Taiga grew up on the floor of her grandmother's art gallery in Toronto, Canada. As a child she would play among the exhibitions, draw with the artists, and watch them surround her grandmother in a cloud of cappuccino steam and cigarette smoke and discussion of philosophy, art, politics, love, and life. Her grandmother raised her to engage constantly in the act of looking. Even as a very small person, organizing colour was something that Taiga was drawn to with an almost religious fervour. The bigger the box of crayons, the more subtle the shades, the more complicated the organization, the happier she was. Drawing with them? Absolutely not. But dumping out the box and sorting the shades of colour from blue into green? Heaven.
Thirty years later, Taiga now runs the same gallery she grew up in. With over a decade of experience in curating, writing about, and collecting art, Taiga sought a creative outlet beyond the walls of the gallery. For years she wielded a glue gun with the fierceness of a woman possessed: one decorated party hat became fifty, one pom-pom became one thousand, a childhood dollhouse received a full remodel…until one day, Taiga found quilting. House of Taiga is a combination of Taiga’s three greatest loves: curating art, organizing colour, and online shopping. The hunt for fabric is like walking through a museum, finding and following favourite painters and illustrators. Each quilt becomes a miniature exhibition: while her technique remains uncomplicated, her quilts showcase the fabrics, pairing them in conversation, curating them to be in the best possible dialogue with one another, mounting these bed-sized and coat-sized art shows that are meant to be seen as much as to be used. Just as she loves to witness the emotional connection between viewer and artwork in the gallery, Taiga customizes her quilts and quilt coats to each client, requesting details about their lives, loves, and hobbies to incorporate into her pieces, so that they too are reflected in the art and design of the fabrics. In the end, it always comes down to colour. Taiga’s love of organizing colour has only grown with time, and she’s thrilled to see others now puzzling out their own gradient quilts. The House of Taiga logo, designed by an artist in Toronto, is emblematic of Taiga’s vision and intention for her work: the Quilt Wizard, full of magic, who leads with a candle in the darkness, reinforcing—always, always—the act of looking.
Connect with Taiga:
Instagram: @houseoftaiga
