"Lemon Leaf on Drift"

Aviva Stanoff

"Most of my life I have spent balanced between two worlds: the traditional simplicity of a Japanese temple and the majesty of the old-growth redwoods of northern California. My efforts, I hope, can begin to express my gratitude to those ancient trees, the Japanese aesthetic of calm and simplicity, and the urban inspiration that surrounds me now."

From her North Hollywood roots in 1970's bohemian California to tending to the flowers surrounding her grandfather's Buddhist temple in Okayama, Japan, Aviva Stanoff represents a cultural tapestry that fuses more than just the contradictions and combinations implicit in her work.

While completing her MFA in applied textile design at the San Francisco Academy of Art University, Aviva Stanoff spent a summer in New York City working evenings designing for the Mark Kroeker/Lost Collective's runway textiles while interning at Calvin Klein Home's corporate design offices. By graduation, Stanoff's designs for Calvin Klein were on store shelves, and her work for Mark Kroeker had earned her a mention in Vogue. Most recently, her work was featured in both the 2006 Oscar Gift Basket and the 2005 Golden Globes Gift Box. Her decorative pillows won "Best New Product in Home Accessories" at the New York Home Textile Show 2006 and were noted a "Best Bet" by the New York Times.

Stanoff's work is known for its combination of sophistication and subtlety. Each one-of-a-kind concept is laboriously handcrafted with unwavering attention to design and detail as traditional embellishments meet cutting-edge textile treatments. Her decorative velvet pillows are hand-dyed and painted. She uses real plants to create her botanical prints by etching and embossing them into the velvet using a special in-house technique.