About

Virginie Masliah is a Montreal-born artist and designer based in Florence, Italy. Having made art from an early age, she first developed her practice through painting before studying interior design in Montreal and later furniture design in Florence. Her fascination with beauty, space and form gradually evolved into a love for furniture and objects.

Largely self-directed, Masliah has built her practice through experimentation, focused studies and an instinctive curiosity about how things are made. Rather than working within a single material or discipline, each piece begins with an idea, which determines the material, technique and process that follow.

Her practice has taken her from painting to furniture design, metal casting, sculpture and jewelry. Through the study and practice of processes including lost-wax and sand casting, she has developed a practical understanding of metalwork, while collaborating with specialized artisans and fabricators in Florence for larger-scale work.

Across materials and scales, her work is connected by a pursuit of beauty, function and the unexpected. Familiar forms are often approached with a sense of play and subtle humor, resulting in objects that move between furniture, sculpture and functional art.

Studio Haïm takes its name from the artist's father, Haïm, whose name means life in Hebrew.

A man who believed in working hard and living even harder, he instilled in her an appreciation for life, its possibilities, and the importance of making the most of one's time.

That spirit is at the heart of the studio. Life, the human body, and its extraordinary capabilities are recurring sources of inspiration in Masliah's work. Through her practice, she celebrates the freedom to create, to explore, and to make something of the time we have.