The Talks
Kate Hawley: “It’s the push and pull”
Ms. Hawley, the blue dress you designed for Mia Goth’s character Elizabeth in Frankenstein is quickly becoming one of those iconic film costumes — it’s even being recreated on social media. How is it when your work takes on this big life outside of the film?
It’s so funny because you never start out going, “I'm going to design something iconic.” But the blue dress is one of those pieces that’s not just something pretty to wear, it’s something that audiences became very emotionally involved in. They talked about the feeling that the clothes created for them, the emotions. And that’s how it felt to make it. It was an emotional journey, and it was an emotional response as much as anything. I think the fact that people responded to it… That was the intention when we went in. We spent so long trying to find that alchemy, because that's the journey we're all on, whether you're a painter, a filmmaker, a costume designer… You’re chasing that magic. And the blue dress was an example of that.
“It’s still astounding to me that I have one Oscar, let alone two. Especially because it’s by-product of something that you love so much, it feels like that’s already the gift, that’s already the award.”
“It’s everything you need, but nothing extra. It’s what's essential. It’s a minimum state which you achieve when you can't add or subtract… It’s sort of this perfect state, that’s what I'm looking for.”
“I can’t make people happy if I’m not happy myself. That applies to anyone who tries to achieve something in their life: if you’re not happy, you can’t transfer any happiness”
“The entire aim of my work is to elevate the human spirit.”
“I discovered early on that I’m the kind of person that experiments and makes mistakes but then it’s all worth it because once in a blue moon it hits home.”
“I don’t pander to anybody. I don’t care who it is. I just do the picture I do.”
“Over the course of my life, I have sacrificed love, private life, and time for me, all on the altar of work. But I have also created an empire that is important for so many.”
“My goal when I’m in front of an audience is to perform the piece and fill it with meaning. On stage, I concentrate on rationality and empathy, since the singer must feel a certain amount of emotion, but not too much.”
“I consider myself a storyteller. I feel that is what good directors do, they are really just following criteria: is this a good story? Is this the story I want to tell? All we’re trying to do is the hard task of making interesting, thought-provoking films.”
“From the beginning, I wanted to protect the clothes themselves from fashion, and at the same time protect the woman’s body. I wanted people to keep on wearing my clothes for at least 10 years or more.”
“I think for me in my life, the most useful thing that I aspire to be is just being as self-aware and as honest with myself as possible. I think if you’re doing that then probably everything else will follow.”
“I started a very nice career, became quite successful, and at age 40 I won this prize. But when I got that prize, I realized that I hadn’t yet found my own language of cooking. So I got on my knees and gathered all the tools from my childhood and started working very hard on that. And that’s how it started.”
“I feel quite free as an artist. I don't feel that I have to prove anything. It’s a liberating feeling. I can go in any directions, I can explore and embrace whatever I want.”
“Every time you hear a piece of music that you’ve written, you remember the joy of it. Even if you don’t remember exactly what the writing process was like, there’s a moment where you hear it and your heart is full. It’s a similar emotion like when you are in love with someone, you feel that internal joy.”
“I do not consider architecture as art, nor do I consider architects to be artists. However, I do have a strong desire to improve the purity of my expression and put a strong message into my architecture so that I can call it art!”
“The guys who are real artists are people who have figured out the art of living; their art is art because they live. They have made living an art, they have made an art of living. They are constantly inputting life as opposed to expressing life.”
“In the moment when you’re designing a building, it’s the subject. One year later, when you just go back and see it, it’s the object. It becomes part of the city. It starts to sit where it should be sitting.”
“Once I commit to an idea, then I just move forward with it, no matter what. And that's always how I've operated when it comes to my art. I'm kind of tenacious in that way, even if it takes a lifetime, eventually I will make that thing.”
“I remember driving in New York in 1976 and I put the brakes on quickly because there was the very, very first Vogue cover that I ever shot. Big, on a bus shelter! And I remember just pulling over and just staring at it. At that point it was a real dream to see one of your pictures there. I’d always dreamed of doing a Vogue cover!”
“I’ve learned that with time also comes pleasure: the pleasure of creating but also upholding the legacy that’s been passed down to me.”
“One day, if you have a little bit of talent and a lot of hard work, you’re going to find out who you are.”
