Interior designer

If you’re into interior design you will have heard about Lonika Chande. Her confident schemes with bright pops of colour and playful patterns are sure to make an impact and go straight into our moodboards.

Lonika’s award-winning interiors are known for her carefully curated art collections. Her love for art is no coincidence as she was brought up in a family of creative women who shared their expressive flair in their home decor.

Her mother is the artist Lucy Dickens, her grandmother a painter and collector, and aunt a sculptor. Lonika says: “For me, art is what gives a space its soul, colour, and warmth. I am looking for work that does just this –pieces that sparks interest and joy, with wonderful colour combinations and ideally texture too.”

Lonika currently lives in her Wandsworth Common home which will soon undergo a renovation process where she’ll put her bright, energetic stamp on it, and we can’t wait to see what she creates. For now, we’re excited to share some of her notes on art - from her favourite pieces from her personal collection to her go-to places for antiques and decor.

We were also excited to invite Lonika to be part of our Artist Open Call selection committee. You can meet our Open Call Winners, and shop the collection.

I live in Wandsworth Common, London.

My work is designing other people’s homes. For the last three years, I’ve been living in a house we haven’t touched yet, though it’s in need of a lot of work. I’m excited...and relieved that next year we will be able to start to put our own stamp on it.

Luckily, my studio is a space where I have been able to feel creative and at peace in the interim, surroundings are so important.

My mother is artist Lucy Dickens, my grandmother used to paint, and my aunt is a sculptor, so I haven’t bought a huge amount of art, as I have been fortunate enough to have been given some of their pieces over the years. Having said that, we used to live in Kensal Rise, and I would visit Portobello market most weeks, and bought pieces both for clients and for our home over the years. Works included an antique silk embroidered tiger in a black lacquered frame which is probably the first piece I had bought that I had loved.

I want the art I hang on my walls to be a real mix of mediums and styles, and to have meaning. When I buy art, I look for something I resonate deeply with or that reminds me of a place in time. Inevitably there is a colour I love too.

If I could hang any artwork in my collection, it would be something by Paul Gaugin. I am drawn to his colour combinations. Either that, or a portrait by Soutines. I went to an exhibition of his work at the Courtauld quite a few years ago now, and it was so brilliant. I like figurative work best.

My prized possession is a huge still life of tropical fruit that my mother made us as a wedding present.

When decorating my home, I like to buy from antique or vintage stores mainly. Either in the UK, (I love Sauce London, Stowaway London, and Retrouvius), or even better, places I have stumbled upon on my travels abroad. I always make a beeline for a flea market or a brocante.

FOLLOW LONIKA

@lonikachande | lonikachande.com
Photography by Milo Brown Photography

We're very excited to announce the Partnership Editions Artist Open Call winners. We had over 550 applicants from all around the world, all of an incredibly high standard, so making this edit was not easy, and we are so grateful to all those who took the time to apply.

Alongside our founder, Georgia Spray, we called on our selection committee of tastemakers including Lonika Chande, who used his expertise and excellent eye to help us unearth and shine a light on new talent.

Discover the Open Call Winners Collection.

“I am particularly drawn to Katarina’s colour combinations. Her work has incredible texture. I can imagine incorporating her work into our interior projects.” - Lonika Chande

“Her photography has such soul and meaning, I am enthralled.” - Lonika Chande

“I can’t help but feel immediately cheered by the colours Richard uses. His naïve folk-art style is so very charming.” - Lonika Chande