Coined after the bronze currency of the ancient Romans, the AES artwork is a modern treasure.
The custom Marcus Piper artwork was commissioned by Bijl Architecture for a private residence in Sydney’s Neutral Bay.
A self-described digital craftsperson – Piper creates finely detailed digital masterpieces which are physically built with unique and often modern fabrication processes. The site-specific AES artwork is a prime example, created with several modern and exacting technologies.
Axolotl has had the pleasure of collaborating with Piper on a series of art projects over the years. Each concept provides the opportunity for a new material combination or fabrication technique to be explored. In true form, AES was crafted with an innovative combination of techniques including a hand-polished and patinated Axolotl Bronze surface, precision machining and ultra-fine 3D printing.
The large-scale artwork is formed from multiple carved and embossed bronze panels. The geometry of the work was informed by the unique position along the stairwell and the brief to integrate the architectural handrail within.
Accentuating moments and highlights have been specifically placed throughout the work to play with the natural and artificial light, casting and creating shadows that present a different experience with each interaction. The concept and palette of the work mean that you will never see the artwork the same way twice, with factors such as the time of day, speed, and position of viewing all resulting in a unique viewing experience. Light and reflection combine to create an optical phenomenon with details that highlight and shift as you walk by.
AES is a true collaboration between the architect, artist, Axolotl, Stuart Wilson Constructions and Pittwater Joinery who all enthusiastically supported Piper’s vision, helping to develop, create and deliver the artwork.
Wiradjuri artist Karla Dickens’ mixed-media artwork depicting hooded figures is a powerful exploration of the continuing legacies of colonialism and patriarchy. The materially rich work – with sea-green glass referencing Sydney Harbour and a patina that reflects the bronze panels on the iconic sandstone facade of the Art Gallery of New South Wales’ existing building – has been installed above the entranceway of the building. Located in the niche above the front door, Dickens’ work fills the space left empty by the contentious cancellation of a 1913 commission by the Australian sculptor Dora Ohlfsen.
Axolotl worked with Dickens and the AGNSW Curatorial team to develop and fabricate To see or not to see.
The location provided the challenge of installing a semi-permanent artwork onto the heritage façade with no additional holes or fixings into the sandstone. This challenge was overcome with an engineered compression frame system that was designed, built, and tested to suit the artwork.
The artwork is composed of three glass panels made with a combination of Axolotl’s proprietary glass and metal techniques.
Each panel was first kiln formed in Jade lustre glass. The kiln slumped technique enabled the silhouette of the hooded figures to sit pronounced and was selected in homage to the Bas-relief style of Ohlfsen’s original commission.
The lustre glass has a uniquely reflective quality that activates the artwork with haunting, glowing figures visible even from the footpath across the road from the gallery. No additional lighting or backlighting has been incorporated into the work.
The glass panels were then each treated with Axolotl’s semi-precious metal Link process to inlay Copper and Iron metals onto the surface. Dickens’ intricate hooded figures use a combination of Brown Rust, Black Rust and textured Majestic Rust to highlight the design, while the Copper background received a complementary sea green Verdigris patina which was polished with guidance by Dickens at the Axolotl workshop.
Axolotl is honoured to have worked with Karla Dickens and the Art Gallery of New South Wales on such a prominent and powerful artwork. We thank and congratulate all involved for creating such an important piece and after more than a century, completing the grand entry of the building.
For further information on this project please visit the project page on our AAP website here.
Axolotl is the most awarded aesthetic surface company in the world. For the past 27 years, Axolotl has both pioneered and mastered the technique of bonding inflexible materials such as semi-precious metals, concrete and terracotta to almost any substrate, as well as producing parity-breaking decorative glass.
The unbridled nature of our product offering provides for a unique expression of design that arguably has no bounds for architects, designers and artists who seek out new paradigms of creativity and functionality.
To consolidate our successful growth and build our offer outside Australia, Axolotl have opened two new 10,000sqm factories - one in Thailand, and the other in North America, both with state-of-the-art equipment and machinery. This gives Axolotl not only the ability to service the world, but to offer our Australian clientele the opportunity to specify Axolotl surfaces on larger scale projects.
