Reflections on light – Inma Bermúdez – part one

She was born in Murcia in 1977, although at the tender age of one week Inma Bermúdez moved to Valencia, the city where she studied design which is also becoming a fount of new creators in Spain. Today she works for a wide variety of companies in different countries. With Follow Me she feels that she is adding a feminine touch to the Marset catalogue, where until this past season all the lamps were created by male designers. Based at her country house 20 km from Valencia — where she lives surrounded by dogs, hens, a vegetable patch and nearby family to keep up the traditional Sunday paella — today she travels anywhere in the world if it means launching a new project.

On what day did you become a designer?

I have liked to create things my entire life. I have been creative and curious since I was little. I think that the day I began to be a designer was precisely when I began to work. I have always been insecure, and I did not have the sense that I was capable of creating anything until I saw that I was able to design things that were manufactured and brought to market.

Is the idea of having the ability to create things very powerful?

I think that this perspective comes from a person who is not living in the skin of a designer, because to me it is totally natural. On the other hand, the job of a surgeon seems incredible to me because I am totally unfamiliar with that field. To me, creating is natural, and I love it, it comes easily, I don’t have to think a lot about what I am doing, I just do it.

Where did you study?

I studied in Valencia, and in my last year at university I went on an Erasmus trip to Germany. It was hard, but not too hard because my first rule after I arrived was not to compare, because if I compare it with what I had experienced at home, I’m always going to prefer what I am more familiar with. When I live someplace else, my philosophy has always been to make the most of the place. This helps a lot; it lets you get to know people from another perspective and to be more relaxed. In Germany I learned the culture of recycling, I began to get close to nature, to animals. I met people who lived with hens and goats, who had their own vegetable gardens, and I began to feel curious. And that is one of the reasons why I live the way I do now: in a house built in a sustainable way, with animals, a vegetable garden, hens and roosters, in a very relaxed way. An atmosphere like that helps me to get the peace and quiet I need to create.

After that, I worked in France in the summers in design workshops organised by the Vitra Design Museum. And later still I did an internship at Ikea and went to Sweden. I spent the winter there – it was a bit hard because there was no light. I ate tons of chocolate, a total anti-depressant, but I learned a lot and it brought out the best in me.

After six years abroad and living back in Valencia, I worked at Lladró, which taught me about the world of porcelain.

– What is light?

That’s a difficult question… light is everything. If we didn’t have light, we couldn’t eat, we couldn’t live. In this sense, light gives us life, it’s necessary for everything…

Light is life, happiness, enthusiasm, warmth… love. Light is everything. Ultimately, if there is no light, there is nothing.

-What does a beautiful light make you feel?

It makes me feel peaceful, quiet… I am really bothered when a light isn’t good. It affects my mood.

– What is a beautiful light like?

To me it is candlelight, firelight, the light of a flame. This might be a bit anthropological, coming from back when we used to live in caves and use fire to illuminate things. At my home, when we light the fireplace, you can spend hours watching the flames. It’s an amazing feeling. It captivates you – it’s hypnotising.

-And yet you make artificial light…                         

Yes, I make artificial light, but I am very careful with the kind of light I make: the tone, the intensity and the warmth of the light are very important. They are essential factors when designing a light