Madeleine Lucy Mcilwain is an upholsterer, with a particular focus on headboards. She got started with this it while decorating her own flat in London and made a headboard for herself. She enjoyed the process of making it so much that she decided to continue with the practice of making them.

Madeleine has been at Contact for around three months. Having always worked from home before, she likes having a space that is separate from where she lives. She also values the people she has met, even if that has only been a handful so far. It is inspiring to be around others who are all working on all types of creative projects within a friendly environment.

At the moment she is focused on finding her own style. Previously, most of her work was commission based, built around what other people wanted and envisioned rather than her own ideas. Now she is creating work that is fully her own, experimenting with different techniques and drawing more on her own creative instincts around design and style.

Her inspiration comes from everyday things, colours and textures in particular. This could include interiors, clothing, but really just anything around her. Colour especially is what tends to spark inspiration for her.

The piece that stands out most for her is the one she has just finished. Aside from her very first headboard, it is the first one she has made purely for herself, and it feels like a marker of how far she has come. It uses different shapes and textures and is much larger in scale than anything she has worked with before, which posed new challenges in the making process. It is a floor standing piece, which she finds to be particularly satisfying to make, although also much more challenging logistically.