Victoria, British Columbia-based artist duo Andreas Kunert and Naomi Zettl create gorgeous, decorative wall installations out of stone. The husband and wife, who own their own stonework design, consulting, and sculpting firm called Ancient Art of Stone, specialize in building murals, fireplaces, and other stunning mosaic patterns from a wide array of rocks and pebbles.
The couple’s installations are filled with an incredible amount of intricate detail, with hundreds of stones fitting together perfectly to form color-coordinated swirls. For such a hard, solid material, the designs that Kunert and Zettl create are astonishingly organic and graceful, flowing beautifully in spirals and waves across the surface of walls.
“Our inspiration flows directly from nature and the pure simple forms and rhythms that are inherent within the creative forces of the Earth,” the duo writes on their website. “Our medium is stone, which is both timeless and sustaining. . . Our creative works flow naturally and intuitively from the basic founding principles and building blocks of all creation, through sacred geometry.”
Website: https://www.ancientartofstone.com/our-story
Analysis
Rocks are typically thought of as stagnant and unmoving. In modern architecture stone is rarely used and when it is, it is laid out in a single direction to create a repeating pattern. This can be seen on the sides of houses and on pathways. This article was interesting to me because it took an element of nature that is typically thought of stagnant, and arranged it in a way to feel alive and flowing. Modern architecture often features only vertical and horizontal lines and intersections. To incorporate spirals and organic geometry is such a fascinating concept that is not only a work of art, but a functional piece of architecture.
Take-Aways
Man-made architecture and construction does not need to be stagnant- it should venture to break the confines of horizontal and vertical lines to mimic nature (biomimicry)
