Charles Burnand Gallery explores materiality through sculptural designs at Collect 2023

London-based Charles Burnand Gallery, founded by Simon Stewart is an internationally reputed gallery known for promoting emerging as well as established artists, from around the world. The studio’s ethos is forged out of a curiosity for both design and materiality, and an understanding that collectable design takes time—in process, ideation, research, and development. The artists that they represent, complement these values of the brand, creating distinctive and anomalous pieces that push the boundaries of materiality. With over a decade of experience, the gallery has a discerning clientele of top interior designers, architects, and art collectors.

Inspired by the theme of material experimentation, their latest presentation, ‘Conscious Form’ will be on display at the Collect 2023 fair, an international contemporary art and design fair at the Somerset House. The art and design fair is scheduled to be on view from March 3 to 5, 2023.

Adorning the showcase will be pieces reflecting the gallery’s signature amalgamation of tactile materials and abstract forms. “Our artists continue to push their craft…Our Collect collection is an exemplary display of the Charles Burnand Gallery vision,” shares Stewart of the contemporary artists showcasing their work. From bronze to metal bismuth, the artists explore idiosyncratic forms crafted with unique materials to produce riveting sculptural designs, bringing to fruition the gallery’s vision of presenting one-of-a-kind pieces.

Debuting at the gallery with pieces crafted in bronze will be US-based design studio, Refractory, along with new designs by Swedish artist Fredrik Nielsen and Chinese RCA graduate Binghui Song. Ceramics by Noa Chernichovsky and Inger Sif Heeschen will also join the unique sculptural pieces by Reynold Rodriguez, sculpted in plaster and wood, contrasting metalwork by silversmith Callum Partridge and the mixed media art pieces by Pierre Bonnefille, that will also make an appearance.

STIR looks at eight artists and their designs that will be presented at Collect 2023.

Fredrik Nielsen’s sculptural designs, a physical manifestation of graffiti and pop music:

"Through covering the surface of the sculpture, the volume of the material starts to show. The body interests me, something that competes with my own,” shares Swedish, punk artist Fredrik Nielsen says of his piece, ‘You’re a hideous thing that will be showcased at the Collect 2023. An extensively trained glassblower known internationally as the "man of glass," he pushes the framework of his craft channelling a raw expression—the explorative forms follow a process that makes the viewer appreciate the depth of each piece. His work is a physical manifestation of a range of influences, from graffiti to pop music, and the energy of his work is deeply imbued in each unique piece. “I want the physical effort to be so big that I am creating a work that is competing with my own body. Everything that reaches this stadium of competition becomes important, then I have created a volume that is looking for the limits of body and mass,” elaborates Nielsen.

Binghui Song’s traditional craft abstracted into psychedelic coral forms:

Chinese artist Binghui Song’s works are an exploration of antagonistic relationships throughout her life. With experiments across a multitude of mediums, her craft still has strong ties to traditional craft. The ‘Psychedelic fluid’ series featured at the Collect 2023, like her other works, embodies emotion, expressed as an abstraction of waves, metaphorically rolling over coral-like forms, like her jewellery that is crafted in porcelain and metal bismuth. Song’s artistry—be it jewellery, illustrations or sculptures—has been recognised through various awards, including the Theo Fennell Design Award and the IDA Design Award.

Refractory unfolds untold stories through provocative and exploratory designs:

Refractory is a Chicago-based design studio founded by Angie West from Texas and Alberto Velez from Bogota. Specialising in furniture, lighting, and object design the studio is making its debut at Collect 2023 by showcasing the ‘Sloped Candle Holder No.2,’ cast in bronze. They embrace a fascination with materiality and value craft as an integral aspect of design, drawing deep love and reverence for the frontier's terrain and geology. Their provocative and exploratory work unfolds untold design stories from arid western formations, tectonic forces, and the rugged honesty of erosion that exemplify the harsh yet sublime beauty of those that preceded us in civilization. The candle holder is an atypical design born from heat, chemical interaction, and the hand, giving rise to variation and imperfection.

