Why Gautam Seth’s workspace looks like an all-white ‘crazy scientist lab’

For Gautam Seth, spirituality is a big driving force. “I find great strength in leaning on our culture and rituals to inform my work and practice,” says Seth, a chemical engineer by qualification, who co-founded Klove Studio, a Delhi-based lighting design company known for its hand-blown glass installations, with Prateek Jain in 2005. Earlier this year, he established Atomicc Code, a spiritual wellness and lifestyle brand that offers candles, fragrances and other home products, bringing together science and traditional practices.

In an interview with Lounge, Seth talks about his all-white workspace and the importance of incense in his professional and personal life. Edited excerpts:

Describe your current workspace to us.

My workspace is all white. I think the colour white provides a beautiful shell for any creator to think without any interference. White also represents freshness and a certain welcoming feeling. In terms of work, the room has lots of stuff—design samples, totems I picked up while travelling like a sea shell, ittar that I like to splatter around, an incense stand, graphics. It looks like a crazy scientist lab.

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How would you define your daily relationship with this space?

Very sacred. This is the first space I go to once I get up in the morning, and sit with my three dogs, Mia, Kismat and Appam. We soak in the sun; I do my stretching. There is a sense of calm and balance here.

One thing that’s always been at your workspace?

There’s always some sort of incense burning in my environment. Whether I am returning home from a long day at work or some intense meeting, the moment I smell that fresh aroma, it just changes my mood. The kind of incense I love is Palo Santo, and so I burn a lot of Palo Santo wood. I also love the smell of havan ingredients that we use in our Indian homes. We make our ingredients ourselves and burn them every day with a bit of ghee.

Talking about interior design, what elements would you say help bring life to a space?

In terms of interior design, the one thing that is important for any space before you even begin is how much light enters that room. Depending on the direction towards which the room is facing, I personally like to look at the level of light I’m comfortable letting in that room. If it’s a morning zone, it must be east facing and ideally more sun lit because when you wake up, you need that energy. Bringing in light is one of the most important factors in a space.

What do the walls of your workspace look like?

My workspace walls are filled with beautiful handpainted pieces. There are totemic symbols and also works of the new upcoming artists that I love collecting. It’s a mix and match of a lot of things.

Whose work has inspired you?

I love the work of (architect) Vincent Van Duysen; his language is so calm yet so effective. For art, I have been deeply influenced by B. Prabha. I used to study her as a student. We used to sketch and try to figure out her language. I really like Rithika Merchant’s work a lot and also Devi Seetharam’s. In terms of design, I feel very inspired by my colleague Prateek Jain. We live and work together so he’s a daily dose of inspiration for me.

How do you overcome a creative problem or block?

To overcome a creative block or space, I feel the best way is to let it go and not work on it for as long as required. It could be a few days or a month or more. I am blessed to have the luxury to take a break for as long as I want.

What do you do when you are not working?

I wake up very early in the morning. So for me, instead of starting straight into the work mode, I allow my first 2-3 hours of the day completely to myself and the silence around me. If required, I listen to meditative music and just being, walking, sitting in the sun, playing with my dogs and soaking it all in the quietness.

How do you maintain work-life balance?

I learnt something very early from my partner Prateek. He taught me that work is a part of life and not life. That was a great learning because I’ve always been a workaholic and I realised that at some point I am going to feel empty if I don’t start looking and working towards that balance now. So today I very happily enjoy my life and keep work as a happy part of it as much as possible.

Creative Corner is a series about creative individuals and their relationships with their workspaces.

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