In the short term we will be operating two websites - the one you will already be familiar with, axolotl.com.au, which has been completely updated. A second website has been launched recently to represent the international business for our global clients at axolotlglobal.com. Both websites will continue to evolve over the next few months with new work, including in-depth video narratives of some of our most spectacular projects
In addition, our Art Projects website has been completely rebuilt - axolotlartprojects.com which we are delighted to share with you.
Please get in touch to discuss the exploration of rarity in the world of design, and how the design community re-think the very notion of surfaces.
The artwork is inspired by Angophora trees and aims to help to retain the memory of the large Angophora trees that have been removed from the site for the new building. Angophoras are a potent symbol of transformation and resilience and are associated with healing and the female form in Aboriginal culture.
The Angophora is an iconic tree. Muscular branches, curvaceous trunks, pink cellulite bark, with fleshy creases and bulbous protrusions, the Angophora is a Rubenesque dancer paused mid flourish.
In a colourful transformation, the Angophora sheds her bark annually. The blue-grey bark of the previous season peels off to reveal the rich terracotta of the new season’s bark. At the base of their great trunks, Angophoras have a large lignotuber which assists the tree to survive fire, whilst epicormic buds enable the tree to burst into vibrant regrowth. Where old branches have broken off the Angophora develops sheltered hollows perfect for birds to nest in. Through the poetry of association, the subject matter of the Angophora gives the artwork the themes of transformation, regrowth, shelter and resilience.
These themes are explored from each of the artists’ perspectives. Stories of the Angophora are embedded in Aboriginal culture, and in the early discussions of the artwork they have sparked many memories and provided overflowing inspiration for the direction of the artwork.
Jade and Jessica considered their approach to the facade carefully to ensure collaboration would result in the creation of a unified and harmonious artwork, strengthened by each artist’s narrative and experience.
The artwork consists of two unique layers of patterning, created by each artist. Jade’s illustrations created the structure of the ‘dancing’ trunk and branches of the Angophora tree in the glass interlayer and the screen patterns which meditate on the peeling bark pattern. While Jessica’s painted glass interlayer explores the colours, character and seasons through rich pattern and colour.
The artwork’s location demands a dynamic approach to materiality, as it is viewed both as the external facade at the entry of the hospital, and from within. It plays an important role in placemaking and welcoming visitors, patients and staff. The artwork appears as a glowing light box, a welcoming beacon at the entry, and affords views from both sides of the glass, up close and from afar.
Axolotl Art Projects assisted in the development of the artists’ concepts, digital development of the patterns and technical knowledge of transferring print and illustration into architecture.
Conversations with the artists on the concept and the feeling the artists were trying to convey in the artwork guided the design process. From this, Axolotl was able to propose materials and solutions that helped achieve the best outcomes for the artwork. The multi-layer screening as an example has the engineering requirement to be built from laser-cut aluminium affixed over an access gantry. To minimise the impact of the structure, the screening layout was developed with the artists to conceal the framework. As it was important that the artwork conveyed the natural quality and colour of the Angophora, the team experimented with colours and textures and introduced two custom Axolotl Terracotta treatments to the screening layer. This provided an outcome superior to powder coating alone, and only achievable with Axolotl Terracotta surfaces created with natural materials that live and breathe like solid Terracotta.
For further information on this project please visit the project page on our AAP website here.
In loving memory of Jessica Birk, strong Yaegl woman, who lived in the Northern Beaches of Sydney and passed away in 2019 during the delivery of the artwork. Art Management Creative Road Photography and Videography Steve Brown
The two solid cast bronze benches, titled Balit-dhan Balit-ngangjin (Their Strength Our Strength) were designed as a collaboration between Maree Clarke and Trent Jansen. As a tribute to Louisa Briggs, William Barak and to the history of Coranderrk Reserve, these benches commemorate both agricultural practices employed at Coranderrk station, and traditional cultural practices of the Boon Wurrung and Wurundjeri peoples in their forms; branches that act as the exterior framework reference the hops poles used at Coranderrk, whilst river reed and charcoal seats acknowledge the unique cultural practices associated with men and women of the Boon Wurrung and Wurandjeri peoples.
