December 2007
TORBEN WILSON

Mirror, mirror on the wall,
who’s the funkiest of them all?
Sassy, classy, curvy, clever,
beauty and mystique that lasts forever.
.

“Am I vain?  Oh, no!”  Though a mirror is the main stage attraction, it’s just another one of the many materials that comprise his hand-crafted, personally-designed home accent wall art.  What is a mirror to him?  For this 6’4” man who rarely looks into a mirror, a mirror possesses a mystical quality--“a window into another world; it’s whatever you want it to be.” 

I first met Torben Wilson at one of those disastrous Sundays at Jack London Square.  We remember that day well because it was windy, cold and wet.  We were all trying to sell our art while simultaneously holding down the legs of our tents, wondering why we’d even bothered getting up that morning.  Not a fun nor prosperous day.  Amidst the unfriendly weather, Torben and his mirrors remained my only pleasant memory of the day.

I was glad to meet him again under more tranquil conditions.  A man who speaks frankly and fluidly about the world according to Torben, he tells it like IT IS—take it or leave it.  I thoroughly enjoyed his rapid stream of stories--little vignettes that held golden nuggets of wisdom.  A mirror of his own mirrors, Torben reflects a character as creative and unique as his designs.

Knowing how to woo his customers into a world that marries a bit of funk with sophistication, his mirror art will bring a smile and a possible wink to their day.  Whether it’s a her and his mirror over their closet doors, a curvy mirror adorned with clusters of luscious blue grapes over their bed, or a sleek martini glass and shaker over their bar, Torben’s designs satisfy a full spectrum of both sophisticates and wanna-be sophisticates.  In a world that’s super cool, Torben knows how to turn up the heat and tease the senses. 

Being of independent spirit, hustling with the flow, and running with an opportunity, Torben spiraled off into a direction he had no intention of following.  As a student at Appalachian State University in Boone, North Carolina, his original ambition was to become a furniture designer; and since High Point, North Carolina is the furniture capital of the world, it was easy to be inspired.  Following graduation from Appalachian State, in 1994, with a degree in Industrial Technology, and an internship with a family furniture business, Torben’s career quickly spun into orbit.  The owners of JW Contemporary Design, a furniture company located in Livermore, California, looked at his portfolio and were instantly smitten by Torben’s eye for design.  Because he also constructed his designs--to further demonstrate their sustainability--with a snap of the fingers, he was hired as a freelance designer.

He flew out to the Bay Area in December 1997 to visit California for the first time and, by some quirk of nature, the weather just so happened to be 80 degrees!  Being a warm-blooded creature of comfort, he was sold.  The next step was to find a place to live.  He rented an apartment in Walnut Creek, an easy BART ride to sleepy Livermore and to sleepless San Francisco.  Returning to North Carolina, Torben hastily packed and announced to friends and family he was off to California!  Working for a mega-furniture company, however, was confining and frustrating—painfully piercing Torben’s wings.  Within a year, disgruntled and tired, it was time to move on.   

In North Carolina, he happened to visit a friend’s beauty salon.  Oddly, Torben noticed there were no mirrors in the salon.  He asked his friend, “How is it that you have not one mirror in here?  Don’t you know women love to look at themselves?”  Torben got busy and made a beautiful mosaic 3x4-foot backsplash.  After installing it behind the shampoo bowls, his enthusiasm mounted as he visualized a set of matching mirrors hanging above.  He went home, designed and constructed a set of mirrors accented with the same mosaic inlays as the backsplash.  On the following Sunday, he went into the salon and hung them on the wall above the bowls using fishing line to effect a floating, ethereal sensation.  When his friend returned to work, he was so enchanted by the beauty of the mirrors that within days he removed them and hung them in his own home.  Fortunately, the mirrors had already melted the hearts of enough customers, and much to Torben’s surprise, he was inundated with orders. 

Enter Neoterica Designs—Designs for a Modern World.  Cutting glass, thinking hot and sexy, and loving to please his customers, Torben navigates through the volatile world of art with paradoxical humor.  Like a journey through Alice’s rabbit hole, he and his customers enjoy the unfettered dimension of stretching theme, shape, line, color and texture.  Each of his collections is steaming with imaginative possibilities—Fun and Funky, Neoterica Vineyards, Party Time, Enchanted Mirrors, Heads and Masks.  Using a combination of mirror and metal, held together by a secret black resin formula, and supported by a wood backing, Torben’s designs have a modern abstract yet familiar, down-home, friendly appeal found nowhere else on the planet.

As a businessman, Torben strives to know his customers.  Observing, listening, and evaluating, he’s compiled a clandestine mental file on who they are and what they like.  Sophisticated, mature, anywhere between 35 and 60, they spend wisely on what they like.  They know their art and appreciate something that’s different. 

