Beauty = Function, Stefan Sagmeister & Jessica Walsh, 2018, Venice Biennale Austrian Pavilion. Courtesy of &walsh.
SLEEK: If you could make a formula out of the 4 letters of LOVE, what might it be (look like)?
Jessica Walsh: life + openness + vitality + empathy = love
S: What about LOVE interests you?
JW: Love drives us all to do crazy things. To settle down with a single person. To obsess over our work or craft. To change our emotion in seconds.
S: What is LOVE capable of?
JW: Healing, unity, empathy, creativity, drive, inspiration. But also on the dark side, for some people, pain and violence.
S: What do you learn about LOVE?
JW: It’s not always simple. When you love something so much you need it. When you need something, you are vulnerable.
S: Imagine LOVE, how would you sketch it?
JW: A zig-zagged line that starts straight up and then goes up and down.
S: What story can you think of that has shaped your view of LOVE?
JW: Being married and in love for 8 years. Love isn’t always easy but it’s worth fighting for.
Beauty = Function, Stefan Sagmeister & Jessica Walsh, 2018, Venice Biennale Austrian Pavilion. Courtesy of &walsh.
S: What is love an answer for?
JW: Emptiness, loneliness, sadness, boredom.
S: Are you smiling at LOVE or with it?
JW: With it.
S: Is there an end to LOVE?
JW: Sometimes.
S: If I were to come to you and ask you to come with an idea for how we encounter LOVE in the city this summer, what would you suggest?
JW: Walk down the street and observe people.
S: Can you briefly describe how your path (also in connection with LOVE) has led to &walsh?
JW: A love for my work and craft.
As featured in SLEEK 72 – LOVE. Available in print and digital here.
Jessica Walsh, born 1986, is an American designer, art director, illustrator and educator. From 2010 until 2019, she was a partner at the design studio Sagmeister & Walsh, founding her own enterprise, &Walsh, in NYC in 2019. It aims to bring change to the design industry, confronting the countless inequalities within the business that women and non-binary people face, including pay gaps and lack of leadership.