The Return to Traditional
Traditional design is having a rebirth and we’ve definitely felt its return with the overwhelming response to our antique-inspired artworks. By incorporating antique elements into our artwork, we are able to achieve an old world look and repurpose an original into a Visual Contrast piece.
Jeff, Visual Contrast’s founder, came from a background in antiques and has a deep passion for them. Working at a gallery in London, he worked with antique books, specializing in 18th century European engravings. The return of new traditional styles in interior design has inspired him to bring some of these pieces to Visual Contrast, pulling from his personal archive and using his knowledge to source unique antique artworks.
Employing different techniques, we have focused on repurposing the antiques in unique ways to put a Visual Contrast spin on them. From collaging to textural application to different printing methods, we found ways to make the original images our own, modernizing them while preserving their original essence and character.
With the Antique Music Scores, Jeff sourced music scores from Norway in the 1930s. We then sliced them into strips and arranged them in a collaged format. The different tones of the aged papers create an assemblage of neutral shades, while the lines of music turn into abstract patterns from afar. Old sheets of music were transformed into a new medium, being repurposed into modern art that captures the emotion of music composition.
Another way we have given antiques a new life is transferring photography onto handmade paper from Bhutan and Japan. The handmade paper from Bhutan has a natural tone and a rough deckled edge, adding an aged feel to the photograph. The Japanese washi paper adds texture and depth to the Surfer at Dawn photograph, mimicking the feel of delicate handmade paper used long ago.
The Antique French Botanicals were engravings made by French agronomist Jean-Paul de Rome d’Ardène in the 18th century. Adding a mixture of stucco and natural pigment paints, we gave a new life to these botanical engravings, revamping them with bold color and giving them three-dimensionality. Once small, flat drawings, they are now large colorful paintings that will brighten up any interior.
