Sydney director Don Cameron treats his living room as a set, drawing the eye to an André Bogaert sculpture.
Styling – Glen Proebstel. Photo – Sharyn Cairns.

This week we welcome back interiors expert and former Temple & Webster editorial director Karen McCartney to introduce her new book, Perfect Imperfect, created with two longtime collaborators, New York-based stylist Glen Proebstel and Melbourne photographer Sharyn Cairns. 

Tell us a little about the concept of wabi-sabi, and how it informed the book?
The Japanese concept of wabi-sabi advocates that beauty is found in imperfection, impermanence and the authentic. We wanted to explore this established aesthetic in a new way to ensure we didn’t lose sight of living in the 21^st century, where designers are merging digital technology with the handmade, and interior designers are rethinking how to use spaces and how we decorate them.

Which person or place you’ve covered in the book best embodies this approach?
Martyn Thompson is “Perfect Imperfect’ personified with his highly sophisticated aesthetic that embraces all that is subtle and nuanced alongside high art and craft. His New York loft has a wild energy, partly through the expressionist mural by Dove Drury Hornbuckle, combined with his own ability to mix industrial objects with nature. His jacquard fabrics on cushions and lampshades speak to his characteristic painterly approach.

Ceramic artist Nadia Tassie's latest work is inspired by past unfinished, neglected pieces.
Styling – Glen Proebstel. Photo – Sharyn Cairns.

What one piece of advice would you give someone wanting to incorporate these ideas at home? Where is the line between 'perfect imperfect' and just the usual imperfection of daily life?
We live in such a prescribed world, where perfection is celebrated, there was a real joy in examining the oddities and imperfections in a visual context whether an interior, an object or a process. We all have moments where imperfection comes through – in the best possible way – sometimes it is an object that has a quirky almost ugly beauty, in others it is the character of a vintage piece or something handmade that has the marks of the maker. The book takes these concepts much further than our domestic set up and taps into creatives who truly embrace accident, patina and the process of ageing.

How did the collaboration with stylist Glen Proebstel and photographer Sharyn Cairns work?
I believe Sharyn, Glen and I pushed each other to new creative heights to produce something beyond the everyday – beyond what we have produced independently proving the sum of the parts is definitely more than the whole. With each interview, the written content became richer and so the book has resulted in a true exploration of creativity and true originality.

You've included such a wonderful mix of people, places and objects from around the world. How did you finalise the shortlist and find the right mix?
The book has been shot all over the world – Belgium, London, Paris, New York and of course, Sydney, Melbourne and Canberra. Finding the right architects, designers, craftspeople, retailers and hoteliers, art directors and photographers – to represent the ethos of the perfect imperfect theme – took some time. We started with friends like Martyn Thompson and Sibella Court and gradually expanded the worldview to include a great mix of original creative minds. The book explores their aesthetic and draws out what is fascinating about their process.

The living space of Stephen Alesch and Robin Standefer of New York design studio Roman & Williams. "'Finishing' anything is unnatural and a constant source of unnecessary stress," says Stephen.
Styling – Glen Proebstel. Photo – Sharyn Cairns.

You've also curated an art exhibition inspired by the book, which ran in Hotel Hotel’s Nishi Gallery in Canberra. Tell us a little more about that?
The exhibition was fascinating with a little bit of madness, eccentricity and strange beauty – a bit like the pages of the book come alive. We drew on the talent that is featured in the book alongside other examples, which serve to drive the concept in new and interesting directions. Sculptor Alison Coates created an impactful installation, which exemplifies her love of the organic, while extreme knitter Jacqui Fink brought her immense, tactile work. Alana Wilson ceramics, Harriet Goodall sculptures, and Guy Keulemans’ vases and copper scoops are amongst the work from local artists and designers. Internationally vessels from Simon Hasan who works in boiled, formed leather and Lachaert D’Hanis whose Shard Collection of split ceramics, were for sale. Paper artist Nicholas Jones has created an artwork out of the Perfect Imperfect book by cutting into it in a perfect circle.

What other new projects are you working on since moving on from the role of T&W editorial director?
I tend to have too many ideas on the go at any given time, so I do have a couple of book concepts in mind that I would love to do. I’ve just started a regular column with Fairfax’s Good Weekend Magazine, and recently launcheda lifestyle content agency, Editd, with a fellow former magazine editor, Trudi Jenkins – I always enjoy the intersection of the commercial and the creative.

Perfect Imperfect by Karen McCartney, Sharyn Cairns & Glen Proebstel (Murdoch Books, RRP $59.99) is available now.