Nebula Aqua is a mosaic installation in a private home, a series of six ‘Nebula’, integrating semi-precious stones, mineral specimens, tiles, smalti and more. The mosaics are created on mesh and installed, ungrouted, moving around a curved stucco wall and floating downstairs. These are an interpretation of Sonia’s fine art mosaic into a larger, site-specific setting. Nebula Aqua was awarded a special recognition in the 2010 International Prize for Mosaic Art and Architecture by the Exhibition Commission in Italy, the only non-Italian project to be recognized.
The exterior stucco continues into the entry way, into the house and around a curved wall that goes down the stairs. The first Nebula is in the outer entry area, followed by one just inside the inner front door. Four more Nebula float across the interior wall drifting down the stairs. During the day, natural light from the frosted glass exterior entry door as well as from the skylights show off the texture and various reflectivitive qualities of the materials.
The list of materials for this project was huge, including glass, ceramic, paua shell, golds, smalti, turquoise, malachite, labradorite, pebbles, chrysocolla, crystals, pearls, beach glass, amazonite, stainless steel, abalone and more.
By integrating a huge range of materials into a serene composition, the mosaic holds the viewers’ interest as new relationships between tesserae are discovered. The mosaic artist developed several new concepts and techniques in the execution of Nebula Aqua. Using the stucco as ‘background’ and playing with the positive and negative space concentrates the impact of the mosaic elements and intensifies the viewers’ experience of the art. Because the edges of the mosaic ‘nebula’ are critical to the illusion of the floating elements, the artist developed techniques for installation that maintained a perfect edge, even over the textured stucco.
The Nebula seem to glow at night, offering a dramatic focal point to the home.
The exterior stucco continues into the entry way, into the house and around a curved wall that goes down the stairs. The first Nebula is in the outer entry area, followed by one just inside the inner front door. During the day, natural light from the frosted glass exterior entry door as well as from the skylights show off the texture and various reflectivitive qualities of the materials.
The rich mix of materials offers new interest on every viewing.
Because the edges of the mosaic ‘nebula’ are critical to the illusion of the floating elements, the artist developed techniques for installation that maintained a perfect edge, even over the textured stucco.