In a Room is a conversation series where we ask our friends to share their favourite domestic spaces. For this edition, we’re joined by artist and designer Sean Hogan.
Sean Hogan is a Melbourne-based artist and designer, and the founder of Trampoline, a studio known for its conceptual clarity, typographic precision, and deep curiosity for culture and form. His work spans art direction, identity, and publishing, and has been exhibited and awarded both locally and internationally. Alongside his design practice, Sean maintains a parallel painting practice that explores abstraction, perception, and spatial tension: an interplay between structure and spontaneity that echoes through both his art and design work.
In this edition, Sean invites us into the layered domestic spaces where creativity and calm coexist, from a dining table that doubles as a studio hub, to the music room of his childhood, and the minimalist foyers and gallery spaces that continue to draw him in. His reflections touch on the importance of memory, design, temperature, and rhythm, as well as how meaning builds slowly in the rooms we live, work, and make in.
Sean Hogan
Which room are you in today?
MI’m currently sitting in my dining room, looking out through glass doors onto my courtyard where my cat, Storm, is nestled amongst the plants soaking up the suns rays. I often work at the dining room table, even though I have a studio room upstairs. I’m currently producing a new body of paintings for some up-coming shows and because I use spraypaint (which I need to paint outside) the dining table provides a nice centrepoint where i can toggle between design work on my computer and painting outside.
Which room is the heart of your home?
My house has 2 levels. The ground floor is quite open plan so one area or ‘room’ blends into another and this is where I spent most of my time. I use the house as my studio (so it’s filled with artwork and materials) and this ground floor is where I eat, paint, read, listen to misic, watch tv and catch up with friends - all the good things that make up life.
Is there a room from your past that has stayed with you?
My mother is a music teacher and she taught from home so it meant we had a ‘music’ room. I always thought this was quite special as no-one else I knew had this kind of space in their house. A sparse room filled with instruments and miniature busts of Mozart and Beethoven. Unfortunately I didn’t inherit any of my mothers musical skills - but I did love to draw and I spent alot of time drawing the multitude of instruments that she had in that room.
What makes a room feel like home and not just a space?
Time spent with friends and family and loved ones. Shared experiences and memories. Items you choose to furnish and design your home with - all things that mean something to you. Artworks, chairs, lights, plants, tables, books etc are all design decisions and therefore contain an element of you and your personal taste. I often collect small items from travels and so those items are imbued with memory and stories and become very personal. On a trip to Japan I found these three small figurines of Kaonashi (No-Face) from the film Spirited Away. Not only is this one of my favourite films but every time I look at them I am reminded of that trip.
Selected works by Sean Hogan
What sort of rooms do you try and avoid?
I’m quite temperature sensitive. There is nothing worse to me than sitting in a room and sweating like a maniac. So a room without some form of temperature control or ventilation feels uncomfortable and stifling to me.
Is there a kind of room you’re always drawn to?
I’m very interested in architecture - and a functional and beautifully designed space does make a difference. I love minimal spaces that feel organised and use materials in a clever and thoughtful manner to be incredibly pleasing - everything in its right place! It’s probably why I am so drawn to foyer and gallery spaces or the aesthetics and philosophies of architects like Tadao Ando..
What is your all time favourite room?
Definitely the Red Room from the brillaint mind of David Lynch and featured in the tv series Twin Peaks. Full of mystery and symbolism, minimal, frightening and utterly visually engaging - whats not to love?
