There is so much going on the material world, it is not hard keeping up, it is just not possible if you are note entirely dedicated to the study of innovative materials. Is Jesmonite the future must-know material? Olivia Aspinall, offers fresh and fun surface finishes for the interior design industry through her design studio. She accidentally switched to hard surfaces having studied Textile Design after her degree show having created a series of hand printed wallpapers and a few experimental hard surfaces to accompany these. To her surprise, people picked up on the hard surfaces, so from this reaction and also interior designers and architects wanting to specifying them for projects, she had to quickly work out how to produce these surfaces.
With the relatively new Terrazo Style Trend in full swing, it was just a question of time we would see a similar design experience but with a different material. For her recent collaboration with Ornamental Grace she has created a series of handmade Jesmonite vessels shown at the London Design Festival 2017.
New collections have been launched at Design Junction the past month with the classic terrazzo design but with an updated color palette, new patterns, black background combined with warm terra-cotta and deep red oxide, and a blue option with a dense but fine aggregate.
But what exactly is Jesmonite?
We are talking basically about a composite material of acrylic resin and gypsum, a sulfate mineral. You will find it applied in fine arts, crafts, and construction, and it is considered to be an attractive alternative to other resin-based materials, used for casting and laminating. Jesmonite is lightweight and does not emit toxic fumes which makes it ideal in a growing ‘green’ world.
I would really love to bring Olivia over for a casting workshop in 2018, learn her craft together with other creatives, get inspired by being in contact with new materials and stay away a little while from the screen:) Meanwhile, we can always shop on her site.
