This New Wallpaper Collab Has Us West Coast Dreamin'

Bay Area artist and interior designer Celia Carstens was looking for help in printing her inaugural textile collection. Enter Erin Minckley, owner of Chicago-based Relativity Textiles and the recently debuted Relativity Collective, her artist collaboration initiative. In Minckley, Carstens found an adviser to guide her through the production process. “She really pushed me to narrow down the designs that I loved most and to think of new ideas that would complement and strengthen my brand as a whole,” Carstens says. The result is a line of hand-painted wallpapers and fabrics. “Each pattern begins with an abstract motif that is created through a watercolor sketch,” explains Carstens, proprietor of Found & Form textile studio. The paintings are then scanned, digitized and refined.

“Erin and her team helped with the digital renderings of each design in order to get to the final product,” Carstens continues, adding that the process bounces between renderings and printings “until the color and scale all make sense from an interiors perspective.” The collection is entirely inspired by the natural beauty of the West Coast. Take Seaglass, whose organic shapes emulate the brushstrokes of a watercolor landscape she painted while sitting on a Carmel beach. As Carstens notes, “I often look to capture the essence of places I love and cherish.”