The gesture was requested by the church and commissioned by Charter Hall - both wanting a counterpoint to the sculpture of John Wesley that stands in the precinct forecourt.
Axolotl is proud to have been commissioned to produce and deliver the sculptures in collaboration with the artists. The forms materialised through over 1000 hours of toil in prototyping and fabrication, and the likeness to the artist's first sketch concepts is astounding.
The process of Bronze casting allows each piece to deeply echo the materiality of the branches, charcoal and reeds. The objects achieve a time-worn patina through being aged and hand polished with customised proprietary patina effects.
Landscape architecture by Oculus Studios completes the evolution of the benches into their final form on-site; plants that are native to the Black Spur region have been selected and have been embedded into the planter beds behind the benches. Over time, vines will wrap around each seat’s bronze branches in the same manner as hops were once twined around branches at Coranderrk.
We thank and congratulate Broached Commissions and artists Maree Clarke and Trent Jansen for conceptualising and developing this piece as a tribute to Victoria’s First Nations, and Charter Hall for commissioning such an important work. It was a privilege to be part of this moving and meaningful project.
For further information on this project please visit the project page on our AAP website here.
As we draw close to the end of 2021, we would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone here at Axolotl and also our extended team of brilliant architects, designers, artists, builders and renovators who we have the privilege to work with and are inspired by every day.
It was another Covid challenging year yet we managed to band together to produce some of the most exciting work with some of the best creative minds. Thank you for being a part of our favourite moments of the year; we couldn’t be more proud (and relieved) that we made it through with so much to be grateful for. Along with the usual end-of-year indulgences, we wish you all relief, health and happiness.
This year, we were honoured to be awarded both the 2021 Global Business Insight Awards for the Most Outstanding Architecture & Design Solutions Provider and the 2021 Corp Today Magazine for Interior/Exterior Metal Coating Innovators Of The Year.
It has been a busy year for Axolotl Art Projects. We have completed a colossal five-storey facade artwork in glass and terracotta for the Hornsby/Ku-ring-gai Hospital, which we started in 2016 with artists Jade Oakley and Jessica Birk, and management by Creative Road.
New Zealand artist Gill Gatfield commissioned Axolotl Art Projects to create a marble and concrete sculpture for the M8 Motorway in St Peters curated by Cultural Capital.
We’ve also been working hard on a range of art projects with Broached Commissions. Production is underway on a glass work by Adam Goodrum for the Continental Hotel, striking cast cliff forms for Kent Street with Dutch artist Xandra van der Eijk and more.
And we are pleased to have just completed a set of Bronze bench sculptures for the Wesley Place precinct with artists, Maree Clarke, Trent Jansen and Broached Commissions.
To fulfil our ever-expanding workload and to continue investing in the innovation that has driven us for more than 25 years, we took the opportunity to take on a second factory right next door to us at 71 Beauchamp Rd, Matraville. This also coincides with some truly exciting news for our arts division as we join forces with Broached Commissions in 2022, and continue Axolotl's global expansion with some amazing partners which we will expand on in the new year.
We hope you enjoy this video showcasing the production of upcoming art projects which we will reveal in their full magnificence, along with all the above-mentioned projects, in detail next year.
So, as this year ends, we join everyone in wishing for a healthier and happier 2022 for all.
As always, we remain driven to continue being ‘The Future of Surface’, and look forward to the opportunities next year will bring.
Axolotl will be closed for our annual shutdown from midday Thursday December 23 and reopen Monday January 10, 2022.
We are thrilled to announce that four pieces from our collaborative Easel Project collection are to be acquired by the NGV Melbourne for their permanent collection.
Fusing furniture and collectable art, the Easel Collection was curated by designers, Adam Cornish and Marcus Piper, to celebrate the most creative expression from both Australian and International designers.
Taking the concept of furniture and art display to another level, the form of an asymmetrical table top tilts to become an art piece in itself; a canvas for the surface specialists at Axolotl to realise the artist and designers work.
“An ongoing aim of the NGV Department of Contemporary Design and Architecture is to strategically collect examples of Australian contemporary design and studio based practice. These four works represent four prominent designers and highlight innovation in Australian design manufacturing, they make a great addition to our growing collection of Australian design.”
