Illuminate Sculpture In Architecture
A celebration of materials that age gracefully with the passage of time, Illuminate also reflects the creative and collaborative process that’s at the heart of everything we do. Here, Mika shares the inspiration for the work, his relationship with Eco Outdoor founder Ben Kerr and the appeal of working with bronze.
When I first walked into Eco Outdoor’s Melbourne showroom, I felt a strong pull to create a work which would grab people’s attention as they moved from the foyer to the main hall and mark a point of transition. Like the showroom behind it, which is filled with natural materials, I wanted to create something with texture that builds on nature, because that’s how we always build, whether it’s a timber deck or a bronze sculpture – it all starts with nature. “With two giant semicircular panels facing each other, the sculpture’s contrasting surfaces create a circular void which absorbs the light from above and illuminates the opposing elements.
“One of the reasons I enjoyed this collaboration was the process – Ben and I are both innovators who are constantly working within an industrial process and wondering how we can push the boundaries. We wanted to create an artwork for a place that has a purpose, creating a visceral experience for anyone who spends time here. “With bronze, you’re never completely in control of the process or outcome – you have to let it run its course. It’s both delicate and weighted and it seemed the best way to create a narrative of holding space and light from the ground up. The limitation of course is that it never stops absorbing its surroundings, changing and ageing. But once you surrender to that, it becomes part of its uniqueness. It has its own fingerprint in time.”
“I wanted to create something with texture that builds on nature, because that’s how we always build, whether it’s a timber deck or a bronze sculpture – it all starts with nature.”
Artist Mika Utzon Popov
Fabrication UAP
Photography Jonathon Griggs
