Designer Tatiana Pagés, who grew up in Chile, Bolivia, and the Dominican Republic, has lived in New York City for the past ten years with her husband and daughter. “Our dream was always to have these high ceilings and big windows,” she says. They are currently living the dream in their light-filled Harlem duplex. The walls are devoted to Pagés’s collection of Dominican and Haitian artists, including Jorge Pineda, Raquel Paiewonsky, and Sasha Tebó. The vintage industrial table was found at a thrift shop and had to be taken apart to get it into the apartment. Once inside, her husband put it back together again. Photo: Wendy Goodman
They chose this apartment for its outdoor space, shown here, plus the fact that there was room for an at-home studio. They were also considering the building’s penthouse. Photo: Wendy Goodman
Tatiana’s studio opens onto the outdoor space. It is here that she designs her Origomu jewelry line (the name is Japanese for “folding rubber”) made from recycled six-pack plastic rings. These rings are not only major ocean pollutants but kill marine and bird life. To date, she has salvaged over 1 million six-pack rings. Photo: Wendy Goodman
Tatiana’s studio looks like a candy factory with tubs of recycled materials that people have gathered and saved for her; everyone from the man who runs the neighborhood bodega to her designer friends who cart discarded materials to her door. The portraits are by Tatiana’s daughter. Photo: Wendy Goodman
Here is another Laio Art creation, made from”can you guess? Photo: Wendy Goodman
Nespresso cups! Tatiana has shelves of the discarded metal pods in varying colors. Tatiana teaches workshops to incarcerated women, in which she shows them how to create art with everyday objects. “I tell them to invent their own creations, and they bring salvaged materials I didn’t even think of,” she says. Later this month, Tatiana will teach a workshop in Bogotá, Colombia. Photo: Wendy Goodman
Nothing is off limits when it comes to Laio Art. Here, for her sister’s wedding, Tatiana created a bouquet of paper flowers attached to a recycled piece of plastic mesh that made a perfect armband. Photo: Wendy Goodman
Here, plastic six-pack rings are transformed into a necklace. Tatiana is also the CEO and chief creative officer of Greencard Creative, a branding company she started to help “people who are doing something good for the world, for their communities.” Photo: Wendy Goodman
Tatiana has just signed a lease for a gallery that will open May 14 at 1 Striver’s Row. For Earth Day (Tuesday, April 22), you can find Tatiana from 1 to 2 p.m. at the Globe at Columbus Circle, where she and a group of artists will be bringing awareness to the Origomu project. Photo: Wendy Goodman
