Storied Objects
46 DECEMBER 2 0 1 8
BY ESTELLE PYPER
@ESTIEPYPER
@ESTIE_PYPER
INTERIOR DESIGN
If Raquel Almazan wants her apartment
to resemble anything, it’s definitely
not a West Elm store – like her
sister’s home.
“But I’m not knocking West Elm,” the
artist is quick to add.
But she’s right – her place is the opposite
of what you’d find in a chic furniture
catalog: it neither conforms to the trendy
minimalist style, nor is it dotted with nondescript
wall décor.
“For me, I put everything together that I
value,” Almazan said. “I can tell you, all of
these things are from something that has
happened in my life.”
From the Spanish pottery to the feathers
gifted to her by Native Americans, everything
has a story.
Almazan and her family came to the
United States from Spain when she was very
young, and settled in Houston.
At 14, she and her mother escaped a bad
domestic situation and moved to Miami,
where Almazan flourished as a Latina theater
artist.
“I loved Miami because Latinos were really
at the center of everything,” Almazan
said. “I didn’t feel like I was the other.”
And about 12 years ago, she moved to
New York City to pursue theater. At the