Inside the creative mind of — Marine Koprivnjak

Marine has long moved between cinema, fine arts, and interior design, shaping an evolving visual language. A Fine Arts graduate from Marseille, she began in film set design – an influence that now defines her approach to interiors. 

Together with her partner Victor, she founded Maison MAVI. In their 1920s home near Aix-en-Provence, they showcase both curated brands and their distinctive use of colour to shape spatial perception.

Marine would describe herself through three Montana colours: Iris, a delicate yet bold purple with balanced warm and cool tones; Camomile, a soft, radiant yellow full of gentle optimism; and Black Jade, a deep, mystical green with a subtle shimmer — both elegant and playfully enigmatic.

Creativity has been a constant since childhood. Marine recalls drawing endlessly and rearranging her room, driven by a need to understand the world visually. She experiences her surroundings through synaesthesia, where places and memories evoke colours. A childhood rule that pink and red don’t match sparked a lifelong impulse to challenge conventions.

Colour is her primary language. She defines herself as a colourist artist, creating palettes and chromatic identities for art, design, and architectural projects. Alongside her studio work, she leads workshops for professionals, guiding them in refining their relationship with colour – its symbolism, emotional resonance, and spatial impact.

Her clients seek her expertise for everything from wall colours and material combinations to the creation of entire interior universes. Whether answering a precise question or stepping into a blank-slate project, she approaches colour not as decoration but as narrative.

Once, a visitor told her the house resembled a museum and that she ought to charge an entrance fee. She considers it one of the most amusing yet flattering comments she has ever received. The home is a balance between what the architecture whispers and what she wishes to feel within it: carefully considered down to the smallest detail, yet expressive.

For Marine, designing a home is an artistic act, comparable to creating a theatre set – except the script is everyday life. Cinema, art exhibitions, and books all feed her imagination. She absorbs visual references and allows them to filter into spaces subtly, guided by intuition and by the inherent materiality and function of each room.

The interior took shape gradually, piece by piece. In her view, every room needs a main character: a distinctive colour theme, a monumental wardrobe, a custom floor. Once that anchor is defined, she builds the rest of the narrative around it.

Colour remains her guiding thread. In soothing spaces, she gravitates toward pastels; for depth, she turns to blues with their remote, contemplative quality; for immediacy, red steps forward. Her home contains nearly fifty paint colours – yet the experience remains uplifting rather than overwhelming. Years of painting have taught her the exact mixtures behind each hue, enabling her to create harmonies or deliberate dissonances with equal confidence.