“For the first 20 years in my career all I did was add things; more courses, more silverware, more ingredients, adding, adding, adding. Only like three years ago or so I was able to really start focusing on removing and felt confident to do so. I finally created a dish where for the first time I felt like I achieved what I tried to do for 23 years.”
“I want to be an authentic person. I start to feel that it’s a mission. I am not going to hold back on an opinion I have about something; I don’t know what the point of that would be.”
“when we finally put a piece together for the first time, seeing it all together, when it actually works… The excitement in the room is something I’ll never forget. It feels like a very powerful moment to be part of.”
“When you are in a very, very tough moment of a day and have a lot of frustration because nothing is happening right—but you don’t give up—and suddenly that happens! That’s almost a transcendental thing.”
“Somehow at the end of the day doing something that actually resonates with people is quite rewarding and keeps me going.”
“It’s the rollercoaster ride of doing something creative: when it goes well and you enjoy the process then it’s a high and you just want to keep on doing it.”
“You better make every moment count. Live your life now; start in the morning. You mustn’t sit around waiting to die.”
“When I was younger I used to have more anxiousness to obtain things. But there are moments in which you obtain those things and then you relax.”
“I try to look at things more from the perspective that everything is happening for us, not to us. And so whatever challenges that were occurring at the time, perhaps they were happening just so this moment could happen.”
“Happiness for me is just being; just being at any given moment. If you are searching for happiness, you are not happy. It’s the pot at the end of the rainbow.”
“I dreamed of winning the Olympics since I was nine years old. That was definitely the most memorable race of my career. But the next day I woke up, and I wanted to win the next race.”
“The success of translating an idea into action is very often where the talent is to be found. If you can give a body to the idea, I think you are onto a very interesting process.”
“To do something no one else has ever done, it’s satisfying, but the thing is nobody else is really playing the game of free solo climbing, so it's easy to win when no one else plays, you know?”- “I think all the roles of my career have presented me with opportunities for my own personal growth. Roles that really push you out of your comfort zone, it really helps you to grow, and it then brings you greater capacity for love within yourself and love for others.”
“What I am looking for in this world is a sense of not feeling alone, and that’s one of the greatest gifts you can give to another person. I hope that my work does that. I hope that when people leave the theater they feel less alone.”- “Architecture is something that you should be inside and absorbed by. It’s something which convinces you by experience more than impresses you by image.”
“I think that one should make a house that really fits you like your second soul. It should be your most preferred place on earth!”- “During my career I was blessed to be able to constantly be motivated and constantly be pushing myself, because otherwise I never would have achieved what I did.”
“Although sometimes I feel tired and think I ought to give it up, I don’t want to just retire. No, I enjoy it all and you just keep going until the day comes when you can’t do it anymore.”
Sandra Barclay: “Light is essential to life”
Ms. Barclay, as an architect born, raised and based in Peru, what traditions of your country’s architecture do you hope to keep alive in your own work?
Well, a great work that cannot leave you indifferent, is the Royal House in Puruchuco. It is a mud construction located on the coast, on the edge of the city of Lima, at the foot of the arid Andes. The architecture consists of a series of courtyards, platforms, thresholds, and interior and exterior spaces, all arranged in a sort of labyrinth. The spaces are ambiguous, they have no doors or windows, so everything communicates together under the sunlight of a desert climate. The journey through the spaces is a lesson in architecture in itself, the experience is connecting us with ourselves. It connects us to the sky and the open farmlands, and the foothills of the Andes. It is extremely memorable and responds perfectly to the climatic conditions. As an architect, I like these qualities, and I try to maintain the idea that architecture is more about experience than an object.
Why is that so important for you personally?
It allows us to relate to the place, the culture, light and shadow, and to others… These are lessons we try to carry over into our contemporary projects. We’re also trying to build a trust in architecture, to recognize that it has an enormous capacity to solve problems, improve living conditions, connect people with each other and with their own culture, take advantage of climatic conditions, and be generous by incorporate natural light, shade, space, and materials that are available to us in the specific place where we work.
Jessie Ware: “I trust myself more”
Harvey Fierstein: “We all grow from one another”
Claudio Miranda: “Make it as real as possible”
Tony Cragg: “Where do you want to go with it?”
Gary Card: “I’m doing it on my own terms”
Russell Tovey: “This is for everyone”
Rose Levy Beranbaum: “That was my epiphany”
Amy Homma: “Cinema connects us”
