LÚCIA RUMOR With the harmonious, delicate and engaging qualities that are so characteristic of your work, the history of each place is what inspires you. In the story of Sandra Benhamou – of Italian-Tunisian origins – what gives shapes and inspires your art? SANDRA BENHAMOU My work may reflect my Mediterranean roots through a certain joy, sweetness, blue, and contrasts. Light and shadow, lightness and strength, roundness and sharpness, silence and noise, sophistication and simplicity. I’m looking for a balance, a feeling of rightness. Italy also brings me history, arts, and some of my favourite designers, such as Scarpa and Ponti. Tunisia, for me, is about conviviality, family, friends, shared spaces, and life. Travelling and walking always inspire me. I need to cross landscapes, cities, places.

You started your career in the world of cinema. How does your background and passion for cinema influence your vision? Can you tell us about a producer or artist who keeps inspiring you? Cinema has always been part of my life, and one of my inspirations. I am particularly sensitive to photography and set design. I absorb so much from the universe of great directors such as Scorsese, Almodovar or Lynch. My passion for movies pretty diectly influenced my sense of staging and telling stories. It’s also related to the way I work on mixing and matching objects, styles and periods.

And when did you decide on this change in work area and life, moving into the interiors business? How did you start up your own atelier? It all started very naturally. As an art and design collector, I have always been attracted by unique interiors. When I used to live in NYC, I had the chance to renovate and entirely design a summer house in the Hamptons. I really enjoyed the experience and decided to make this new passion part of my daily life. I launched my interior design firm in 2010 when I came back to Paris, after 15 years abroad. Freedom of expression in New York and London gave me a special vision of interior design.