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What we did

For this design brief, Davia Walmsley was given a very interesting and technically challenging task. The client was interested in East Asian (chioniserie) art and required an artistic glass panel influenced by antique Chinese chairs and red/black lacquered furniture.

Researching Chinese furniture, Davia focused on pieces created in Shanxi during the Qing Dynasty, which is considered the most finely crafted Chinese furniture. Some were left plain while others were elaborately decorated with traditional flora or fauna paintings, scenes from legends, or landscapes. Davia then took this style inspiration and made it unmistakably her own.

Dozens of samples with different fabric lamination's were created in preparation for this final piece. A range of techniques were used for this design, one of which was Davia's own invention which was to fray the ends of the fabric inter-layers, and arrange them in the foreground of the design. This way the fabric wasn't blended into the design but followed the contours of the landscape. Pleats were also ironed into the fabric with copper wire running through. Flora imagery inspired by Chinese paintings was sandblasted on both the front and the back of the panel creating a multi-sided depth. Finally gold leaf was applied to areas of the flora design to bring the piece to life.

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