Nina Levett

Portfolio

Hand-drawn organic patterns on every surface. Porcelain, glass, furniture, wallpaper, car interiors, public installations, sailing boats. Every surface is a canvas. Every object carries a drawing forward into someone's life.

Alessi

Porcelain tiles, self-initiated

Organic City

Gewista Citylights, Vienna

A La Carte

Ornamental wallpaper

Esvinilo

Wall decal surface design

Gestalten Verlag

Publication

Colagene

Illustration and pattern

Surface Magazine

Wallpaper design

Alfa Romeo

Pattern for Illustrative Festival

Kosjek

Wallpaper pattern

Swarovski

Pattern design

Demel

Pattern application

Wolford

Pattern application

About

I draw organic patterns by hand and put them on things. Porcelain cups, glass vases, wallpaper, car seats, building facades, sailing boats. Every surface is a canvas. Every object carries a piece of the drawing forward into someone's life.

My patterns grow from nature -- flowers, cells, branches, textures -- but they are not illustrations of nature. They are a way of thinking. Repetition as meditation. Detail as devotion. The hand-drawn line as proof that a human was here.

I studied at the University of Applied Arts in Vienna. I collaborated with Miami street artist Jona Cerwinske on a sailing boat at the Attersee. I created work for the MAK museum in Vienna. After years of creative silence, I am coming back -- with a 13,000-image archive and a memoir in progress called "Burned Down."

Alessi · Augarten · Lobmeyr · B&B Italia · Ligne Roset · Porsche · Ritzenhoff · Alfa Romeo · Gewista · MAK Vienna · Absolut Vodka · Swarovski · Gestalten · Frame Magazine · Surface Magazine

Life & Work

1973 – 1988

Born into contrast

Born in Vienna. Grew up between two worlds: a Protestant mother who shopped at Hofer and a father who drove a Bentley. Learned to hold opposites before she learned to draw. Started drawing early, obsessively, on every surface.

1988 – 1992

Sommerakademie & first recognition

At 15, accepted into Jörg Immendorff's class at the Internationale Sommerakademie für Bildende Kunst in Salzburg. Painted next to him by coincidence. Won the prize for a free return the following year. Studied under Georg Eisler at 16. Finished the International Baccalaureate with 42 of 45 points.

1992 – 1997

Vienna: Architecture, Business, Andrea

Studied Architecture at the Angewandte (University of Applied Arts Vienna), Holzbauer class. Designed a house for Casanova under Paolo Piva. Completed a business degree at WU Wien in minimum time. Thesis: "Die Maschinenmetapher in modernen Managementkonzepten." Met Andrea Gaiba at New Year 1993. Learned Italian from dinners, arguments, and grocery lists.

1997 – 2004

The Italian years

Moved to Italy. Founded a company with Andrea. Clara born 2001, Elia born 2003. Lived inside a language and a country for eleven years. Dreamed in Italian. Built a life, then burned it down in one night. Returned to Vienna in August 2004 with two children and a suitcase.

2004 – 2012

Rebuilding: surfaces, porcelain, family

Married Berti Schrödl. Julian born, then David. Began making porcelain plates with words fired into glaze at 1,200 degrees. Exhibited in Vienna. Work entered the permanent collection of the MAK (Museum of Applied Arts). Designed patterns for Alessi, Swarovski, Wolford, Augarten, Porsche. Paola Antonelli (MoMA) said: "You are on my radar."

2012 – 2016

The silence

Stopped making art. Success had started to feel like a narcissistic loop. Managed seven apartments. Raised four children. Consumed podcasts, books, frameworks. Prepared without producing. The twenty-year delay began here.

2016 – 2020

Running, writing, transformation

Discovered Rich Roll. Found a running coach who taught her to show up every day. Started writing morning pages at 5 AM. Wrote 2,190 emails to a man who barely replied. The silence became the practice. The practice became the voice. 4.2 million words in notebooks, planners, and phone screens.

2020 – 2026

The book, the archive, the return

Built a creative partnership with Rakib in Dhaka across 121,000 messages. Began writing "Things I Burned Down to Build" in English — her third language, the only one where nobody owns her. Bought an apartment in Ravenna. Returned to Italy without the man she left there. Pressed record on a golf cart at 6 AM. The book is a 49-chapter memoir about burning and building. The archive holds 13,000 images from three decades. The course is ready. The return is underway.