. Although my father was a businessman, he was also a wonderful artist—unfortunately his father forced him to go into the family business. As I think back, I realize this was a factor that wholeheartedly pushed my dad to encourage both my brother and me to explore life as creatives. Throughout my childhood and teen years, we were always traveling and visiting museums, and my mother was constantly taking me to all types of art classes. During my high school years, I turned half the basement into a wonderful art studio that I would work in every day after school. I could not wait to get home to work on my latest creation!
Q: You are a multidisciplinary artist engaged in interior design, product design, sculpture, and painting. Can you describe how these different creative mediums complement and influence each other in your work?
A: I wear lots of hats. There are many things that influence my work and it is difficult to compartmentalize one practice area from another as it’s all coming from the same mind (mine). I’m generally working on several projects at once. For example, I’m currently designing a new 5,000 sq ft showroom for textiles in New York, designing new fabric, wallpaper, and tile collections for two companies I have been partnering with (one in the United States and one in Japan), and creating sculptures and paintings for an upcoming exhibition in Los Angeles.
Today, just as when I was a kid, my happy place is when I create something—it doesn’t matter what it is, just as long as I can make something. When you are constantly working, you're constantly learning and experimenting. Anything or place can inspire me. It can be a beautiful color combination, discovering a new artist, or traveling—you never know when you’ll be inspired.
I have always loved materiality (the mixing of various mediums together). I’m fascinated with discovering new materials (woods, stones, metals, fibers, plexi), either natural or man-made. I think “things” really come to life when they are mixed, attached, or in some way connected to one another to create something new. Then, it becomes this tactile, textural creation that becomes something really interesting and special.
Q: How has your style evolved over the years?
A: Over the “many” years of my practice, the things that I create have become much more studied. I have an extensive knowledge of art history, architecture, fashion, interior design, and pop culture, all of which have always influenced and come into play in almost everything I create. The more knowledge you have, the more opportunity you have to break the rules. I’m more interested now in designing things that are utilitarian and functional. I am always trying to do something that has not yet been done (or at least new in the way I am presenting them).
Q: How did your background in fine arts pave the way for your transition into interior design?
A: Interiors and art have always been the same for me. One of my first jobs out of Parsons School of Design, where I majored in Fine Art, Painting, was working for the legendary gallerist Holly Solomon. Holly’s Sutton Place apartment taught me that rooms can become livable works of art. Her apartment was the most inspiring thing I had ever seen. From that moment on, it was difficult for me to separate the two. When I do interiors, they are more site-specific spaces, sometimes a bit over the top, other times quiet and mysterious, but at all times, spaces that make people stop for a moment and think.
Q: You currently live in the Hudson Valley, but you grew up in Kentucky and have lived in NYC, LA, and Miami. How have these diverse locations influenced your artistic work?
A: Many factors influence my work. I believe mood is the number one factor that affects me. My mood is dictated by the climate and natural light. The light in Los Angeles (West Coast) is completely different from New York City (East Coast). I tend to like the East Coast light, probably because it’s the same as the light I grew up with in Kentucky—it is familiar. My mood is always better in a warmer climate like Miami and LA— the days and light seem to last longer in those places. For me, it boils down to my frame of mind; if I’m in a sour mood, it can be difficult to create. At the end of the day, I can create anywhere, I just need to be in a good headspace. I think Covid has shown people that you can kinda work anywhere.
Q: Your interiors feature an exuberant mix of colors and patterns that appear effortlessly harmonious. How do you approach the use of color and patterns in your design process?
A: Bold and pure color is something that I have always gravitated to. I think I’ve always had this innate sense of combining good, unique, and beautiful color combinations. I actually prefer solid colors to using patterns. I love using one or two colors in a space and letting the various hues and textures create the patterns. Elements become more sculptural in a single color, and that has always intrigued me.
Q: Why did you want to create a hardware line? Tell us about the process of creating this collection.
A: I love creating new things, and I have always wanted to do a hardware collection—it’s the same process as creating a body of art. Anytime I am given a project, my mind immediately goes to another place—for weeks and months (sometimes years); whatever the project is, it’s all I think about.
I start with research, finding out what materials are available and what the factories are capable of doing and not doing. Once I have that, I start drawing —I have lots of sketchbooks and filled up two books working on this collection for Modern Matter.
After I feel that I have a substantial number of ideas and designs, I spread everything out and begin to edit and critique everything. Then, I presented it to the team at Modern Matter, and we start another round of editing. And only after that, we start the development of samples... it’s a long process; I started working on American Rhapsody in January of 2023!
Q: What is your favorite creation in your career?
A: It’s usually what I’m working on at the moment, so I would say the American Rhapsody hardware collection.
Q: What are a few of your favorite artists and designers?
A: A few artist and designers I love: Rebecca Salsbury James, Rex Whistler, Duncan Grant, Renzo Mongiadino, Dagobert Peche, Neo Rauch, Piero Fornasetti.
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