Ewan McEoin, Hugh D T Williamson Senior Curator of Contemporary Design and Architecture, NGV.
The easels that were acquired are: Adam Cornish | Bruise | Metal mosaic Adam Goodrum | Frame | Fused and formed bronze glass Jaime Hayon | LINEAS | Brass inlaid into marble Marcus Piper | Perspicere | Printed, embossed and mirrored glass
Adam Cornish | Bruise | Metal mosaic
Adam Cornish | Bruise | Metal mosaic
Adam Cornish | Bruise | Metal mosaic
Marcus Piper | Perspicere | Printed, embossed and mirrored glass
Marcus Piper | Perspicere | Printed, embossed and mirrored glass
Marcus Piper | Perspicere | Printed, embossed and mirrored glass
Adam Goodrum | Frame | Fused and formed bronze glass
Adam Goodrum | Frame | Fused and formed bronze glass
Adam Goodrum | Frame | Fused and formed bronze glass
Jaime Hayon | LINEAS | Brass inlaid into marble
Jaime Hayon | LINEAS | Brass inlaid into marble
Jaime Hayon | LINEAS | Brass inlaid into marble
The artists were briefed to work with Axolotl in identifying a process that pushed the boundaries of their practice and the capabilities of Axolotl. The result being a series of unique artworks resting on the easel base.
Each Easel in the collection is available in an edition of 8 with a percentage of sales being donated to the Authentic Design Alliance. To see the full collection and to enquire about acquiring one or more of these pieces to add to your art collection visit the Easel website or get in touch with us.
Months after the originally scheduled date of November 2020, the IDEA 2020 Gala party finally went ahead on Friday 19th February 2021.
The event was in doubt only days before when a 5-day snap lockdown for Melbourne threatened to force yet another delay. However, thankfully Melbourne was emancipated just in time for the party to go ahead and for the Australian design community to let their hair down.
Jeremy Bull of Alexander & Co., Simone Haag and Andrew Parr of SJB were all on the panel of industry-leading professionals that judged this year’s IDEA and were in attendance, along with Axolotl’s co-founder Kris Torma.
inside editor Elisa Scarton awarded COX this year’s Editors’ Medal for Tedesca while the winning hospitality category was awarded to Alexander & CO. for Glorietta.
The overall winner was Private Residence by Richards Stanisich. This classic mid-century residence, originally designed by Harry Seidler and built in 1958 is a tribute to ’50s modernism in Sydney, also won the night’s Residential Single award. Richards Stanisich were understandably unable to attend in person. Thanks to the ingenuity of the organisers, and in keeping with the zeitgeist, they were able to accept their awards via video link.
Axolotl has been supporting the IDEA awards for over 10 years and we are once again proud and honoured to produce the handcrafted trophies for this important celebration of Australian design. We look forward to many years of collaboration in the future. Watch the story behind the process and production of the IDEA 2020 trophies in this short clip we’ve put together.
How do you create a warm and inviting ambience within a large lobby with the intention to encourage people to meet and congregate? It takes a number of considerations and the designers at Gray Puksand show us how it’s done, with the help of Axolotl applied metal, in their recently completed renewal of the entry foyer at 55 Clarence Street in Sydney.
Axolotl applied Gold Bronze in a smooth finish is featured across the walls of the lobby. The hand-polished treatment injects warmth and visual softness working as the perfect anchoring backdrop to the dynamic space. The Axolotl treatment was also bonded to the vertical blades behind the reception desk, where Gray Puksand have used recessed uplighting to wash over the blades, highlighting the warmth and variation of the surface.
Gray Puksand share with us their intention for the space; “the desired design outcome was to create a space that acts as a destination within the building rather than a thoroughfare. Each setting within the lobby creates opportunities to spark serendipitous encounters, provoking opportunities to meet and work, through carefully curated pieces with integrated power and technology “
The concept and design direction as described by Gray Puksand for their recent project; "The renewal of 55 Clarence Street draws inspiration from the unique scape of Sydney’s Clarence Street, evoking a sense of sophistication with an edge. The space is designed to activate the area, create artful ambience and a welcoming feeling."
We love Gray Puksand and the brilliant work they are constantly putting out, we can’t wait to see what they come up with next.
