Patricia Beausoleil

Self-portrait. We invite professionals from the lifestyle, culture and communications world to snap six shots that sum up their story. Smartphone in hand, they have fun revealing all the little nothings around which their world revolves. It’s time to take a peek behind closed doors.

“For the past 30 years, I’ve been lucky enough to have a job that’s also my passion, which puts me in the luxurious position of work never actually feeling like work, even though it’s what I do day in, day out. Deciphering the social and cultural indicators that will end up defining tomorrow’s aesthetic trends and concepts isn’t something that solely happens in the Peclers Paris agency, where I head-up the environments and design department. It’s actually an ongoing process that comes from being constantly tuned in to my surroundings.
You could say the world’s my workplace. My many travels, a single encounter, the emotion sparked by discovering an artist or a work, visiting an exhibition... they all provide inspiration to help picture tomorrow’s trends. Over the past few months, the world I so love exploring and observing has shrunk down to nothing more than the rooms of my Parisian apartment. My computer screen has consequently become the window that greets my curious gaze each day as I seek to delve deeper into this world full of creative energy.

Useful object

“I see every single object I have as being useful. It’s not always about their basic function. Sometimes, it’s simply their presence in the space and the visual harmony they create that renders them useful. But as I have to choose something that is truly “useful”, I’ll go for the desk designed by Christophe Delcourt, at which I’ve been pulling up a chair to work for over 20 years.
He’s a designer I’ve followed since he first started out and I absolutely love his work. His designs are filled with a sense of sensitivity, precision and elegance that I adore.”

Futile object

“A Dorothée Loriquet sculpture that sits on one of my shelves alongside this little rocking chair that I acquired at a flea market in Provence. These two objects form an unlikely yet endearing pair that partly epitomise all I love about design, the former for the sensuality of its organic lines that unravel and intertwine, and the latter for its simplicity combined with a perfect sense of balance. They form a dialogue between emotion and reason that in actual fact isn’t totally futile.”

Current crush

“My latest crush would have to be these grogged ceramic platters made by Coralie Seigneur, which I discovered at St Sulpice in October. I’m an avid collector of artisanal ceramics and earthenware pots, and over the years they have ended up taking over my kitchen shelves. And since my apartment has also been my office since the spring, they have now also become an integral part of my working day. I’ve literally fallen in love with this ceramic artist’s creations, which are a precious blend of archaism and modernity, captured in a highly delicate form. These three pieces are the perfect fit for my collection, which now awaits my next crush.”

A souvenir

“Lots of artwork created by my son, Félix, adorns the walls of my apartment, acting as markers of time. Each one is a souvenir of a period, bearing witness to how his work and personality have gradually evolved.” 

All-time fave

“These three “Inros” are objects that I brought back from successive trips to Japan. I picked them up in the flea markets around the temples in Tokyo’s suburbs, and they celebrate a strand of Asian culture of which I’m particularly fond. These tiny pill or tobacco boxes, traditionally worn by Japanese men on the belts of their kimonos, have gradually become my own personal treasure boxes that grace the shelves in my office.”