Royal College of Art 2014 Show underway with some pink support from Domaine Des Jeanne wine!
It is no secret that at Domaine des Jeanne (DDJ) we thrive on the love of contemporary art. Our wine features a stunning label designed by Royal Academician Professor Paul Huxley. The brand underpins the timeless fusion of art and wine in perfect partnership.
In the last few days the team from DDJ have been visiting the Royal College of Art Show in Battersea to check out the emerging contemporary artists exhibiting there.
First to catch our eye was a fabulous piece called Plantation, created by Alicja Patanowska. Alicja’s work is made from glasses that she had collected whilst she was out riding her bike. Alicja was born in Poland and now lives and works in London and has graduated this year from the Royal College of Art in London, Ceramics & Glass.
Alicja explains: “I am an artist who creates experience. The duality of function and sculptural qualities in my work illustrates the inherent link between art and design. One complements the other, making an integrated whole. I consider craft skills to be crucial to my artistic practice, and I design and learn through the making process, working with various materials. I think that we don’t take responsibility for what we own and discard things easily. When I make objects I want to make sure that the reason for their creation is always predefined, as in Plantation, which expresses the need to find use for what has been abandoned. The result is a porcelain object that rests in a found common glass, allowing for the growing process of a plant to be observed, from its stem to its roots.”
Using her body as her tool, Ceramics & Glass graduate Sorsha Galvin uses clay to draw out her unconscious thoughts. Questioning absence and presence she creates objects of raw beauty that are imbued with traces of her physicality. The Helmet has traces of her facial features and poses questions about our perception of space and time and physical traces of humanity.
Look out for Isobel Church, she is exhibiting the piece Observatory; a tower composed of constellations of stained porcelain components invites the viewer to stargaze towards a circular opening in the roof. Drawing on our affinity with staring skywards, the latticework observatory also suggests tracery at a microscopic level – the growing interconnections of atoms and particles, neurons and ideas.
We were really impressed by the work of Daniel Bowran entitled The Ones We looking straight through: an alternative history of glass. This series of sculptures are created using a unique glassmaking process Daniel developed during his time at the Royal College of Art. It draws upon the re-workable properties of glass and questions the traditional trajectory and purpose of the workshops involved in glassmaking.
Daniel explains: “The re-workable qualities of glass allow it to circulate repeatedly through the workshops, on a path of perpetual refinement. This progressive process has been designed to be adaptable and suit any studio.”
With the new set of RCA graduates set to excite the contemporary art stage, the DDJ team were delighted to witness this fantastic show and share with the artists a few bottles our own artwork – the wine!
The RCA Show 2014 is exhibiting at the Battersea and Kensington campus, the show runs until the 29 June. The exhibitions are free, with much of the work for sale or commission – ranging from paintings to prints, glassware to jewellery and furniture to textiles.
For more information on the show check out the website here.