Noa Chernichovsky’s immediate surroundings through ceramic lenses:

‘Facing the plenty’— a ceramic collection by ceramicist Noa Chernichovsky, on display at Collect 2023, captures objects from immediate surroundings—banana tree, cauliflower bollards, pier cap, and a series of birds. Noa’s awareness of her surroundings births associations that are created around objects and their fragments, binding together their inherent narratives. Her work involves reconstructing everyday objects that are often overlooked, into hybrid sculptural volumes, each holding its own context and cultural value. Although the subjects of her work are mundane, Chernichovsky combines various ceramic techniques including—thrown parts, hand building, and slab moulding. Self-acclaimed as the ‘sampler’ of surfaces and forms from the physical world, this collection conveys a language that is extraordinary with elaborate textures and patterns.

Reynold Rodriguez’s series of emotions captured in everyday products:

Multi-disciplinary award-winning designer and artist, Reynold Rodriguez crafts furniture, interiors, and special projects that are handmade from plaster and salvaged wood, imbued with distinct character at the crossroads of familiarity and curiosity. The collection comprising of—Gravity + Grace crafted with charred hand-carved mahogany, The Saddest Lamp…(In the world) made with polished and stained gypsum plaster, The table that dreamed…(of being light) and Continue made from polished gypsum plaster and LED is a series of ‘moments’ created through emotion and form. The series, crafted over two years, is guided by a particular moment of creation, picking up right at the moment when the nebula in our brain lights up, connecting the synapses—crystallising an emotion or idea into a form.

Inger Sif Heeschan’s metempsychosis of archaeological skills into craftsmanship:

Inger Sif Heeschan, an interdisciplinary artist, focuses her research on cultural objects and artefacts, investigating their origin and process. Her childhood on a Danish island with iron age settlement remnants honed her archaeological skills of piecing together fragments to create new narratives through connections. “My main aim, with a subtle sense of anarchism, is to create objects that meander across time,” shares Heeschan, on crafting ‘The Stones’ and ‘Sweep’ that will be featured at Collect 2023.

Callum Patridge’s craftsmanship brought to life through the materiality of metals:

British silversmith Callum Patridge will be unveiling a series of new candlesticks along with a side table, made using steel and brass, heat-patinated black. Patridge draws inspiration from his constant exploration of how everyday objects and machinery function, to create functional objects such as candlesticks, beakers, trays, and boxes. Employing traditional silversmithing techniques, and adorning clean forms and shapes, the materiality of metals is highlighted in Patridge’s product design. From Sterling and Britannia silver to steel, brass, nickel and titanium, a variety of metals allow him to explore a broader colour palette.

Pierre Bonnefille’s juxtaposition of material, colour and light:

French artist, painter, designer, and Maître d'art (Art Master) Pierre Bonnefille has lived and worked in Paris since 1985. Drawing inspiration from his travels and distilling colours he encounters into the boundless richness of his work, Bonnefille is a chromatic alchemist, juxtaposing materials, colour, and light. Innovating his own materials and textures from mineral powder, limestone, lava, marble, earth, natural pigments, and metallic powders, Bonnefille draws his inspiration from the colours of nature and architectural references in Venice, Pompei, and even Kyoto. His colour palette is derived from the earth and the materials he collects to analyse for their colourimetric structures. Intensity, colour, and movement of light propose a ceaseless new interpretation of tone and texture in the Bibliotheque Rhizome- Cuprite and Table Basse Stone - Bronze Bruni collection that he is showcasing at Collect 2023. Crafted with mixed media on wooden furniture, the lively and vibrant surfaces of these products create a new experience, with a play on the senses.

'Conscious Form' by Charles Burnand Gallery will be on display from March 3 to 5, 2023 at the Somerset House, London.

Text by Ria Jha