PLANT BEINGS
x
YAN SKATES
x YAN SKATES
Manor Place
ARTIST:
YAN SKATES
MEDIUM:
FLORAL & BOTANICALS
CLIENT:
SKETCH
SPACE:
SKETCH RESTROOMS
CURATORIAL APPROACH
Plant Beings, a site-specific installation by artist and floral designer Yan Skates for sketch’s East Bar and iconic restroom Pods.
Taking Ambrosius Bosschaert the Elder’s A Still Life of Flowers in a Wan-Li Vase as his starting point, Skates translated the painting’s vivid palette and intricate composition into human-scale botanical figures.
Set among sketch’s sculptural pods, the figures appear to have stepped out of the painting. Their playful presence draws visitors close, while the flowers carry the still life’s quieter preoccupation with the fleeting nature of life.
ELEPHANT & CASTLE, LONDON
A multidisciplinary cultural and sporting space occupying a restored 19th-century bathhouse and former swimming pool complex in south London.
CURATORIAL APPROACH
A reimagining of the classical Goddess of Nike for a contemporary cultural context. Zachary Eastwood-Bloom was selected for his ability to combine references to classical sculpture with digital fabrication and contemporary material processes.
Conceived in dialogue with the building’s history, the resulting work balances the poise and permanence of traditional bronze sculpture with an intentionally futuristic material language. Positioned as a custodian of the space, Goddess connects the architecture’s past with its new cultural identity.
ARTISTS:
ZACHARY EASTWOOD-BLOOM
MEDIUM:
BRONZE LAQUER, 3D PRINTED / FIBREGLASS
CLIENT:
NIKE FOOTBALL / PALACE SKATEBOARDS