Generally, he’s found that “the funkier it is, the faster it sells.”  After finishing a piece and stepping back to give it the once over, he shakes his head and mutters:  “Oh, no, no, no!  No one’s gonna want this!”  His line of Good Luck Panels exemplifies this:  feathers, leather, bones, beads, bells, shells, stones—little scrap flea market pieces cluttering his studio—were used to embellish the Good Luck mirrors.  They were so funky, he thought they’d never sell.   However, “beauty is in the eye of the beholder,” and he was surprised when they were all gone in a snap.  And if it doesn’t sell right off, with confidence he says, “I’m not worried.  My pieces always sell,” adding affectionately, “These are my babies.”

At the recent Art and Soul Festival, Torben’s mirrors were an incredible hit with the multitude of customers who ventured into his booth.  He’d just created his Tribal Collection.  Imaginative designs that merged funk with class, his black and silver masks portrayed a modern yet ancient sense of mystery and freedom--definitely not a replicate of any authentic African mask.  A couple from Africa stepped into his booth and stood staring at them for a long time.  Torben felt a twinge of apprehension hoping the masks were not offensive in any way.   When they turned around and told him they’d like to buy a pair, it was a pleasant surprise and an honor that they appreciated his work. 

Torben admits “I love to see a woman in a sexy pair of shoes!”  Wondering why women have such a fascination with shoes, one day he wandered into an upscale women’s designer shoe store in downtown Walnut Creek.  His jaw dropped.  “No damn wonder!”  The breadth of colors, designs, styles blew his mind.  Excited, he began to study the structure of a woman’s foot and came up with a template for his basic stiletto heel--the original “Darlene pump.”

The pump was named after Darlene, a customer who’d given Torben some great womanly advice:  “Oh, no!  You can’t have shoes without a purse!”  This prompted Torben to notice a pile of vintage handbags at the local flea market.  He picked out the most interesting, especially eyeing the handles.  Back home, he pulled off all the handles, cut his mirrors into the shapes of the handbags, and fastened the handles onto them.  Hence the shoe and purse concept was born.  They were an instant hit with the women, appealing to the sexy, the slutty, and even the churchy.  A little something for everyone.

Having the gift of imagination and practicality, coming up with new designs has never been a concern.  Jesters, starbursts, cosmic snowflakes, alien turnabouts, space probes, funky flower pots, wine and martini glasses, robot heads, fu-fu shoes with feathers, gemini twins.  Trendy, unique and beautiful.  Always whimsical and fun, not necessarily for the serious at heart.  Many designs come from mindless doodling, as Torben claims outright he “can’t draw.”  There is no such thing as a mistake and from the doodling, a masterpiece is eventually created.  Keeping his costs low, his designs high, he’s found a great formula for success. 

I asked him about his whimsical collection of Mirrored Heads—curly long dreadlocks spewing from a round mirror that doubles as a “faceless” face.  Expecting a story about how he’s inspired by the beautiful women and children of Oakland, I was instead handed a rather anti-climatic answer.  As a flea market aficionado, Torben found a skein of thick black vintage yarn.  He knew he could use it, though he didn’t know how, and generously offered a quarter.  Taking it home, he spread it out on his work table, and mindlessly began manipulating and doodling with it.  It began to take on a life of its own until it fashioned itself into strands of wild hair.  Adding glittery beads to the base of the mirrors gave the Mirrored Heads a splash of color and a hint of a very feminine neckline.

Upon the advice of his men customers:  “Hey, men need some love too.”  Back to the drawing board and men’s shoes and ties were created to honor his men clients as well. 

What’s in the future for Neoterica Designs?  Though he loves making his hands-on, one-of-a-kind creations, with marketing smarts and knowing which wave to ride, eventually Torben would like to really expand his marketplace by “going global.”  And perhaps traveling far beyond global; perhaps beyond time and space.  What do his mirrors really symbolize?  What future do they hold?  Will they still be intact and reflecting images--past, present and future--10 years, 100, years, 1,000 years from now?  What faces and places will they have seen?  What faces and places are yet to be seen?  Will they be treasured as relics of a distant past, artifacts of beauty that originated at a time that linked the past with the future?  Or the end with the beginning?  Or the beginning with the end?  Perhaps those sexy stilettos and sleek martini glasses will someday hang in a museum of timeless art, symbolic of an era that once was … or is yet to be.

Neoterica Designs:  True Designs for a Modern World.  This is the fascinating landscape where Torben’s mind wanders freely—a multi-dimension of color, shape, line and texture—the space where his truth lies and his visions blossom.  What better way to express than with a simple mirror--an ageless tool reflecting the Soul. 

For more information on Torben Wilson and Neoterica Designs log onto www.neotericadesigns.com.