STUDIO / A White Fresco For a Marylebone Architect
“The person who follows the crowd will usually go no further than the crowd. The person who walks alone is likely to find himself in places no-one has ever seen before.”
A challenge was set for us by a Marylebone architect. Create A White Fresco. Strictly white, too. A bit of a surprise considering our recent pieces had been popping with colour. Liking a challenge, we embarked on the Search for Inspiration. Cue a sift through Pinterest, cloud-spotting, a hunt in old piles of 'interesting' paper and time spent at strange angles in corners of rooms.
Before long we realised, white is never really just white, is it? The shades of white are endless. Working with white turned out to be more about balancing shadows and tints than about creating stark contrasts. The lustrous quality of the plaster allows the light to dance on areas of polish whilst some relief and texture add an extra gentle dimension to the piece. We mixed 4 shades of white, ranging from the more brilliant to the slightly shadowy, and with these we brought our concept to life.
“Do whatever you do intensely. The artist is the man who leaves the crowd and goes pioneering. With him there is an idea which is his life.”
For conceptual inspiration, we returned to an article on Black Mountain College (the experimental US college founded in 1933), featured in a TOAST Travels supplement; looked at images of Barbara's Hepworth's St. Ives studio and Louise Nevelson's 'White Vertical Water' (1972) and some beautiful Volakas marble from Belgravia Stones, amongst others. There were also wise words from Einstein, Robert Henri and John Rice. From these elements our moodboard took shape.
'A Path,' Charles Snell (ASTER MURO), 2018.
Plaster on plasterboard.
3.6 x 2.4m.
“What you do with what you know is the important thing. To know is not enough.”