JASON KOHARIK
From a visit with designer, artist, builder and all around fantasy creator Jason Koharik at his studio in Glassell Park, Los Angeles. It’s difficult to describe the experience, much like a tumble down the rabbit hole into Wonderland, Jason’s world is layered and vast.
Each item either collected and reimagined by the designer or built entirely by hand. I posed a few questions and Jason was kind enough to answer… and his replies were as beautifully complex as the artist himself.
JG ~ I loved our visit at your studio last week. You are the definition of a renaissance man!
JK ~ Thank you Those are incredibly kind words.
JG ~ Tell us your life story. How did you get into the business of lighting design and creations of all sorts?
JK ~ That is a long story for someone armed with far too many adverbs.
—Ohio. And everything after. —
I left when I was 18. Art school was not for me. I drove a first love west to California, not a car, but a girl. And with that, somehow immediately ended up working on commercial film sets. Production assistant, art department, wardrobe stylist. Directors and producers fast became aware of my interest in design. I was always quietly painting and sculpting . Making furniture and lighting. They would “rope me in” to work on their homes. I would find and flip vintage furniture for them. They would offer me money for paintings they would see me working on.
In some cases I would fully become their “interior designer” — remodeling their entire homes. Construction top to bottom. All the furnishings and art choices. It got to where I spent nearly no time on set and I was only working on houses. The transition to my own business just seemed to happen at some point. I focused on my lighting designs as well as what I was doing at the time with vintage furniture. I rarely get to talk to people from that past life. They are always very proud and supportive of me when I do get the chance. I am deeply grateful to each of them.
JG ~ You are a true visionary! Where do you draw inspiration from?
JK ~ Honestly inspiration is a word I rarely use. Very honestly, I would even say I don’t like that word.
It has become something used, I feel, for the wrong reason. I guess inspirational is someone or something that drives me to be a better person. I suppose I save that word for those who do that.
In the context of creation I use the word “evoked”. I design from the inside-out. Very often I am telling a story, even if I’m the only one reading it. A love story, passion, anger. I usually write along side of my work this evocation story. Writing is actually my favorite medium and most fulfilling for me.
--A conversation across a candlelit bistro table in an old French bar at closing time, a proposal for marriage, an attempt to keep the place open after hours. “They’ll open champagne” - I said confidentiality “Offer us some desert; white cake. They’ll probably pay our bill.” This back and forth later leading to the creation and design of a bistro table I titled “Darling, please.” Her only response.
The conception is the most important part for me—the story. "Art first” something I quietly say often to myself --Art first. Even if what I am creating is intended to be a “product” of sort, furniture or lighting . Everything is Art first… then the rest. Make it useful? Comfortable? Shippable?
JG ~ What people or events in your life have most shaped your design sensitivity?
JK ~ I have always been creating. A creator. A maker. An artist … it took me a very long time before I was comfortable saying that word about myself.
“Artist” -- I realized as I made my way along my path, I never had to quote “ find myself” others around me would say that as if they were searching for something. I am deeply grateful. Grateful I recognized from as early as my hands followed my mind and hearts desire; that was who I am, what I was meant to do. A passion and a drive to do it everyday relentlessly. I think it was that recognition that I was never searching for purpose that allowed me to “take shape”. I am grateful everyday for that.
JG ~ Have you turned down projects? Why?
JK ~ I turn down project often. For many different reasons. Often people ask me to ‘recreate objects of design or to make something they have designed. “That is not what I do.” I say simply. I only make my own designs. As I said above it has to come from the inside—out. I think people see the the volume or use of materials I am capable of and assume I am a fabricator.
Sometimes I turn projects down because I know I am not the right person for the project, that there is someone who makes something better or more suitable for what the designer is trying to achieve. — Sometimes people show up 45 minuets late with a hot cup of coffee in their hand….he said with a devious smile.
JG ~ Having worked with you on a few creations, I know how collaborative you are. What is your favorite type of project?
JK ~ I love the “bounce” the dance. When creativity is flowing and allowed too.
“I don’t want to see your Pinterest mood board”. “Let's play.” “Let's stand in-between the framing of a soon to be walls and look up."
I call it "Cloud Mapping” —daydreaming. Because I am most often there for lighting… I am always looking up ….imagining. “Lets fire from the hip."
This rare bounce with a designer is a bit of a unicorn. A white whale. It happens often out of town on location. Traveling. The house is under construction. I’m staying nearby in a hotel. “Lets eat dinner on the sub-floor. We can open wine—sleep here.”-- “There is no power?, no lights?”-- “We can light candles.—Imagine what storms will be like in this home? --What arguments will sound like? -
-We should hide something in the walls!” —You asked for a favorite.
JG ~ You make art! I fell in love with your piece that reads "Dear Killer, Bravo. With love, Kindness". If you were to make a piece that represented our visit together, what would it say?
JK ~ This question makes me smile brightly.
--These three beauties emerge from a white carriage in the rain. Dressed in lace and wool. Impeccable taste on each their tongues. Wit and charm and intrigue. Wet heels on concrete floors. Beduins in berets, fur stoles and festoons. The low linger of perfume. Lipstick left on wine glasses. Candlelight reflections in sanguine eyes. Laughter that remains long after leaving. Intellect. Insight. Discernment. Acumen. Muses to say the absolute least. As I walked amongst each of you in my studio, listening, I was recalling the lyrics of a Christmas carol— men baring gifts.—Of Orient Are--
“WE THREE QUEENS.” Perhaps thats what I would paint.
