Personal Space: At Home with Alex Rhek Usow, Hana Pesult and Their Bootleg Bart Simpson Ceramic Figurines

It’s easy for Alex Rhek Usow and Hana Pesut to time-stamp when they moved into their Chinatown condo. “We lived two blocks up the street when the landlords sold our place,” says Pesut. “And I remember them calling us while I was in the hospital in labour, asking, ‘Can we show the apartment?’”

They would move into their new place with a newborn baby in tow; today, little Leeroy is almost four. So that means it’s been almost four years in this space, which Usow describes as “messy, chaotic, full of love and full of children and adults screaming.” They’re within walking distance of the irreverent Pender Street izakaya Usow runs, Pizza Coming Soon, and the aesthetic of Usow’s restaurant bleeds into the home—or maybe it’s vice versa. At home, a wide-eyed Kitty Kat Klock (a gift from Pesut to Usow) marks the correct hour and minute, while at the restaurant, dozens of colourful feline clocks all show wildly different times.

Usow has a prolific creative output—most of the ceramics and posters that decorate the apartment come from him. Pesut is a talented artist, too (photography is her medium of choice), but she compiles her photos into artbooks and leaves the walls for work by Usow and a bevy of talented friends. “I haven’t printed any photos in a long time,” she laughs.

But she’s being modest about her contributions to the space. A little prodding reveals that the colourful paper garland hanging over Leeroy’s play area is her handiwork. Little Leeroy pitches in on the decor, too—the hallway is lined with his scribbled colouring book pages, taped into a neat grid.

Like many creatives, the couple are also collectors and treasure hunters. The Bocci lamp was scored at a warehouse sale; the office features salvaged school lockers, still tagged with some high schoolers’ crude graffiti; Pesut thrifted a hamburger piggy bank that sits surrounded by Usow’s creations. But whether an object is a purchase or a gift or an Usow-made chopstick holder that looks like a cigarette, every acquisition has been made with fun in mind.

“It’s a small space with people with big personalities,” says Usow. “We’re having fun and enjoying our space.”

Photos: The Home Tour

Photos by Tanya Goehring

Portrait Studio

When Leeroy was first born, Pesut and Usow would take him to The American each month for a family portrait in the photobooth. The strips from those first 12 months are now framed in chronological order.

Prolific Pottery

Characters, dishes and little ceramic Kewpie mayo bottles crafted by Usow cover every free surface. “I signed Alex up for a ceramics class to get him out of the house three hours a week, and it backfired. He’s a quantity over quality guy,” jokes Pesut. “He made like 200 pieces. So, so many things.”

All The Right Type

Usow had a light box sign with the Cold World logo made in Hong Kong. “It’s done with hand-cut acrylic. I love signage and text and type and all that,” says the self-taught artist who studied at the “School of YouTube.”

Toy Story

The army of Snoopys and the Mr. Men figurines? Those are Usow’s. “Half the toys are mine, half are Leeroy’s,” he says.

Still Life

On the wall, you’ll find a pretty painting from Pesut’s mom, depicting a collection of Leeroy’s favourite toys. “She recently got into watercolour painting. I sent her a bunch of photos and she gave it to me the next day, framed,” says Pesut.

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