Perfection is the death of design – Dare to let go of control

Kajsa Fasth
May 21
2 min read

Welcome into my 43 square meters. Right now, my 100-year-old lion "sarcophagus" stands in the middle of the floor, undergoing a total, extraordinary transformation. I am sitting with my brush in hand, peppering the surface with a wild mix of genuine leaf brass and champagne gold.

But do you know what the absolute most important tool in my studio is?

It is the courage to let things be "ugly".

People in the 3D world are so terribly fixated on everything being perfect. Everything has to be even, smooth, symmetrical, and "nice". But the truth is that perfection does not exist. Striving for a perfect result kills the entire soul and depth of a design. When you sand away every unevenness and hide every mistake, you simultaneously erase the dimension and magnetism of the artwork.

Contrast lives in the imperfect

When I apply my gold, I purposely let patches of the raw, dark wood underneath shine through. I let the brass erode from verdigris and patina, while the champagne gold remains completely untouched. I bring out the hammer, drill sparkling Swarovski crystals into the rough craters, and play my way into the beauty.

It is in the clash between the brutal, the raw, and the glittering luxury that magic is born. Creating something genuinely unique is about daring to trust the process. It is about letting the materials defy the rules.

Stop performing – start playing

So to you who create, paint, or build: put down the ruler. Stop trying to fit into a pale, straight-lined template. Dare to make mistakes, dare to miss spots, and dare to let the imperfect give your work that shocking kick-ass feeling that no machine in the world can ever copy.

My world is the simple, free world. Here, we play the beauty forward completely without filters.