Sheargold is an award winning designer who draws on over 20 years experience working as an interior, furniture and product designer to inform his artwork. Fighting a constant battle to loosen up, his work is structured and restrained, using shapes, forms and symbols as efficiently as possible to tell a story. Drawing from fond memories and random moments, Matt's work seeks to explore the essence of the journeys we take and just how much detail our mind needs to remember them.
Whilst your next design project may be a simpler expression than Matthew’s paintings, the superior pigmentation and depth of colour of Axolotl Paint will elevate it to be a work of art in itself.
SCRIBBLY GUM BY JADE OAKLEY
The Scribbly Gum artwork floats along the side of a suspended ceiling in the new ACT Law courts building and can be viewed from the street, reception level and mezzanine.
The artwork is a reference to the local landscape and an artistic response to the curvaceous wall. The combination of white washed timber and light, as well as the immense scale give the artwork a sense of refinement and gravitas appropriate for its setting. LED lighting strips are used to create a visually dynamic artwork, as bright points of light appear to slowly weave their way through the curvaceous maze of scribbles. The gradual, glowing movement creates a sense of time passing and a feeling of calm, like watching a fire or shadows passing over the landscape.
“As an artist I am struck by the use of the Scribbly Gum in civic planting as you enter Canberra. The patterns themselves are beautiful graphics and unmistakably those of the Scribbly Gum, even when appropriated, enlarged and reproduced. Bringing these patterns into the interior of the court creates a sense of place, a link to the local landscape. The Scribbly Gum also lends the artwork a light touch as it reminds us of the wonder of nature, and nature’s ‘sense of humour.’ The whimsical patterns on the scribbly bark bring to mind childhood, and time spent in the bush. It is a reminder of our native land, the place that grounds us and links us together. It is a symbol of the culture and landscape to which we belong.” Jade Oakley.
Scribbly Gum was a 14-month process from concept and design development, through to installation. AAP Art projects, the art division of Axolotl, were instrumental in the design process working closely with Jade Oakley to ensure suitability for construction, installation and engineering.
The unique artwork canvas with no straight lines provided the first challenge. To overcome this we brought the installation team Stratti Build in to the project early on. The wall was surveyed on site via cherry picker and drawn on CAD. Over twenty templates were then produced from a datum point on the wall to allow for the successful mapping and installation of the artwork.
Scribbly Gum is made up of over 100 individual panels up to 3360 x 1560mm in size, and is split over three depths.
Each layer has been sanded and treated in the Axolotl factory with Axolotl Timber Wash Interior Roan paint with varying opacities.
Images of Scribbly Gum's design development can be found here.
Artist: Jade Oakley
Project Management: Creative Road
Design and surface treatment: Axolotl
Manufacture: Polygenic Design
Engineering & Lighting Design: Northrop
Installation: Stratti Building
Professional Photography: Ben Wrigley
SCULPTURE BY THE SEA, BONDI 2018
Axolotl are once again proud to be Supporting Partner of Sculpture by the Sea, Bondi for 2018.
This year we provided material sponsorship and artisan support to a further four artists - Michael Le Grand, Lucy Barker, Jim Flook and Rhiannon West. Each selected based on the quality of their concepts and our capabilities to assist with their diverse aesthetics. It has been an exciting and challenging process supporting each artist to realise their vision, and reinforces our own commitment and passion to support the arts.
The 22nd annual exhibition can be enjoyed on the stunning coastal walk between Bondi and Tamarama, until the 4th November. It is the world's largest free public exhibition and transforms the coast into a 2km long outdoor gallery, featuring over 100 sculptures by Australian and international artists.
If you are an artist looking for an experienced and passionate partner to facilitate your art projects, Axolotl, through our specialist AAP division can offer a range of services. We have experience designing and fabricating in an extensive range of construction materials as well as offer a range of unique, proprietary surfaces. To get in contact email art@axolotl.com.au or phone 02 9666 1207.
Michael Le Grand
GUARDIAN
Sculpture by the Sea, Bondi 2018
Materials: Mild steel, Axolotl Bronze Rust Patina
Guardian is the balancing act of found and shaped metal objects formed to establish a nominal totemic orientation.
