MARIA TOLVANEN

The Story of Maria as Textile Designer

Maria, a freelance textile designer specializing in pattern design and home textiles, possesses a unique talent for finding inspiration in the everyday. Her designs are a delightful fusion of playfulness, simplicity, and a genuine handmade aesthetic. By drawing from the mundane and seemingly banal aspects of her surroundings, Maria creates textiles that breathe life into spaces, infusing them with warmth and character. Her work is a testament to her ability to transform the ordinary into the extraordinary, making her a sought-after collaborator in the world of textile design.

Inspiration:

“The inspiration for my collection for Anuprerna came from different minerals and stones, and also their imitations, e.g., the way marble surfaces were imitated in Finnish interiors in the previous centuries. The colours, in contrast, were chosen to reminiscence the sultry days of late summer”

Point of View:

“The collaboration process was a work of art in itself. Product Development happened by sending sketches and photos of samples back and forth and commenting on each other's work.”

“I love the idea that the result is fabrics imitating my paintings imitating surfaces imitating minerals. Doesn't get more meta than that!”

Visuals

Happy to hear from Maria:

“I was thrilled to collaborate with Anuprerna, as I'm very interested in indigenous craft traditions. It was an exciting starting point to collaborate across cultures that are so distant culturally and aesthetically. Sustainability is also very important to me - being familiar with textile and fashion industry's often exploitative and unsustainable nature, it was reassuring to know that the fabrics were produced in fair circumstances”