ArchitectureNow (ANow): How did your design partnership come about?

Nikki Walker (W&B): Darya comes from a Fine Arts background and has worked for the last 20 or so years in advertising and styling and I went back to university as an adult student, completing a textile design degree in 2017. I have a background of 25 or so years as a producer in television commercials and film, which is how Darya and I first met. I was the producer on a project and Darya was the stylist.

We did several jobs together and we became friends. We would constantly say to each other, “We should do something together”, and out of those conversations came Walker & Bing, primarily designing and producing silk scarves and sarongs.

Our partnership is quite unique when it comes to how we work. We create 95 per cent of the artworks in some sort of analogue fashion, using acrylics, oils, inks, from pencil drawings to watercolours and everything in between. I nearly always include an element of flora, fauna or geographical reference in my work and Darya’s art often includes abstract elements and themes. 

Sometimes an overarching theme for a collection will be present from the outset and inform our artwork. At other times, we’ll come together and share our work and it turns out we’ve been working on a similar theme, independent of each other, almost always with an underlying narrative — often relating to our ancestry. Either way, we then comb through the work, choosing complete pieces or elements, and then we play with the colourways and  composition, often spending hours between Adobe Fresco, PS and Illustrator, experimenting with composition and scale. 

We’ve discovered that scale and compositional framing is one of the most consistent hallmarks of our final works. We explore endless options on scale through the process and we never fail to find multiple framings that we love. We then need to spend time deciding which options we should go with — it’s so hard leaving some of them behind! 

With our Dilana collection, we’re both passionate about New Zealand wool and particularly interested in finding scalable uses for coarse wool. The final collection of my textile design degree was focused on using New Zealand wool and I was awarded a silver award in the Best Awards for a wool bag I designed using New Zealand coarse wool. But when you leave university, it’s difficult to find ways to access the resources, both physically and affordably. So, when the opportunity came along to collaborate with Dilana and work with them using New Zealand wool, we absolutely jumped at the chance.

ANow: How did this collaboration come about? Specifically, the idea of merging Walker & Bing’s narrative-driven artistry with Dilana’s expertise in textile design.

Darya Bing (W&B): We’d been looking for a partner to work with on a rug collection for some time and then we came across Dilana’s work with some amazing New Zealand artists. Despite not having the profile of some of their artists, we approached Dilana and, fortunately, they liked our work. And here we are.

This collaboration was a natural evolution of both our organisations’ shared values and mutual admiration. We’re drawn to Dilana’s exceptional craftsmanship and dedication to working with artists in a way that respects both artistic vision and material integrity. So when the opportunity arose, it felt like the perfect alignment — our work is deeply rooted in storytelling, identity and heritage, and Dilana has a long history of translating art into textiles that honour these narratives. The creative process started with conversations about themes, techniques, colour and materials, and, from there, we worked closely with Dilana to refine our artwork into textile designs that would translate into this beautiful collection, which we’re incredibly proud of.

ANow: The collection features intricate hand-knotted and hand-tufted rugs, all crafted using New Zealand wool. How did you navigate the challenges of adapting fine art into textile form?

Nikki Walker (W&B): New Zealand wool is an incredible material to work with. It’s both luxurious and durable, with a natural ability to hold dye beautifully. The process started with selecting key artworks that best reflected the themes of the collection. 

Scale and composition came into play here in a big way. We did several iterations of various artworks, cropping them and producing so many colourways, which is one of our favourite things to explore but also makes for a time-consuming elimination process. 

Once the pieces were chosen, we collaborated with Dilana to refine colour palettes and compositions, considering how each design would translate into a three-dimensional, tactile form. One of the biggest challenges was ensuring that the spontaneity and energy of our brushstrokes and ink work, and also our chosen colours, weren’t lost in the transition.

Dilana’s experience, relationship with the artisans physically making the rugs and their combined advice meant that we were able to use a mix of hand-knotting and hand-tufting to produce the rugs, which has maintained the depth of colour, tactility and movement we were after. We weren’t able to travel to view the rugs being made but Dilana sent us photos and we trusted Hugh (Bannerman) and Sudi (Dargipour) from Dilana in terms of both the final result and the colours, and the results are wonderful. Unwrapping the rugs when they arrived really was like Christmas.

ANow: Can you share a specific design or motif from the collection that holds particular significance and the story behind it?

Darya Bing (W&B): We come from markedly different backgrounds — Moroccan, Irish and Māori — but, within those cultures, we’ve found that each of our practices has a sense of familiarity, each to the other. Together, we like storytelling, and history and ancestral narratives seem to be inherent in what we produce.

The Fez collection began as a series of sometimes complete artworks and, other times, simple ink marks inspired by Mount Taranaki and the Atlas mountains of Morocco. It’s about the movement of people between lands, migration and belonging that both sides of our families have experienced but, of course, in quite different ways and times through history.

We looked at reframing, cropping, scaling and composition of the different artworks — which was quite an exercise in scale — to imagine how the work might look on a rug versus a scarf or sarong, for example. 

The Aroha is a design inspired by traditional weaving patterns and motifs of migration and movement. It reflects the idea of belonging — how stories, symbols and traditions are carried across generations and landscapes. The interwoven lines and layered textures in the rug mirror the way identities are formed over time, shaped by both history and personal experience. The Aroha is the only rug in the collection created using a mix of hand-knotting techniques in silk, bamboo and wool to create a truly dimensional effect, bringing the narrative to life in a visual and tactile way. The Aroha is a bit like the ‘mother rug’ if you will — the one from which the rest of the collection flows.

ANow: How does this collection contribute to preserving traditional craftsmanship while also embracing contemporary design sensibilities?

Nikki Walker (W&B): One of the most important aspects of this collaboration is the use of hand-crafted techniques that have been passed down through generations. By working with Dilana’s artisans, we’re ensuring that these time-honoured skills continue to thrive in a contemporary context. 

At the same time, we’re also bringing a fresh perspective by infusing these traditional methods with modern storytelling and design.

Sustainability is also a key part of our philosophy – using New Zealand wool not only supports local industry but also ensures that each piece is made from a renewable, biodegradable material. This collection is about honouring the past while creating something that feels relevant and meaningful for today’s world.

Visit the Walker & Bing website here.

See more from the Behind the Object series here.