OUTLET
Sculpture by the Sea, Bondi 2018
Materials: Electrical cable, wire frame, Axolotl Bronze Florentine Patina
A dense and complex tangle of discarded electrical cables in an intentionally ambiguous form. Outlet is constructed in a lozenge shape that could be a missile, a seed, or perhaps a lump of human detritus rolled by the sea and washed up on the rocks. With connotations of consumption and entrapment, its worm like tangled surface is visually perplexing in its complexity.
Jim Flook
SWERVE ONE
Sculpture by the Sea, Bondi 2018
Materials: Mild steel, paint
Contemplation of unfolding and unpredictable swerves of life's complexities.
Rhiannon West
FLIGHT
Sculpture by the Sea, Bondi 2018
Materials: Stainless steel, dichroic glass, mild steel, paint, Axolotl Stone
A playful and inviting sculpture for that ‘Instagram moment’. Reflective and
vibrant; dichroic lenses form the “tips” to the wings which reflect and refract the light.
RIGG DESIGN PRIZE
The prestigious Rigg Design Prize launched on Thursday at the National Gallery of Victoria to rave review. The triennial event celebrates Australian design and architecture, this year focusing on the field of Interior design and decoration.
Ten renowned interior design studios were invited to design and create a purpose built interior responding to the theme of ‘Domestic living’. Each exhibit highlights the important role interior design plays in shaping our lived environments, manipulating the senses, telling stories, and communicating our values and attitudes.
Axolotl are proud to support our friends at Amber Road in their entry to the 2018 Rigg Design Prize. We are forever in awe of the team’s creative take on interiors, and fearlessness of colour and texture. Amber Roads exhibit Take it Outside is the perfect example of this, and explores the transitional space between the indoors and outdoors. Axolotl sponsored Take it Outisde, providing the mirror glass walls and floors which reflect the brilliant star studded sky, and white washing iconic Aussie objects such as the mozzie coil, terry towelling, thongs and even a can of VB to capture the Australian outdoor experience.
This years Rigg Design Prize featured a stellar line up of design studios including Arent & Pyke, Danielle Brustman, David Hicks, Flack Studio, Martyn Thompson, Scott Weston, Sibella Court, SJB and Hecker Guthrie who took top honours and won this years Rigg Design Prize with their exhibit The table is the base - honouring the humble table.
Be sure to check them all out, entry is free and The Rigg Design Prize is open until 24 February 2019 at Ian Potter Centre: NGV Australia at Federation Square.
Photography by James Greer.
PRINT REBORN
Axolotl introduced 3D printing in 2017, continuing its tradition as leaders in design innovation. Since then, it has partnered with architects and interior designers to create architectural artworks as well as originating exciting new products like Axolotl Terrazzo and Spectrum.
We were excited to be featured recently in an article on new online magazine HouseLab, about Axolotl's capabilities in 3D printing. Read it for yourself below.
The possibilities of 3D printing on any material are endless. A detail of a Nickel printed pattern by Axolotl.
When media became digitised the world screamed “print is dead” but, in fact, combining digital technology with age-old printing techniques has created an entirely new dimension to architectural surfaces that can be personalised across almost any application.
Our connection with printed matter is more than coffee table books and the Sunday paper, it's like buying the LP when you can download the album on Spotify. It is tangible, textured and large format.
The 3D printed entry to Nina Maya Interiors' The Glasshouse Photographed by Nicole England.
Take the bronze entryway to Nina Maya Interiors’ recent project, The Glasshouse, in the Sydney suburb of Paddington – and yes, you’d be forgiven for thinking it took an artisan hours, painstakingly etching the pattern. In fact it is 3D printed and like a true artist’s work it is completely a one-off – the skill of the modern digital artisan remains equally important as the traditional artist.
That is the great thing about this new technology, combining the feel of the old with the potential of the new, and really the possibilities are endless when you combine an idea with those who know how to make it become reality.
Making our way to the rear of The Glasshouse, this comes to light with a three-panel bronze cortex gate acting as a functional feature wall. Another example of how we can approach surfaces differently, and the texture is as engaging as the finish. These new approaches to printing and surface treatments bookend the home and also showcase the possibilities we have to hand.
The application of this technology isn’t just limited to doors, nor is it limited to metal. Today we can print on virtually any substrate from terracotta to glass, including concrete and timber, with an added dimension of up to 150mm meaning it really does come down to your imagination.
3D printed doors are just the beginning of what this new technology can offer. Left: Grand Designs by Chris Knierem - Design Construct (Photograph by Belinda Knierem) Right: Smith Residence in New Zealand by Di Smith (Photograph by Di Smith).
