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In 2014 I was traveling in Europe with my partner Simon. We were at the Paris Flea Market (Les Puces de Saint-Ouen), when we came across an old painting that we both fell in love with.  The painting was a portrait of a woman, but her head was turned so that you couldn’t see her face. The gallerist told us that the style is called “Profil Perdu”, or “Lost Profile” in English.

As in, the profile of her face was lost. He told us that it was used as a training technique for painters, as it is harder to make an accurate portrait of someone from the back of their head, than it is to paint their face, where you have all of their facial features to work with. You need to say more with your paint brush, using less information. I thought that was so beautiful and poetic. 

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At the time of this trip, I had been thinking a lot about my career direction as a creative person. Did I want to be an artist, a product designer, an interior designer, or a vintage furniture dealer? 

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We couldn’t take the painting with us, but I knew in that moment that I was going to return home to start a studio called Lost Profile, and under that title, I was going to be all of the above. 

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- Oliver Wilcox