CASTING DIRECTOR
It was the rawness of concrete that first appealed to Kathy Dalwood.
Over the past 10 years the designer-maker has been focusing on art and sculpture, experimenting with the material. More recently she has ventured into interior design, and last year a collection of vases and decorative wall panels for Habitat brought her work to the mainstream. Dalwood’s latest project was inspired by her growing collection of 18th-century-style figurines – antique as well as reproduction – which she is recreating in simple grey concrete. To do so she makes two latex moulds, one for each half of the statuette, and fills them with the concrete. When the two mould pieces are lined up for casting a seam is created which is intentionally left visible. The result looks like a rough-cast miniature version of an ancient statue. The concrete makes it impossible to capture the same amount of detail as the originals and air bubbles make them look weather-worn and eroded. They are ghost-like and beautiful, so much so that it is impossible to believe they are made from the same material as the humble breeze block. Shown here are Marie Antoinette (right) which is 30cms high including the plinth and Ghent Boy and American Girl.
Styling by Rachel Jones. Photograph by Joakim Blockstrom