When stepping into a commercial space, the artwork often plays a pivotal role in creating an ambiance that resonates with the company’s ethos. This is particularly true in a bustling city like London, where every detail counts in standing out amidst the architectural grandeur and creativity that defines the city. This summer we were commissioned to create one of our largest ceramic wall art installation pieces to date. The artwork comprises over 200 porcelain ceramic oak leaves and the plan was to have them positioned on a feature wall in a luxury office's social space at The Gilbert, London. Here’s a look into how this unique project came to life, from design to installation.
We received the commission from an interior design firm situated in the USA, who were working with their client in London at the time. Initially, we received a technical drawing from the designers showing the space, and their ideas. From this, we set the digital drawing to the appropriate scale to know the exact quantity and size of the ceramic art pieces they were interested in.
When working with clay, there is an element of shrinkage. So, once I worked out the sizes of the leaves from the digital plan the designers sent over, I needed to be mindful that the dimensions of the pieces on the plan weren’t the correct size that I needed to make out of clay. I needed to make them 10% larger to account for the shrinkage that would take place during firing. Every bit of clay that enters my kiln goes through the vitrification process and is fired to super high temperatures until each piece glows red hot. During this process the original ceramic sculptures get a little smaller!
After receiving the go ahead on the project, I sat at my desk and sketched a range of different shaped oak leaves and then carved them out of paper using a scalpel. The designers said that they wanted the leaves to have an organic feel to them, so I studied some oak leaves and tried to mimic their shape as best I could, whilst ensuring they had a contemporary feel. The goal was to make the leaves look like they were floating in a breeze and imitate how mother nature would have gently blown them through the air. With that in mind, some of the porcelain pieces were sculpted to be curved, and some edges of the leaves were turned up right whilst some were bent down to help create that sense of natural movement. I presented the cutouts to the client, and they chose their favourite shapes which we moved forward with on the project.
Above is the wall space they wanted to fill.
Once the oak leaf design had been approved, the process from there on in the studio was steady. I got into a rhythm creating a number of small ceramic leaves, medium oak leaves and some larger pieces. Each oak leaf was carefully sculpted out of clay by hand here in my pottery studio and because of this, each piece is unique. Alongside creating over 200 ceramic leaf sculptures, I needed to create double the amount of bespoke ceramic component parts so that each leaf could attach to the wall. There are many ways in which you can attach ceramic artwork to the wall, but recently I have designed, developed and created my own ceramic fixing. I wanted to create something that would elevate the porcelain sculpture from the wall to enable deeper and more interesting shadows to form, whilst retaining a luxurious feel. Although you can’t usually see the back of the pieces, should you happen to catch a glimpse of them from the side, the porcelain fixing continues to add softness to the look. I thought these custom-made porcelain backs would be the appropriate fixing for each leaf and given the size of each leaf it was important that we had two per piece to ensure stability and allow then to be positioned in a variety of ways. So, by going in that direction, overall, we needed to create over 600 pieces of ceramic.
Next up was firing, glaze and colour!
There were many aspects to consider with this artwork, from size, shape, colour, texture and finish. We had agreed with the client that the porcelain oak leaves would vary in shape and size, and some of the pieces within that size range would be finished in a clear glaze. Glaze can provide a beautiful shiny finish but technically there are more steps in the process. In order for ceramic art to be glazed, it needs to be bisque fired first. This is a lower temperature firing that allows the glaze to then stick to the pieces. Then they are fired again super hot.
Applying glaze to the porcelain sculptures after they have been bisque fired.
Fully fired ceramic pieces, both glazed and unglazed in situ at the Gilbert.
Once the artwork was nearly complete, I liaised with the clients in the US to organise how they were going to be transported and installed in London. With the interior design firm being situated in the US and their client in London, I thought it would be helpful to recommend a fitter to install the pieces. I recommended a trusted fitter who ended up travelling down from the North West of England to London with the pieces and installed them onsite. As neither the client nor I were not going to be on site during installation, I wanted to ensure the installation went smoothly and according to plan. With this in mind, I arranged for the entire plan to be printed out life-size on paper so that it could travel down with the artwork for my fitter to use. The overall dimensions of the space that we were filling with artwork were 262” wide x 84” high. Because the wall was so wide, it meant that we needed to split the plan into 8 individual printout rolls, like wallpaper!
Initially, my fitter placed all the drops of paper onto the wall then began inserting the hardware into the wall from the left-hand side and gradually made his way across the wall.
The overall goal with this project was to work creatively and collaboratively with the interior designers to create something contemporary yet timeless for their client. It is subtle but really beautiful I think. The finished piece was a joy to work on and I have pushed creative boundaries and ventured out of my comfort zone, which is of course how we grow! The completed installation has become a focal point in the commercial space, hopefully drawing admiration from visitors and clients alike.
Looking for a custom artwork for your commercial interior? Need assistance with designing for your space? Get in touch to discuss your project here.