Client Dexus + Next Story

Object curation + art curation. This was a gorgeous project that required a layered, residential look with pieces that hinted at the Chinatown proximity, the link to stables once located nearby and richness of colour with a bit of quirk. We were also asked to source the main entrance artwork and an artwork for the restaurant. While we looked to local Melbourne artisans and artists for the main public areas of the hotel, with some designer and off-the-shelf pieces, we put forward five artists from around Australia for the main artwork. Anna Dudek from Sydney was chosen and her beautiful glass and brass pieces now hang in the main entrance. We put forward a suspended pit-fired ceramic series of pieces for the restaurant and local Perth artist/maker Jo Gray created it… This involved talks with the head chef’s mother to inject some of his background into the pieces, which was expressed through the Aeolian shipwreck ceramic forms that rest on blown glass by the Jam Factory and poured bronze by local Perth artist Stephen Tero. The forms also depict prickly pear and Sicilian bells. The main pieces sit from 80cm to 1m tall, so were made in five parts and were very scary to move (or even walk past!). They were pit-fired in the Perth hills in ingredients that are now served in the restaurant and were part of the chef’s Nonna’s story.

• images taken onsite at install prior to trees and other plants being installed.