There's so much to cover in a full house project, so we wanted to delve a little deeper into two key spaces and the artists/artworks that were selected, and why.
Garance Vallée
Early into this reno we identified that the large wall in the sunken den would be a tricky one for art. The open-concept main floor meant that art is visible in the surrounding rooms so aligning heights would be a challenge. We needed something large, that was attention-grabbing and visually interesting but not overly overpowering or overwhelming to the space. We explored a ton of different options, and even dedicated a blog to it a while ago.
The answer: Parisian artist Garance Vallée and her spring 2021 exhibition at Carvalho Park in Brooklyn, NY. Not to be overly dramatic (ok, just a little) - as soon as I saw images of the work, I knew.
Vallée creates environments in her paintings where the objects appear almost 3D. Her strong use of light/shadows, the objects and design elements incorporated and the playfulness of the ‘painting in a painting’ all resonated with me - and connected so perfectly with the millwork and styling nearby. One painting here would not have been enough, we needed the balance of a pair. There is something uniquely charming to Vallée’s paintings, and I knew it would tie the room together. Sourcing and installing these 2 pieces was the final touch to make the house complete!
The Still Life
Sometimes as we source and build an art collection, a subtle theme appears and in this case, it was the idea of the still life. Not to get too deep into art history but the ‘still life’ is a quintessential part of every artist’s art school experience - draw a bowl of fruit, paint what you are looking at etc. In the Living Room we integrated three artworks with unique takes on the still life in painting, video and sculpture.
First, the video piece by celebrated Canadian artist Adad Hannah is a “tableau vivant”, in other words, a static scene of a living picture. It references early photography where the subject would sit still, waiting for the camera’s shutter to capture the moment.
Above the fireplace, a pair of Nick Ostoff paintings titled House Plant bring a touch of nature inside, and perched on the hearth is a unique graphite still life sculpture by Kelly Mark, one of the first pieces collected. The series quite literally references the artist’s art school days, when asked to draw a bowl of fruit, she cleverly decided to LITERALLY draw on a bowl of fruit.
Collecting art doesn’t have to be quite so complicated. It can, quite simply, be the process of being drawn to a colour, a mood, or even a feeling in an artwork. But sometimes a theme emerges that makes everything feel like it belongs together.
Click here for the full project, and here to see some BEFORE pics / what it would be like to live without art.
Photography: @lomillerphoto
Photography Styling: @_meandmo_
Architect + Designer: @superkularchitecture
Interior designer | Furniture Selection: @montanalabelle
