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... Beautify ... As soon as I moved to Vancouver in 1995, I
started working as a kitchen cabinet helper/installer, so that way I got
exposed to many different building materials. Visiting Home Depot quite
often, I was immediately inspired by rolls of mash wire
used mainly as a matrix to hold cement or plaster.
It's also used as chicken wire. In spite of its mundane use, it
has (in my opinion) very architectural, geometric look with its pattern
of perfect, galvanized, shiny squares. Immediately I was envisioning forms
of decorative home accessories, picture frames, candleholders, bowls...
The contrast between esthetic, functional peaces of home accessories, and
the ordinary use of the material inspired a whole series of artifacts I
call "chicken wire".
The house I was living in had lots of firewood. The diversity of this triangular
profile of the wood pieces to me were also very attractive in its
geometry. I felt almost a pity that such interesting form goes into smoke.
This thought inspired another series of candleholders I call
"firewood".
At the time I was also exposed to some house renovation projects that
inevitably involved discarding tones of debris, with scrapped 2x4s, copper
water pipes, plumbing fixtures, etc. I realized, if you look carefully, 2x4s
actually have very nice proportions in section (1.5" x 3.5" actual size).
The copper itself has always been immensely attractive to me for it's colour
and patina. The pipe fittings, the caps in particular, looked like
perfectly sized candleholder caps. This all found its way into the
"firewood" category.
This process of "beautifying ordinaries" lasted from October
1995 until summer 1996, when I exhibited over 100 designs at the Vancouver
Home Show (now "Gift
Show"), at the section called at the time "Uniquely BC", and under the
name "B Two Design". It was quite well received, and the whole 3 day
experience was priceless. However, It would have not been possible without
help and support of my guardian angel that brought me to Canada...
My experimentation with different materials continued briefly with scrapped
glass pieces converted into various artifacts in 1997, shown in the "broken
glass" category, after which my interests shifted to other areas of
design. |