Imagine Paul Gauguin’s art reworked in a 21st-century, feminist way and you start to understand the work of artist, illustrator and graphic designer Yiling Changues. Based in Paris and her native Tahiti, Changues explores the myth of the Vahine, that archetypal Polynesian woman familiar from Gauguin’s paintings, but she has removed the colonialism and misogyny, creating empowered goddess-like figures amid the lush, tropical-island surroundings.
Given luxury French decorating brand Pierre Frey’s prowess at transforming fantasies into show-stopping interior schemes, it’s perhaps unsurprising the team saw Changues’ work as an opportunity to create something wonderful and unexpected. As part of the new ‘Enchanted Islands’ collection, the design studio has translated her art into wallcoverings, fabrics and rugs.
‘Aruhine’ (above) is a gigantic panoramic celebrating the symbiosis of woman and nature, with strong female forms in bold shades moving through the dense vegetation found on Tahiti. The smaller-scale design of the ‘Pareu’ (below) wallpaper displays Changues’ energetic sketches of groups of Polynesian women sporting traditional fabric pareos.
Two graphic wool rugs celebrate Changues’ passion for plants. ‘Pitate’ is a powdery-pink confection of frangipani blossom, and ‘Tumu’ sees giant, almost otherworldly foliage in verdant greens. Altogether, it’s a range that proves interior decoration can be as transporting as the very best pieces of art. pierrefrey.com