By engaging a graphic designer or artist in the process, any pattern can be achieved to create a statement piece in the home that is truly yours. HouseLab co-founder Marcus Piper recently pushed the boundaries of this thinking with his Differences series exhibited at the Australian Design Centre.
Printing on aluminium plate, the graphically-geometric series showed how 2 and 3-dimensional printing can hang together as one – playing with light to create depth in what would otherwise be a flat plane.
'It’s like printing an enormous magazine cover and they look different from every angle!' says Piper, who has been designing magazines for the last 20 years and is now endlessly excited about the potential of being able to produce artworks up to 1600x2400mm.
Difference 03 and Difference 01 by Marcus Piper, printed and 3D printed on aluminium at the Axolotl showroom.
And really size is the only limitation here – be it a garage door, a contemporary take on a pressed-tin ceiling or a poolside glass facade it comes down to the mark you want to make, as combining these multiple printed panels opens up a world of opportunity.
So, what lies ahead in surface technology? The sky is the limit but it ultimately comes down to finding the right team who understand the potential and can make the most of it in a way that suits a home. One thing is for sure, print is well and truly alive and it is definitely going places.
THE TAKE HOMES
1. Engaging a graphic designer or artist who understands the process can achieve incredible results.
2. 3D and surface printing can be applied to almost any substrate across applications from doors to bed-heads.
3. Being able to apply metal, concrete or stone finishes with 3D printing can make for a cheaper, lighter-weight outcome, perfect for joinery or feature walls.
4. The options and combinations that can be utilised with this new technology is seemingly endless, something your architect or interior designer will be able to advise on.
WRITTEN BY HOUSELAB
BONDI WHITEWASH
Last month Bondi scored its newest hospitality gem with the opening of all-day eatery The Pacific Club Bondi Beach.
Making its home within Campbell Parade's Pacific Building, the chic bistro and beach club boasts an enviable team of well-known hospitality luminaries to help bring it to life.
Harvest Newrybar's Bret Cameron is heading up the kitchen, an expansive wine programme comes courtesy of award-winning sommelier Chris Morrison, and 2016 Australian Bartender of the Year Michael Chiem is lending his talents to the cocktail list. The space itself is the work of internationally renowned hospitality designer Michael McCann, from Dreamtime Australia Design.
“Our lifestyles call for dining that is an extension of the way we live. With the open planned kitchen as its centrepiece, the ‘home away from home’ environment has drawn on whitewashed palettes, warm wooden textures, and finished with the polish of marble,” says McCann of his vision.
The whitewashed palettes throughout the restaurant were provided courtesy of the Axolotl Paint range, with TimberWash Interior in Roan used on the walls and ceilings. The colour imbues a clean minimalist aesthetic that makes the very most of its beachside locale. With its idyllic waterfront location we think The Pacific Club is definitely worth a visit.
Photography by Richard Mortimer.
CEMENTING ITS PLACE IN DESIGN
The award winning Axolotl Concrete has expanded the potential for concrete surfaces in design since it was introduced in 2011. One recent project which has really stood out to us is this Sydney residence designed by Handelsmann + Khaw, using the Slate Pseudo Smooth Axolotl Concrete.
Axolotl's Slate treatment is incorporated throughout the design on the balustrades and cabinetry, complemented with subtle brass accents. The design is restrained, whilst leaving an impression that is nothing less than ‘wow'. It’s no surprise that this project was shortlisted in the 2017 Australian Interior Design Awards, a finalist in the Belle Coco Republic Interior Design Awards and was voted House & Garden Top 50 Rooms.
Axolotl’s Slate Concrete brings a rustic beauty to the project and is available in Pseudo Smooth texture shown here, as well as Lunar surface texture. It can be applied onto just about any substrate as well as designs with complex shapes and sizes.
"We used the Axolotl finishes to imbue the warm minimalist style of the home with a subtle sense of luxury. The colour and texture of the Slate Pseudo Smooth concrete coating contrasted beautifully with the white walls, oak joinery and paonazzetto marble bench tops." - Tania Handelsmann of Handelsmann + Khaw.
Handelsmann + Khaw's client states; "The Axolotl finishes throughout came up beautifully. We are thrilled with it all!"
For more information on Axolotl Concrete please visit our showroom or website, or call the office today.
Photography by Felix Forest.
