Faith Hilda Quek

LEGENDARY INTERVIEW

Design Legends ("DL") had the distinct honour to interview legendary designer Faith Hilda Quek ("FHQ") for their original perspective and innovative approach to design as well as their creative lifestyle, we are very pleased to share our interview with our distinguished readers.

DL: Could you please tell us a bit about your design background and education?

FHQ : Growing up in Singapore, I first started drawing when I was 5 years old when my mother enrolled me in a neighborhood community class. I cried every week I went there. It was a room full of kids from elementary to high school. I describe it mostly as a colouring class. Despite sitting in a room packed with students, it was dead quiet. We can hear the fan spinning overhead and the parents whispering outside while the class goes on. My hand still shakes as I recall those moments stuck in my head forever. A year later a young and lively Fine Art graduate teacher took over the classes. Ms Wang was her name and she was beyond amazing and inspiring. She would teach and correct us in ways we never imagined. Showing us different mediums, how to hold a pencil, a paint brush, a crayon and control our strength and pressure to paper to create the effect we wanted. We would pick a postcard or a painting from a nice collection of works she puts in a folder (age appropriate) every week and ‘copy’ that image in our own way onto paper. We have over an hour to create our work of art every week. It was magic. I remember once choosing a postcard with Swiss alps in the background and green mountains in the front. I sat next to a much older boy who also liked my picture and in the end decided to ‘copy’ that small postcard to create his own creation instead. We looked at the same postcard yet at the end of the class, each of us came up a with completely different way of drawing the very same image on paper using different media. He with watercolor and me with my favourite, crayons and pencils. I will never forget at the end of the hour we put our work next to each other and then looked at each other and smiled. No words needed, just an artist’s nod of approval to each other. I trained under her since then and by the time I was 10 have won many international art competitions from Singapore to India and America. She is truly unforgettable and the journey for my love of art began. She would organise art trips and painting weekends to the lake, gardens, city hall, even a shopping mall, and just sit us down all the kids and draw. We drew and painted life around us. Looking at the world through different eyes, seeing the world through each other’s eyes. It was pure therapy. From those moments on, I know I want to create, to design and keep ‘art’ in my life forever. I was fortunate to train under highly selective gifted Art Elective Program in Singapore during my high school years where I represented the country in various art competitions and student exchange in Japan, then went on to study Architecture in Melbourne University in Australia and won scholarships to further research my love for European Art History and architecture in Rome, Italy and till today still draw inspiration from my background in fine art and architecture, to push the boundaries of jewellery design, visualising in 3D for every client I meet.

DL: What motivates you to design in general, why did you become a designer?

FHQ : I find joy in listening. When we wait and listen, we often get to hear stories we otherwise will never know. My first experiences as a jewelry designer started with listening. To what the client really wants,

DL: Did you choose to become a designer, or you were forced to become one?

FHQ : My first dream as a child was to be a watch maker. I have always been fascinated by the intricacies and mechanics of the automatic watch when I first held my grandfather's Swiss watch in my hands. It had an exposed watch back where the cogs and wheels as well as jewel bearings in sapphires and rubies were visible. When I learnt from my grandfather about the story behind that heirloom watch, and the sentiment and meaning it carried, it not only fired my obsession in precision and dimensions but also mechanics. I carried those inspiring moments into adulthood where my love for geometry and design was transferred into my love for interior & architecture design, which I studied with passion in University. By a complete twist of fate, I was introduced into the jewelry trade to assist a production team in jewelry cad designer (applying my architecture design skills). Always ready to embrace and immerse in any exposure in every design field, I threw myself into the opportune experience, learning all aspects of this new trade with fresh eyes. It amazed me that every shiny glorious jewel completed, through the harshest creation process of hammering, soldering, torching in fire and polish and grinding of raw material and gemstones. I have never looked back since those epiphany moments, forever grateful for my humble beginnings, to where I have achieved as a designer.

DL: What do you design, what type of designs do you wish to design more of?

FHQ : Bespoke jewelry excite me as clients allow me to weave their dreams and turn gems into visions of love for them. Strongly influenced by art deco and architecture design, I love to incorporate symmetry and unique details with a delicate refined touch to each creation. The fine balance to respect timeless beauty and strike harmony in design is a special gift. Each creation is the birth of a story unique to one.

DL: What should young designers do to become a design legend like you?

FHQ : Keep watch of your dream and find your soul and direction every day. Never lose your pen and paper and keep communicating your ideas every day in your favourite way or media. Journal and keep journalling whenever you can.