The new millenium enacted a huge wave of creativity in rug design, this made possible by the many technological advances which allowed a clearer communication to weavers of the most complex patterns. This in turn elicited the development of customised patterns in different colour palettes, allowing each piece to have a personal touch.

Zoë Luyendijk is one of the most talented designers active in the contemporary rug world, and certainly one of the first who managed to best convey her artistic vision through the rug medium.  While each carpet has the immediate impact of something unusual, their lasting appeal stems from the free-spirited originality at the source of each design. Over time, the rugs continue to reward and yield unexpected discoveries.

There is more going on here than first meets the eye, beyond beauty, there is depth, substance, resonance. Each design is the result of a deeply personal exploration- on one hand playful, unbridled, the other- intense, uncompromising and tenacious. Once committed, an idea is never explored halfway. Inspiration from nature: the colours and forms of coastal waters and forests. Inspiration from myths: the stories that cut across time and cultures. Inspiration from artists that have travelled before her: ultimately, she responds to something uniquely her own.

Zoë’s home and studio are an hour’s drive north of Vancouver. She lives in a cottage in the woods, up a narrow lane, beside a lake, off the radar and far from the epicentres of design. Zoe Luyendijk Studio offers hand-knotted carpets, hand-made by highly skilled artisans in the Kathmandu Valley. The finished artwork is then translated into full-size graphs, which the weavers follow.  The sheer size of the task accomplished by the weavers is only hinted at when looking at a carpet knot by knot.  The hand of the artisan is revealed at the end of the lengthy process.  Zoe is a true maximalist and loves the interplay of colour and different fibres. The result is decadent layers of texture and colour that give the carpets a dimension and level of detail, unlike any others.

Salsa is an iconic example of her abstract painterly style. Blending wool, silk and nettle fibres, she engages in a stunning composition which takes the colours of nature that surrounds her into another context, between the frontier domains of art and design.