INTRODUCING TERRAZZO
Terrazzo is one of 2018's biggest interior design trends, so it is timely for Axolotl to launch its newest surface, Axolotl Terrazzo.
Versatility is the key to its success — Axolotl Terrazzo can be customised with fine or oversized aggregate in monochromatic, pastel or bold colour tones, and is available in a range of concrete colours to complement a variety of residential and commercial styles.
The history of terrazzo can be traced back to the ancient mosaics of Egypt, and its predecessors date back 8,000 years to the Venetians. Fast forward to 2018 and terrazzo has been reinvented by Axolotl as a cementitious surface that is only 0.5mm thick and available in almost any colour combination. Axolotl Terrazzo can be applied to flat panels up to 1600x2400mm. Unlike a traditional terrazzo, you can design way beyond shelf colours and create the perfect scheme to fit your design.
Axolotl Terrazzo is not a laminate, but rather an applied finish whereby the fine coloured aggregate is bound in the Axolotl Concrete treatment. It can be applied to almost any substrate including MDF and mild steel. Axolotl Terrazzo is suitable for internal applications, and each panel is treated to order. Applications can include counter fronts, feature walls, lift interiors, cabinetry, splash backs and signage. The unique properties of our terrazzo provide a flexible surface effect that encompasses the beauty of terrazzo without the common weight, colour and size restrictions of the traditional material.
For more information on Axolotl Terrazzo visit our website or showroom, or call the office today.
MEMORIAL
A hundred years ago six Diggers returned from the poppy fields of France, sat on Freshwater beach and discussed creating a place where they could be together and support each other. This was the genesis of the Harbord Diggers and the original Diggers are now honoured by the six poppies in a Memorial artwork by artist Jade Oakley. This impressive work was recently manufactured in partnership with Oakley and installed at the entry of the newly renovated Harbord Diggers venue. The glowing perforated brass background represents the sea and the sand of Freshwater beach. The flickering light of the concealed flames within each poppy are a reminder of the eternal flame, and the poppies appear to ‘grow’ from a reflective pool lined with dark granite below. The words ‘Courage, Sacrifice, Endurance and Mateship’ are carved in 20mm thick black stone and pinned to the wet edge of the pool.
Each poppy has been hand beaten from 3mm mild steel by artistic blacksmiths Lok Sutherland and Chris Sulis. The marks of the hammer are still evident on the metal surface. These sculptures have been borne from strength and force, as the blacksmiths physically struggled with the material. This sense of physicality lends potency to the artwork, which commemorates the bravery, ingenuity and strength of our soldiers.
In true form of Oakley’s art practice, the poppies are kinetic. Each poppy is balanced on a hidden hook, so that when the Southerly blows in off the sea the sculptures bob and dance like poppies in a field. This movement lends a lightness to the work and creates a surprising interaction between this, an essentially indoor artwork, and the exposed headland on which the Diggers is located.
Feng Shui dictates that this site represents fire. This has been achieved through the warmth of the polished Axolotl copper surface and the flame lights flickering within the poppies as well as the glowing perforated background, reflected in the water. The wet edge of the pool creates a very calm experience through sound and a sense of flow and movement. This feels like a meditative space. An appropriate place to pause and remember our Diggers.
When the artwork was commissioned to Jade Oakley, Dale Hunt, the then Mounties Group General Manager of Northern Sites, asked Jade if anyone in her family had fought in a war. “What kind of memorial would you make for them?”
"Dale was right to ask this question, because what he was demanding from me as an Artist was not a design solution, but an intensely personal response to the creation of a War Memorial at the new Harbord Diggers. The work needed to be more than symbolic; it needed to tell the particular narrative of Harbord’s original returned Diggers.
And was this the artwork that I would have made for my own Grandfather, who was a surgeon on the Kokoda Track in WW2? My Grandfather performed an emergency surgery on a young soldier who had had part of his scull shot off. He beat a shilling to create a temporary plate to seal the man’s scull. So for Grandpa’s memorial I would have hand beaten a shilling into a large flat disc. Maybe it was this thought that underpinned the design of the Memorial after all.” Jade Oakley
AAP project managed the Memorial artwork and worked closely with Oakley throughout development, design, fabrication and installation, from digitising Oakley’s drawings of the sea’s perforations, through to exploring the materiality of the work.
Artist: Jade Oakley
Project Management: AAP
Art Consultant: PublicArt.works
Photography: Carolyn Price
