Photography by David Waldman

My Apartment

Sew sinister

WHO: Lydia Klenck (pictured), designer and textile artist, 29; Stephanie Comilang, 20-something, artist; Honda and Freydo, cats.

WHAT: 1500-square-foot, two-bedroom, bi-level apartment in an old Victorian house.

WHERE: Kensington Market.

HOW LONG: One and a half years.

HOW MUCH: $1,600.

FAVOURITE THING: Klenck loves the space that allows both artists and cats to live and work together comfortably, while still having plenty of room for the many pieces in progress that mix together with finished projects about the apartment. “We both have our own studios on the second floor and our bedrooms are on the third floor.”

LEAST FAVOURITE THING: “No bathtub.”

THE STORY: Lydia Klenck, known professionally as Lydia K., has an anarchic approach to fashion, art and design, mixing a punk aesthetic with inspirations as disparate as Catholic iconography, Surrealist painter Max Ernst, Mexican folk art and the costumes of infamous drag queen Leigh Bowery. Her apartment reflects her work's warmth, playfulness and love of the macabre, with every available surface area turned into a mini gallery or altar made up of ancient birthday candles, old photographs and fraying fabric.

“Legend has it that a heroin dealer lived here a long time ago,” she says, wondering if there might be some ghosts from junkies past. “If so, they are friendly – there are no bad ghost feelings in the house!” Klenck also designs miniature costumes for the puppets on the children's show Mr. Meaty, which airs on Nickelodeon and CBC (Saturdays at 10:57am). She'll be showing a garment-based installation at the MADE Craft Show: Modern Art and Design Exhibit, a high-end design show and sale at the Gladstone Hotel (1214 Queen W.) April 28-29.

DAMIAN ROGERS

HAVE A COOL SPACE YOU'D LIKE TO SEE PROFILED? EMAIL DROGERS@EYEWEEKLY.COM.