RACHEL COPE / CALICO WALLPAPER
Rachel Cope is the Creative Director of Calico Wallpaper, a bespoke wallpaper company she co-founded in 2013 with her creative and life-partner Nicholas Cope in Brooklyn, New York.
Calico Wallpaper works with a global roster of leading designers, architects, and creatives, such as Lindsey Adelman, Faye Toogood, Philippe Malouin, Charlap Hyman & Herrero, and Daniel Arsham In addition to residential and hospitality projects, Calico Wallpaper’s designs have been exhibited internationally at the London Design Festival (2015, 2017, and 2019) and Salone del Mobile in Milan (2015, 2017, 2018, and 2019); they have obtained a place in the permanent collection at the Cooper Hewitt Smithsonian Design Museum.
Previously, Rachel worked as a creative arts therapist at New York University Langone Medical Center. She is a graduate of the Rhode Island School of Design, where she received a BFA in sculpture. She has an MPS in Art Therapy from The School of Visual Arts.
Duet, 2021
Linen, Oil Sticks
Site-specific Installation
Created by Rachel Cope (mother) and Willow Cope (daughter)
An immersive installation on the theme of motherhood was conceived to adorn the walls of Egg Collective's showroom. It combines the innocence and joy of childhood creativity with an exploration of the familial bonds expressed in our every gesture.
Highlighting the imaginative, whimsical, and intuitive nature of the artistic practice shared between mother and daughter, the project takes the form of a live collaboration hand-drawn by Rachel Cope alongside her daughter Willow. Beginning with a raw linen wall covering, the duo created gestural drawings with a curated palette of oil sticks. Using a freeform, full-body approach, the mural traces Rachel and Willow’s tandem movements, capturing the spontaneity that guides their creation of abstract shapes and patterns.
Inspired by the playful and free spirit of Willow’s drawings, the unique approach to this project was designed to draw on and express the inherent connections that run deep between generations.
“Far from traditional by-the-roll wallpaper, all of our wallpaper designs are made with the architecture in mind and adjusted to the dimensions and scale of a space, making each installation a unique work of art.”
— Rachel + Nick Cope
“Designer of the Day: Nick and Rachel Cope”, Surface Magzine
“The way to be successful is to not be competitive, but the opposite: be inclusive and reach out to other designers and people you look up to, people you are inspired by, to help you out in the beginning.”
— Rachel Cope
“My mom had taught me how to do paper marbling as a kid, and it’s something I feel super comfortable with. I started marbling in the front space [of our apartment]. I used our shower to wash out the papers and I got really obsessed with the process. I started studying it and researching different types of marbling, the history of paper marbling — I couldn’t stop. Nick thought there was a lot of potential and wanted to apply them to his interior design vision. Then it became wallpaper.”
— Rachel Cope
The Couple Making Wallpaper That Doubles As Art, Coveteur
