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We're knocking on doors and taking a look around peoples' homes to see where your neighbours relax, hang out with their pets, and create! It's an invitation to snoop, but we're staying away from their medicine cabinets.Photos: @art3fact |
Our Host: Holly Elissa Lamaro
Who's that? Actor, Producer and Founder of Caleb's Hope www.calebshope.org
Beverage Offered: green tea
Where do you live?
I live in Kits, a few blocks from the beach and I’ve lived here for 10 years. It’s a really beautiful amazing neighbourhood, I’m very spoiled.
How would you describe your apartment?
My apartment is very eclectic. It’s a fusion on Indonesian furniture, Tibetan Buddhism, and Sufi influences. Then of course lots of Africa art and then some random, I guess IKEA stuff.
What do you do here?
I eat, I sleep, I work. All my meditation, my morning practices are done here in the living room. My home is my sanctuary. I work in film so there’s a lot of long hours and it’s nice to have a little cave that you can come back to and just chill out and just unwind.
What do you like about not having a coffee table?
Because I do a lot of meditation and I do yoga, I don’t like having the coffee table because it’s just in the way. I just like having the open space. Most people end up sitting around the floor.
As long as it feels balanced, then that’s all that matters.
For me, I consider the furniture artwork and it is a huge investment for me, having beautiful pieces in the home, it means a lot to me.
What can you tell me about the art with the bears?
There’s a lot of art with bears and elephants, it’s by an artist called SB Williams. I just really like his artwork. It’s really random; some of his stuff looks more like graffiti. He’s very much an acquired taste and he is very different from the piece from Nairobi, but I love totems and power animals and that type of stuff.
How has travel shaped your aesthetic?
It’s shaped what goes on the walls and how the space is set up and what’s important to me. Like most people in the western world want to have a coffee table, but for other cultures it is irrelevant.
Does your bed intimidate people?
(Laughs) Yes, I think it does. Every girl that comes into the space asks “This is weird, I want to sit on it, is that okay?” My last boyfriend was actually fine with it, but men are always awkward. It’s not very masculine….it’s the pillows! And its enclosed with all these birds and flowers carved over everything. There have definitely been some concerns.
Do you entertain a lot?
I’m very selective about who comes over, so 1-2 friends at a time and it’s a nice chill private time. I just like things being really quiet.
How do you think being away affects your thoughts on your own space?
It definitely makes me appreciate it a lot more, especially when I go to East Africa. Their way of life is very different, and the things people value are very different and it’s not nearly as superficial. The women that we work with, we’ve just built them homes and most of them had grown up in a refugee camp. The others were homeless and building them a traditional mud hut, that’s such a huge huge blessing to them. When I come back here I have a much greater appreciation for the carpet I complain about or the cupboards that aren’t quite to my liking. It’s a very blessed living experience, so I can’t really complain.
