Making A Mark

With Gardens Becoming So Integral in People's Lives in 2020,
Anji Connell Explores How They Can Be Personalized Using Art to Create a Sense of Belonging

Over the past year, we have all discovered how important our homes are, especially our outdoor spaces. And, with travel still pretty much off the agenda, investing in our gardens can only be money well spent.

Creating a sense of place generates a feeling of belonging. This leads to a feeling of deep attachment and makes the ‘space’ become a ‘place’ of meaning and connection. Making them reflect our character and personality will make them even more so.

Art can set the tone and the theme in a garden; it adds interest, texture, color, and form. It can highlight the beauty of surrounding plants and flowers and create year-round interest and structure when the perennials have died back.

Sculptural Shape
Typically, it’s a statue we think of when we consider adding art to the garden. However, we can use any visual imagery and object that is pleasing to the eye or has a sculptural shape, on any surface—walls, the ground, hanging and suspended. Sam Shendi, the Egyptian-born British sculptor living in North Yorkshire, manipulates contemporary industrial material—steel, stainless steel, aluminium, and fiberglass—in a glorious play of lines and color to create a two-dimensional vision in three-dimensional form that work incredibly well in gardens. Sam tells me: “Sculptures for me are an important element in a garden. They add something to the space without dominating it and boost the energy of the outdoor space.”

Joana Vasconcelos' "Gateway"

Portuguese artist Joana Vasconcelos’ ‘Gateway’ at Jupiter Artland near Edinburgh is an immersive installation and a fully functional swimming pool. It’s bold and stunning, yet a harmonious contrast to the classic garden and architecture of Bonnington House.

Alex Proba translates her colorful abstractions to rugs, countertops, ceilings, and walls. She has now delightfully showcased them at the bottom of a swimming pool on the grounds of a historic house in California.

Polish-American architect Daniel Libeskind’s four monumental abstract contemporary artworks explore the imbalance man has contributed to climate. Each one of the three-meter-tall works represents notable chemical compounds that are causing our changing climate.

Splinterworks Pool Slide

Marc Quinn’s monumental 2008 sculpture ‘Planet’–a sculptural portrait of his first son at seven months old–is on permanent display at the Gardens by the Bay in Singapore. The sculpture appears to float weightlessly over the earth as it distorts our perception of space. It shows how we can use over-scale; art does not have to be hidden within the flower beds. We can use it to make an impact.

All Nature Flows Through Us by Marc Quinn

For more affordable sculpture, look at the beautiful pieces from Vadim Kharchenko. His hand-made metal sculptures reflect modern, contemporary, and mid-century industrial design styles.

The Rustic Garden Art Shop’s metal hoops have a natural rusted finish that gets better with age, needing no maintenance. The metal ring sculptures are interchangeable as one is slightly smaller than the other, so it fits within the other. Rings can be arranged randomly or in a line, guiding you through the garden.

New York-based architect and designer Drew Seskunas’s wood-burning stove, the Prism Chiminea, is definitely a work of art. The stove is corrosion-proof, heat-resistant, and portable, making for a stunning focal point–especially in colder months.

The ‘Prism Chiminea’ took inspiration from the studio’s Prism Planters, made from sheets of aluminium or pre-rusted steel folded into triangles to form a container that can be stacked to create a stunning and unique sculpture and a vertical garden.

Prism Planters

Soundscaping
Hugh Livingston of Livingston Sound creates permanent sound environments for public
and private gardens that are site-specific and tailored to the client. He adds his melodic composition with piano and percussion instruments made of bamboo that mimic the natural sounds in gardens. Soundscaping is definitely something we’ll be seeing (or hearing) more of, especially in public spaces.

The Artemide "O"

Lighting
Lighting can also be used as art form to enhance our spaces. Artemide’s Reeds modular and whimsical floor lights create a spectacle of light. The Artemide ‘O’ when switched off, frames nature and lends perspective. It comes in both floor and suspended outdoor versions, and a cabled option allows for easy relocation. Artemide’s Diamante creates excellent visual impact. ‘Diamonds’ of different colors use prismatic filters. The vertical drop can be realized when customized by various configurations of the number of ‘diamonds’ and the heights. Artemide Corten steel Granito lamps project four light beams through the fissures on the sides, and make it a nice choice for driveways and walkways, and have fabulous light effects for parks and gardens.

Mural art
Kelly Wearstler has used a mural at the Santa Monica Viceroy Hotel’s Sugar Palm Ocean Avenue Restaurant that adds color, depth and interest. This is truly a way to personalize
any space.

French-born, London-based multidisciplinary artist Camille Walala is
known for her ambitious, large-scale geometric interventions in public spaces, creating full facade murals and immersive 3D installations. Her ‘Walala Lounge’ in London’s South Molton Street has her signature style in seating and planters that are most definitely functional art. Her work shows how we can elevate a space—filling it with color and joy. Walala has also recently made a proposal for a pedestrianized takeover of London’s Oxford Street. What a joy that would be.

Walala Lounge by Camille Walala in London's South Molton Street

ABOUT

Internationally recognized interior architect and landscape designer, Anji Connell, is a detail-obsessed Inchbald Graduate, and has been collaborating with artisans and craftsmen to create bespoke and unique interiors for a discerning clientele since 1986. Anji is a stylist,
feature writer and lover of all things art and design.
www.anjiconnellinteriordesign.com