Katerina Oleinikova
We first encountered Katerina’s work at Alcova Miami, where her studio Arrived Aliens was invited to design an interior space (the studio also invited other artists and designers to join them, including Kristina Aksentova, Ninefourteen Gallery, Joyce Billet, and fellow Design Storyteller Lily Mustelier). Katerina and her partner Denis Gomes moved to Miami a few years ago and have fully immersed themselves in the unique Florida landscape and culture. In fact, Florida has become a major source of inspiration for the duo. We spoke with Katerina about her career journey, arriving to a new city and finding her way, and what she loves about her work. Meet Katerina.
Katerina with one of her custom sconces.
DS: Hi Katerina! Welcome to Design Storytellers. Can you share your current profession and the career journey you have taken?
KO: Thank you, yes of course. I’m an interior designer with 12 years of experience. After graduating from Novosibirsk State University of Architecture, Design and Arts with a degree in Architectural Environment Design, I started working in interior design — both independently and as part of boutique studios. My partner, Denis Gomes, comes from an IT background, but his earlier education in native arts became the starting point for our shared practice. Together, we founded Arrived Aliens, a Miami-based studio focused on interiors, interior products, and site-specific design.
DS: Tell us about your studio, what is the inspiration behind the way you work?
KO: We founded our studio after relocating three years ago, and since then we've been trying to understand our new environment more deeply. We observe local architecture and nature — they’ve become our two main sources of inspiration. We collect natural artifacts, travel to central Florida springs, and visit local architectural landmarks. That’s helping us build our visual archive — a base for creating interiors and objects in context of Florida.
The Onda sconce photographed by Regina Urazaeva
DS: That’s amazing, there is so much to discover in the natural Floridian landscape. Is there anything else you feel influences the design style of Arrived Aliens?
KO: Yes, actually, sci-fi and late 60s–70s visual culture. We're drawn to the idea of organic futurism — clean, space-age forms contrasted with raw, living textures.
DS: You make some gorgeous sconces and interior objects. What’s the process or design ethos you follow to bring these creative visions to life?
KO: We like the contrast between clean, futuristic shapes and natural, imperfect surfaces. It's our version of wabi-sabi meets space age meets tropical modernism. We work a lot with vintage — it makes up about 60–70% of each project. The rest comes from contemporary makers, local craftsmen, or our own custom pieces. Depending on the client, the direction varies — sometimes more toward the 60s, sometimes the 80s — but we always aim for a strong material presence and unique narrative.
DS: Your work is so beautiful and interesting. What’s your favorite material to work with?
KO: Vintage pieces and materials that age beautifully play an important role in our projects. I like working with textured wood, natural wool and silk, patinated metals — and ceramics, of course. In our ceramic work, we use raku firing, which creates unpredictable metallic finishes that continue to shift over time. That sense of change and imperfection is what makes a material meaningful to me.
DS: Beautifully said. What project are you most proud of so far?
KO: I’m most proud of our first product — the Onda sconce. It grew out of my interest in ceramics, which started after we moved to Miami. Since neither I nor Denis had any background in ceramics, the process was long and messy. We went through dozens of prototypes, spilled plaster all over the floor, collapsed firings, failed glazes, and even smashed one piece during a photoshoot. Basically, every mistake you can make, we made it.
But after two years, the results finally look the way we imagined — sometimes even better. Now we’re developing a new series of interior pieces that continue this exploration, using raku and natural references found around South Florida.
Florida’s influence on the Platform House, a collaboration with Tropica
DS: A true testament to failing along the way but staying the course with your vision. It’s a great lesson for professionals and people in general. What advice do you have to share with emerging creatives?
KO: With 12 years in the industry working individually and employed, I realized how easy it is to lose yourself in other people’s needs — client references, studio aesthetics, external expectations. You can keep postponing your own style and never come back to it. So my advice is to develop self-reflection and consciously build your own path. Pay attention to what truly resonates, create personal moodboards, document your vision, and adjust it over time. Once your work is grounded in that internal foundation, the right projects start to come. You feel more connected to what you do — and get more joy from the process.
DS: Wow. That resonates and is fantastic advice. Thank you for sharing.
KO: Of course! You are welcome.
DS: Miami is such a dynamic city. It’s not always easy to move to a new place at any stage of life, and Miami is no different. How has your experience been moving here and opening a business?
KO: It’s not a city you can fully understand in a few weeks or even months. That’s why there are so many misconceptions around it — the first impression tends to be superficial. It takes time to find like-minded people and places that feel right. But the longer we stay, the more the city opens up — as a source of inspiration, as a place where histories and cultures intersect in unexpected ways, and where these almost “magical” encounters happen. Miami constantly reveals new layers — visually, culturally, architecturally and we love it. It’s a city that asks you to slow down and pay attention.
Onda sconces on display at Alcova Miami 2024
DS: Totally agree. What other cities are you drawn to?
KO: Over the past three years, most of our travel has stayed within the state, giving us the chance to explore cities across Central Florida. Gainesville made a strong impression — the architecture has a distinctly northern feel, but it's surrounded by dense tropical nature. It shifts your perception, especially if your idea of Florida is shaped mostly by Mediterranean Revival architecture. Our next destination is Sarasota. We’ve been wanting to see the houses by Paul Rudolph and other Sarasota School architects — a modernist movement shaped by climate and landscape. We’re especially interested in how they worked with light, ventilation, and shade, and how the architecture becomes part of the environment instead of standing apart from it.
DS: Who are some creative people throughout history that you find interesting?
KO: Isamu Noguchi, Pierre Paulin, James Tyrrell
DS: Last question: what do you love the most about your job?
KO: I enjoy creating all project renderings myself, and at this stage I start selecting exact objects and materials. When the combination of shapes and colors clicks, I get a clear sense of happiness — like, “That’s it! I love it.” I enjoy working with material and textile samples, when the project begins to take on depth and physical presence. I also like switching from interior work to the more meditative process of hand-building our sconces with clay or developing new pieces for our collection or specific projects.
