Conversations with Isabella Hilditch

Today we’d like to introduce you to Isabella Hilditch.

Hi Isabella, we’re thrilled to have a chance to learn your story today. So, before we get into specifics, maybe you can briefly walk us through how you got to where you are today?
I grew up in South East London and moved to the US to be a student-athlete at Princeton University. At the time I didn’t consider myself creative, but simply a devoted track athlete who appreciated books and art. During college I started getting into theater, occasionally skipping practices as I was becoming more of an artist who did track than a track athlete who did art. I began making sculptures, working as a lighting and production designer, before studying digital web design while living in Chicago and North Carolina.

After finishing grad school and moving to London, I started freelancing as a web developer when I caught up with an old Princeton theater friend. Over coffee, she asked me to pick up my old production design hat and come with her to the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. Long story short, she told me to dump my boyfriend and find my feet in her room in Los Angeles while she traveled. She told me I’d love LA and I embraced her advice completely. Probably a bit crazy in retrospect, but it worked out. If it wasn’t for that coffee, I may still be that web developer deciding whether to continue or retire from track and field, leaving my design ambitions dormant for a little longer.

Now, based in LA, I work in both web and production design. One of my first jobs here was working with artist, or “performance architect”, Alex Schweder on his Balloon Museum installation, an experiential pop-up exhibit in downtown LA. Working on that installation with Alex reignited my passion for in-person production and inspired me to get back into it. Soon after, a friend’s recommendation landed me my first film gig in LA as a scenic and set decorator on a USC Stark puppet movie “Dirty Fuzz”. I grabbed my old paintbrushes and was able to meet one of my closest friends and collaborators on that set. That job opened the door to more opportunities, as I’ve been balancing my life between production and web design since.

Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
In the past 7 years I’ve lived everywhere: New Jersey, Chicago, North Carolina, London and now Los Angeles. I want to say that moving around has become my “normal”, but it often feels scattered and chaotic. I think the places I lived represent all the dreams I thought I was chasing – from once thinking I was going to be a professional athlete, to seeing myself as an artist, to an academic, then a theater designer, to a corporate product designer, to now. I’ve spent most of my young adult life confused, trying to make ends meet and catching up on paperwork. I don’t think that makes me any different from other twenty-somethings trying to work things out, but I’ll say that accepting that I don’t need to be tied to one singular vocation has helped my anxiety a lot. I don’t get bogged down thinking I wasted time and energy with all the moves I’ve made – that being said, I do not recommend living in 4 different states in a period of 4 years.

Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
I’m a production designer and artist, but that’s not limited to physical space. I work across mediums, and I split my work pretty evenly between both web design and physical production. My interest in this work comes from a love of personal spaces. I believe that objects and art that people curate in their spaces are an extension of their body or mind, and moreover, that the spaces they inhabit influence their behavior. My art has always experimented with objects and the body, and I’m particularly interested in how they interact and inform each other. When I work on a website or a production design, I’m committed to telling a story with every creative decision I make. Recently my work has been completely varied: a Production Design job at AFI, websites for two different fashion brands, concept drawing for a live entertainment experiential space. I pick up work depending on the project, rather than the medium attached to it.

I suppose what sets me apart as a creative is the fact I work in both virtual “web” and physical space, but moreover, that I’m committed to seeing production designers as artists outside of executing creative work for others. This passion has extended to founding “Art Within The Craft”, an art exhibition I’m creating with two of my filmmaking collaborators Jose and Tori. The exhibition is a showcase of the fine art that designers make outside of production. On display will be a wide range of fine art – everything from sculpture to video installation and it will go up on July 11th. Shameless plug, but production designers don’t get much press! Having a space where we are respected as intentional decision makers with our own creative work – it’s about time! I’m super proud of this project and have been so inspired by all the production design professionals who applied.

How do you think about happiness?
Being free to be ambitious makes me happy. Where I grew up in the UK, the concept of being “ambitious” is a little controversial. I definitely think ambition exists in the UK, but it’s unspoken, and I spent a lot of time suppressing my true self. When I moved to the States I allowed myself to fully share my dreams, creating a community who supported them.

Now, I’m surrounded by an open expression of ambition and that makes me very happy. As a production designer I love being pitched wild ideas, ones that are seemingly impossible. This mindset led directly to creating the “Art Within The Craft” exhibition – I wondered why production designers aren’t showcased as fine artists, then decided to just make it happen. Being happy, for me, means surrounding myself with people who dream big and aren’t afraid to try things that seem impossible at first.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://bedroom.cargo.site/

Image Credits
Isabella Hilditch