We just can’t get enough of designer Kathy Dalwood. Her contemporary take on the Plaster Bust brings rare beauty and opulence from a bygone age into the modern home, her recent collaboration with Fiona Leahy for Louis Vuitton was a visual triumph (above) and her collection showcased at New Designers attracted crowds of admirers to our CultureLabel stand throughout the show.
Here she talks to us about her creative methods, her inspiration and how it feels to enthral the team at Louis Vuitton.
1. Can you give us some more details on how your current work came about?
My sculpture has become increasingly figurative over the last few years and this development has culminated in my current collection which is a 21st century re-interpretation of the historical plaster bust.
The key feature of these sculptures is that they are created by direct casting from real life materials and objects. First I make a sculpture using a template bust for which I create a costume from fabrics and haberdashery and all kinds of objects. From this I take a mould and then finally a plaster cast. This technique produces an amazing level of realistic detail in the final sculpture – the texture and pattern of the fabrics, intricate details of the found objects – are all fascinating to examine close up.
2. What are the main influences and inspirations behind your work?
In developing this collection I’d been looking at 18th and 19th century figurative sculpture, ranging from public statues in city squares to marble busts and plaster casts like the collection at the V&A and the Louvre and especially at the work of French sculptor Rodin. In looking at all this figurative sculpture, what has interested me most is not the faces and figures but the realistic rendering of fabrics and objects in solid, impassive stone and plaster.
References for the busts’ costumes are pretty wide ranging – I’ve taken elements from classical sculpture, Napoleonic uniforms, 18th century paintings and Dior dresses as reinvented by Galliano – and mixed them all up.
The idea of placing architectural monuments, iconic landmarks and random objects on the headdresses was inspired by the intriguing 18th century fad of decorating hats with very large scale, incongruous objects – famously Marie Antoinette adorned a hat with a huge ship in full sail.
3. What kind of person and home would most enjoy the company of your busts?
I’ve found that the busts appeal to all kinds of different people, attracted to them for different reasons – some people like the historical references, some are intrigued by the realism, some by the sculptural form but everyone seems to respond to them as real characters – not just decorative objects!
4. Where do you work from?
My studio is in my house – it’s a large, sunny first floor room which stretches across the front of the house. I love the space but finding room for everything I make is a nightmare – that’s the down side of being a sculptor, every time I cast something there’s another three-dimensional object to put somewhere. But this makes me ruthless about not keeping things that haven’t worked out absolutely right.
5. What’s the most enjoyable part of being a designer/ artist?
Coming up with new ideas and every so often getting a feeling in your gut that this is really going to go somewhere.
6. Tell us more about your commission with Louis Vuitton
By a lucky chance, amazingly talented event designer Fiona Leahy stumbled on my plaster busts and thought they would be perfect for a press launch dinner she had been commissioned to design by Louis Vuitton to celebrate their “Double Exposure” Project, a film made with Sam Taylor Wood.
Fiona commissioned 40 busts to run the length of the 20 metre table and seeing the crazy objects I place on their hats gave her the idea of introducing similar items, dipped in plaster, in amongst the sculptures. Placed on a Perspex light box, the whole installation was illuminated from below. For the press launch she filled a giant Perspex box with busts and random objects creating what looked like a huge museum case of bizarre relics.
I thought it all looked absolutely fantastic and I was delighted to be able to work with such a talent and have my plaster bust collection associated with such an exclusive and influential brand as Louis Vuitton.
7. What do you deem to be the best of British culture today?
Contemporary visual arts in Britain are extremely strong and in my view unmatched in any other country. Wherever I travel I try to seek out interesting design, fine art and craft and although I’ve come across some great things, it’s never on the scale of what’s available to look at here. There must be something about the outlook and training of visually creative people in Britain that produces such a massive range of exciting work.
Visits to my blog and website have also made me aware just how much people in other countries think the same thing. I’m very pleased to be a very small player in the British cultural scene!
CultureLabel is featuring Kathy’s busts at New Designers until July 2nd – if you’re popping by do come and see them (Stand B14). Otherwise you can see the collection in Kathy’s shop on CultureLabel.com
