LONDON.- Hazelzet’s work is characterised by what he calls “delicate brutalism” – a play of raw materiality, where abstraction meets figuration. The artist’s practice entails a transversality of various mediums that answer to each other, with designs that mix porcelain and sandstone with mixed metals. Such objects form part of a creative universe that always maintains coherence despite its multiplicity of materials.
The exhibition features jewellery inspired by 19th century wax cameos that Hazelzet found as a child in a book belonging to his parents. Reproducing the images imprinted on these cameos, the designer casts jewellery pieces featuring scenes and figures from art history and classical mythology. Instead of being set in the metal, the stones are incorporated in the wax casting and embedded in the piece.
Among the exhibited jewellery is a new set of chain necklaces with detachable pendants, which can also be worn as belts. These sit alongside a vast collection of rings, cuffs and bracelets produced over the past three years. Hazelzet has also used meteorites and diamonds to produce visionary jewellery works that feature a strikingly contemporary visual language while also appearing steeped in history.
Marking his first foray into sculptural functional art works, Hazelzet presents the new Chaise d’École Inconfortable, crafted from cast aluminium. With a rough, unfinished look to its surfaces and a form that appears precariously composed, the work questions notions of comfort. The fragile air of the piece contrasts with the solidity of the Ceramic Sculpture triptych, in which cuboid blocks are arranged to convey weight, strength and support and used to display jewellery.
Also exhibited for the first time is the Arkeos lighting series. Crafted in abstract, angular shapes from ceramic, brass and bronze, the lamps produce a warm luminosity that highlights the sharp lines of the design. These and other lighting works sit alongside vases crafted from enamelled stoneware and porcelain, with patinated bronze and dried flowers, to resembles wild vegetation.
Placing lighting and sculptures alongside works of wearable art, this exhibition showcases the current impulses Hazelzet’s creative practice, in which a painterly vision breathes life and vibrancy into functional pieces and jewellery. By guiding his expansion into these new ways of making, Carpenters Workshop Gallery has enabled this artist to make a unique contribution to the diversity of collectible design.
