It’s been a while since a chandelier seemed like a really desirable thing. The giant, crystal ones feel too opulent and Phantom of the Opera-y for the current aesthetic mood. But if you’re looking for a modern approach, Heather Levine is a good bet. She’s a Los Angeles–based artist and ceramicist who has made installations for the Standard Hotel and an oyster bar in Paris. She specializes in light fixtures made of different, odd-numbered glowing ceramic orbs. We spoke with her about the squirrel emoji (which exists) and her Francophile dog.
What’s your most-used emoji?
The squirrel holding a nut is very useful.
Favorite holiday?
Any holiday where matzo ball soup is served.
If you could spend three months anywhere, where would it be and why? Corsica. It feels like a secret island that has figured out all the best parts of life.
What superpower would you have and why?
Read people’s minds. I’d like to know what people are thinking.
What’s the best album ever made?
On The Beach by Neil Young.
Go-to karaoke song?
“Black” by Pearl Jam.
Who do you think is cool?
My 3-year-old son Axel is the coolest human I know.
What fictional character would you love to hang out with?
Chewbacca.
If you could be a magazine, what magazine would you be?
Bon Appetit.
If you could speak to animals, which animals would you want to talk to? Dogs. If he could speak, my chihuahua Pierre would speak French so I’d like to understand him better.
Jeans or sweats?
Levi’s.
What’s something your social-media followers don’t know about you?
I like odd numbers and often use configurations of 3’s and 7’s and 15’s to make the wall hangings.
What was the last website you looked at?
Northernbrewer.com to buy beer kits for my boyfriend to make us beer.
If you could be outfitted by one designer for the rest of your life, who would it be?
Zero Maria Cornejo.
What do you eat for breakfast?
Steel cut oats made in my Instapot.
If you could only eat three things for the rest of your life, what would they be?
Strauss ice cream, raw oysters, artichokes.
If you were a color, what would it be?
Rose gold has been making me happy recently.
Heather wears a Zero Maria Cornejo dress, a Van Cleef and Arples bracelet, and Sydney Brown sandals.
