Shay Stark: The VisualiserThere’s beauty in the way buildings are designed, a controlled anarchy. Colossal iron and stone structures, straightened and contorted, on the precipice of falling, imbued with enough figures and calculations, for it to remain entirely logical. These juxtapositions, we drive past, work in, die in, build memories in. All brainchild’s of a someone we most probably do not know. The Visual Architect of SHF is boisterous; encounters with Shay seem different each time. Grace Kelly meets Marilyn.Amelia Earhart meets Rosa Parks. Shay seems incarnate of all of them, ethereal in the way she slips to and fro. Her eye’s run over almost everything, taking in how to improve it, to clear up wasted space, for a clean and clutter less environment, sometimes to the degree of obsession. There’s a notable influence that Shay exudes, the quiet player at the blackjack table, holding all the cards, whilst everyone assumes she’ll be the first to fold. As a female, in a predominantly male industry, the fighter within her surfaces more often than not, quick witted and sharp tongued.Shay is no push over, maintaining an honesty that is rare to find today. Her free spirited demeanor and infectious laugh mask her intelligence. There’s a feeling that she’s been victim to being the underdog more than once, and relishes in the victory. The word “No” is not one found within her vocabulary. There are can’s and can do’s. Her office is a mishmash of creativity and logic. A pin board with inspiration alongside a bookcase of Decorator books, a bowl with business cards, an empty wine glass and greenery seated adjacent her vintage modern desk.This space is a representation of her. Soft colors and textures intermingled with hardened edges. It’s no surprise that her presence can be overwhelming, and if one did not know better, she could be likened to Anna Wintour.Her personality is only matched by her intellect and impeccable style. There’s a paradigm to which Shay views the world, sequential and erratic, blazing hot and frigidly cold, and somehow, it is this co-operative within her, the adaptability, that contributes to the ongoing success of her, and ultimately, what makes her the architect of her own destiny, and more so, a masterful woman, amongst men.