5 Things We Learned... Marie Cudennec Carlisle
Wander down Golborne Road and you’ll find yourself at the heart of London's largest Moroccan and Portuguese communities. Gorgeous antique stores, delicious food stops: it’s a stone’s throw away from Portobello Market but with a quieter pace. Just across the bridge, you’ll see Goldfinger, a design studio co-founded and led by Marie Cudennec Carlisle. Goldfinger champions sustainable and circular design through luxury-level woodworking and other crafts.
Marie’s generous and gentle manner belies the determination she gracefully uses to challenge sustainable design across an array of disciplines. Multilingualism fuels her pluralistic worldview, celebrating difference and embracing "ands" over "ors."
Here are 5 Things We Learned about Marie.
What made you...you?
A multicultural and multilingual upbringing with a Malaysian-Chinese mother and a French father. I was born in Singapore and lived in Paris, Jakarta, Hong Kong and south Florida all before the age of 11. This instilled an understanding of the world where difference was not only the norm but celebrated. I think this also shaped my brain in understanding the world in multiple languages and through multiple lenses. French is my native language, my mother spoke to me in English and Cantonese, we then moved to Jakarta when I was 3 where my second language became Bahasa Indonesian, before adding Spanish and Mandarin to the main languages I speak. Why this made me me, is because I think being exposed and speaking many languages from an early age, allowed me to have a naturally pluralistic view of the world where there is space to hold multiple views or answers to one question. I’ve never been comfortable with binary and/or thinking. I always see the world in “and”, I don’t like “or” questions. My husband often jokes that the title of my book (when I write it) will be: “The Power of And”. Would you like cheese or dessert? I would like both, thank you very much.
When are you happiest?
I am happiest when swimming in the wild waves of the ocean as well as being upside down. being in nature, spending time with my husband, kirtan, yoga, cakes, matcha (in no particular order). Being in nature with my husband and dog also makes me very happy. Practising kirtan (Indian tradition of devotional singing) and yoga is a huge source of joy, support and nourishment in my very busy life. Baking (and eating) cakes also brings me great happiness, and paired with a matcha latte = heaven.
Would you rather have a muse or be a muse?
I would rather have a muse.
Who do you admire?
Christiana Figueres for her stubborn optimism and positive approach to climate change, I love how she emphasises the opportunities that come with transitioning to a low-carbon economy.
What is important?
Cultivating joy in everyday moments and living life with an open heart.
Portrait and all images provided by courtesy of Marie Cudennec Carlisle
https://www.goldfinger.design/
