If a retail space, pop-up or event is going to work (and be raved about), chances are Vicky Ross is somewhere behind it. The founder of Joburg consultancy Andticks has built a reputation for shaping places people actually want to be – contemporary 44 Stanley, earlier indie retail (the divine Abby & Ross and Polish in Parkwood) and art-fair projects included. Her latest venture, & by Andticks, lands soon at Parktown’s new Nine Yards, promising thoughtful objects, independent makers and a renewed case for the joy of physical space. We can’t wait.
What’s the best book you’ve read in the past year? And why?
Fiction has, somewhat horrifyingly, taken a backseat this past year as I’ve become a ferocious reader of various self-help books, which I won’t reveal. That said, I really enjoyed The Life Uncommon by Matt Haig, and I’m currently deep into Intermezzo by Sally Rooney, which I haven’t quite finished yet.
Though I often describe myself as someone who dislikes fantasy, I’ve realised that what I actually love is a sense of otherworldliness – specifically stories with a bit of magic and a hopeful thread. Haig is great at that.
How do you keep fit?
Walking, especially early-morning walks, which I adore, and rebounding.
Week-night, lowkey restaurant go-to?
Corner Café in Craighall Park or Trabella in Parkview.
What is the one artwork you’ll always love, and why?
Almost impossible to choose one, but I’m always drawn to an oil painting by Erica Berry (a distant relative) that hangs in my parents’ house and once lived in my grandparents’ home. It’s a modernist, abstract landscape and I think it is very beautiful.
Do you have a hobby? What is it?
Collecting furniture and objects. I spend far too much time on buy-and-sell WhatsApp groups, Instagram pages, auctions and Facebook Marketplace.
Who was your high school celeb crush?
Jean-Marc Barr in The Big Blue. I’m definitely revealing my age, but he was so beautiful and mysterious in that film, which apparently appealed to me at 13.
Three songs that you’d take to a desert island?
A question that fills me with slight panic, but probably Mr Bojangles performed by Nina Simone, La Perla by Rosalía, and Come In by Msaki and Tubatsi Mpho Moloi.
No doubt this would change next week, and I’m very much hoping my stay on the island is a short one.
The one unusual item you can’t live without?
Old-school wired earphones for my phone; I don’t love AirPods.
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- Alma Thomas, NASA and the legacy of space art
- Joburg is getting the first Marble Hotel
Top image: supplied.
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