Six years ago, after independently moving to Los Angeles from Uruguay, industrial designer Emiliana Gonzalez and artist Jessie Young struck up a friendship. “We were both here, both immigrants, and both desperate to do something new,” recalls Young. So when Gonzalez landed an interior design gig, she invited Young to help. Working under the moniker Estudio Persona—it means the study of a person, they explain, and nods to their favorite Ingmar Bergman film—they quickly realized that designing custom furniture was their favorite part of the job. By 2017, they launched a collection of pieces Gonzalez describes as “clean and non-accessorized, almost like cutouts.” Whereas their Nido series pairs swooping seats with wood bases, their Block chair riffs on the chunky sculpture of Carl Andre. “We played around with modular blocks for ages,” Young recalls. “Making them into a comfortable and usable chair was a brilliant challenge.” The Block chair and several other new pieces debuted in May at Sight Unseen’s virtual exhibition, Offsite Online. Angelenos, meanwhile, can peruse the duo’s creations at their sleek studio space in East Hollywood. — Architectural Digest
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