Mosaic Studies
I have wanted to study mosaic and create my own designs for a long time but never knew where to start.
Last year I was walking around central London, crossing the Thames and saw this wonderful example of a modern mosaic (pictured below) that communicates the history of that particular part of the river.
It prompted me to look up the London School of Mosaic, and it turns out that the mural I’d seen had been created by them.
This fired up my curiosity, as a believer in serendipity, I took this as a very positive sign and have embarked on a mosaic course at LSoM.
I naively thought I could learn the techniques to create mosaics on a short course, but soon realised it would be much more complex than that.
Learning about mosaics involves replicating Greek and Roman mosaics, considering the flow and rhythm of the stones, the colours involved and crucially the space in between the stones too.
Gaining knowledge about the historical context of this ancient technique from archeologists, architects, anthropologists and art historians has been fascinating.
Mosaics’ rich history starts in Mesopotamia in the 3rd millennium BC. Mosaic became widespread in classical times, both in Ancient Greece and Ancient Rome and has since been used to decorate the walls and ceilings of Christian basilicas, Middle Eastern synagogues, Islamic religious buildings and palaces.
Today mosaic is used for murals and pavements, artwork, craftwork, for industry and construction.
I love bringing my work to life using 3D surfaces and materials
As a multidisciplinary artist and designer I’ve worked with textiles, glass and ceramics but I am always keen to explore new materials.
Technology moves at an unrelenting pace but will always lack a tactile quality that us humans need. We all interact with our urban environment.
Mosaic connects us to our ancient traditions and brings a sense of belonging, which has always been at the heart of what we do at Zuzunaga.
Thinking about the historical context of the mosaics has been enlightening to me - I believe mosaics are the missing link between the past and our future, but also between art and design.
I plan to bring mosaics into my future artwork; it will be the bridge between architecture, my prints, my digital artwork, and textiles.