In Japanese 'arare' (霰, あられ) means 'hail.' In Yuki Ferdinandsen’s work, 'arare' refers to a metalworking technique that produces a richly textured surface that appears to have been impacted by thousands of tiny hailstones. The Japanese-born, Danish-based designer hammers out each dent by hand onto a silver surface (roughly 20 blows are required to create a single one of the spherical markings and give them a polished finish) in a painstaking process she describes as a rhythmic 'hammer dance'.
Ferdinandsen applies the decorative technique to a wide range of functional objects, and a selection of her vessels – including vases, a pitcher and a champagne cooler – are currently on view in Gallery Fumi’s Porto Cervo 'Summer Group Show'.
Having worked exclusively with silver for many years, Ferdinandsen has developed a nuanced handling of the material. 'Silver’s gloss is hot and cold simultaneously – it is this gloss and disposition that is the charm of working with silver,' she notes. The processes she employs work to challenge the properties of silver. The tiny bumps create a delicate yet complex pattern of light and shadow over each object. Some of the pieces are immersed in an acid bath to transform the material’s luster into a semi-matte, off-white surface.
The regular, radial pattern of the indentations draws inspiration from nature – she cites the Fibonacci sequence, in particular, but some of the flatter pieces also suggest constellations and galaxy formations – while the sleek, minimalist forms point to the designer’s cultural roots. Born in Kyoto in 1958, Ferdinandsen moved to Denmark in the late 80s after finishing school and has been living there ever since – but the influence of her native land still reverberates throughout the work. 'Now, I see Japan through a Danish filter,' she explains. 'I want to sense these two vastly different cultures and allow them to rearrange naturally.'
Ferdinandsen applies the decorative technique to a wide range of functional objects – the pieces at Porto Cervo include vases, a pitcher and a champagne cooler
Having worked exclusively with silver for many years, Ferdinandsen has developed a nuanced handling of the material. Pictured: 'Catch'
The regular, radial pattern of the indentations draws inspiration from nature – she cites the Fibonacci sequence, in particular, but some of the flatter pieces also suggest constellations and galaxy formations. Pictured: 'Champagne Cooler'
The sleek, minimalist forms point to the designer’s cultural roots. Pictured: 'Sprouting'
'Now, I see Japan through a Danish filter,' the designer explains. 'I want to sense these two vastly different cultures and allow them to rearrange naturally'
INFORMATION
Gallery Fumi Porto Cervo’s ’Summer Group Show’ is on view until the end of September. For more information, visit the Gallery Fumi website
ADDRESS
Gallery Fumi Porto Cervo
Promenade du Port
Via Aga Khan, 1
07021 Arzachena
Sardinia
-
Gardens & Villas offers the unexpected through ‘deconstructed’ desert living in CaliforniaGardens & Villas, a home in Las Quintas, California, brings contemporary luxury to its desert setting through a collaboration between architects Andrew McClure and Christopher McLean
-
Daniel Obasi discusses Lagos’ Amah members’ club, where vocation and wonder can meetAmah, a new members’ club founded by photographer, art director and stylist Daniel Obasi, is a creative co-working space and meeting point for Lagos’ creative class
-
A closer look at Loewe’s delirious, erotically-charged collaboration with artist Richard Hawkins‘Modern life has become a collage,’ said Jonathan Anderson after his A/W 2024 menswear show, which featured Los Angeles-based artist Richard Hawkins’ collages across sweaters and bags
-
Frieze Sculpture takes over Regent’s ParkTwenty-two international artists turn the English gardens into a dream-like landscape and remind us of our inextricable connection to the natural world
-
Harlem-born artist Tschabalala Self’s colourful ode to the landscape of her childhoodTschabalala Self’s new show at Finland's Espoo Museum of Modern Art evokes memories of her upbringing, in vibrant multi-dimensional vignettes
-
Wanås Konst sculpture park merges art and nature in SwedenWanås Konst’s latest exhibition, 'The Ocean in the Forest', unites land and sea with watery-inspired art in the park’s woodland setting
-
Pino Pascali’s brief and brilliant life celebrated at Fondazione PradaMilan’s Fondazione Prada honours Italian artist Pino Pascali, dedicating four of its expansive main show spaces to an exhibition of his work
-
John Cage’s ‘now moments’ inspire Lismore Castle Arts’ group showLismore Castle Arts’ ‘Each now, is the time, the space’ takes its title from John Cage, and sees four artists embrace the moment through sculpture and found objects
-
Gerhard Richter unveils new sculpture at Serpentine SouthGerhard Richter revisits themes of pattern and repetition in ‘Strip-Tower’ at London’s Serpentine South
-
Peter Blake’s sculptures spark joy at Waddington Custot in London‘Peter Blake: Sculpture and Other Matters’, at London's Waddington Custot, spans six decades of the artist's career
-
Oozing, squidgy, erupting forms come alive at Hayward Gallery‘When Forms Come Alive: Sixty Years of Restless Sculpture’ at Hayward Gallery, London, is a group show full of twists and turns
