My path to becoming a designer and artist grew from a lifelong sensitivity to surroundings—the way spaces feel, how materials age, and how objects carry stories over time.
Born and raised in New Jersey, I earned my undergraduate degree from the University of Pennsylvania before attending Cardozo School of Law in New York City. I spent years practicing law and advocating for children within the foster care system, work that taught me the importance of observation, empathy, and an awareness of the environments that shape our daily lives.
Throughout those years, I remained deeply drawn to architecture, interiors, travel, and the objects that give a place its character. What began as a personal fascination gradually evolved into a creative practice, leading me back to the study of interior design and art.
Today, my work exists at the intersection of fine art and interiors. Whether creating a painting, designing a home, or developing a collection, I am interested in how material, craftsmanship, and atmosphere come together to create spaces with depth and presence.
Much of my inspiration comes from vintage textiles, architecture, travel, and objects that bear the marks of time and use. I’m drawn to interiors that feel layered and collected rather than overly composed, where natural materials, thoughtful restraint, and a sense of history create an atmosphere that unfolds slowly over time.
Through both art and design, I strive to create work that feels enduring, personal, and deeply connected to the people who live with it.
INSPIRED PROCESS
Whether working on a painting or an interior, my process begins with observation.
I am drawn to patterns found in woven textiles, weathered materials, architecture, and the subtle irregularities that emerge through age and use. These references are gathered over time and revisited repeatedly throughout the creative process.
The work itself is often additive and subtractive at once—building, obscuring, revealing, and refining. Through layers of paint, wax, thread, or texture, I look for a balance between control and spontaneity, creating surfaces that feel both structured and organic.
I am most interested in work that rewards a slower experience. Pieces that reveal nuance gradually and continue to offer something new with time.
Values
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Artistry
For me, artistry is less about creating something new and more about seeing familiar things differently. A thoughtful composition, an unexpected pairing, a subtle detail that shifts the feeling of an entire room. It’s an approach rooted in curiosity, intuition, and careful observation.
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Craftsmanship
I have always admired work that reflects patience, skill, and intention. Whether handmade by an artisan or passed down through generations, the pieces I’m drawn to share a common thread—they were created with care and built to be lived with
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Authenticity
I’m most interested in spaces that feel genuine to the people who live in them. Not defined by a single style, but informed by what has been gathered, kept, inherited, and loved over time. Those are the interiors that feel the most compelling and enduring.
Artist Statement
My work is rooted in a fascination with surfaces that reveal themselves slowly.
Drawing inspiration from vintage textiles, architecture, and the marks left by time, I create paintings that explore the relationship between structure and softness, repetition and variation, concealment and revelation. Many begin with a grid, a woven pattern, or a fragment of texture observed in the world around me and evolve through a process of layering, revision, and removal.
I think of these paintings much like textiles themselves—built through accumulation, rhythm, and the evidence of the hand. What appears ordered from a distance often becomes more nuanced upon closer inspection, revealing subtle shifts in texture, irregularity, and surface.
Rather than pursuing perfection, I am interested in depth. I want the work to feel lived with, carrying a sense of memory, materiality, and quiet complexity that continues to unfold over time.
Please note Dara accepts a limited number of art commissions and interior design projects each year. She also works with collectors and interior designers seeking original works for residential and commercial spaces