Gold
This is a piece I started about 3 or 4 years ago. It needed a little rethinking, which I managed to conjure up a few months ago. The background andamento was a nice challenge for me, as well as the soft gradation in the middle section.
Eden’s Promise (2024) 19.5” x 15” Smalti, marble and travertine, shale, mosaic gold
Eden’s Promise, with reflection
Theme and Variations, detail
Previous Posts on Theme and Variations.
I finally finished this piece that I started back in August! I really indulged myself and just let this idea go as far as it wanted to go. This required me to ignore my usual sensibilities, such as they are, and just go for it. I have no idea what really empowered me to go take such a risk, considering all the gold and the sheer size of the work. Maybe it was over-compensation for all my years of compulsive fretting and perfectionism? No idea! But I went for it and this piece has been quite enjoyable.
Theme and Variations, prelim photo. 36” x 57” | 91cm x 145cm. Mosaic gold, black cement.
And to top it off, I indulged a curiosity about using a flat-that-was-not-at-all-flat black paint to try to achieve a consistent black background. The paint had to have been mistakenly labeled as flat because, as you can see, it is not flat. The result is either serendipitous or catastrophic. The beholder will decide.
I took quite a chance with the not-flat paint because, after applying a small amount, I was indeed curious. Of course, I knew that it would show everything, but there was an affect that I also liked. I thought, well, I am taking a risk with the entire thing anyway, so let’s just finish it out in the same vein. I thought that if I just couldn’t be satisfied with it, I could paint it over with a truly flat paint. We’ll see.
Now, how to photograph this gold beast, as a friend calls it. These photos were taken as it is still on my worktable and the lighting is quite uneven. It is very large and heavy, and with all the gold and with the not-flat background, I have little confidence that I will be able to get decent photos. But I will try before I tackle a strategy for professional photos.
Theme and Variations, detail
My fascination with mosaic gold began shortly after my trip to Venice for an Orsoni Master Class in 2006. While there, I purchased kilos of colored golds, and a nice selection of whites to yellows. In 2007, I began working with them and I have not stopped.
I love the way that the many shades of Orsoni white through yellow golds are so responsive to light. As I walk around a mosaic with several shades, they seem to change in depth — and of course reflectivity — as though they are alive. The deeper yellow shades actually change to rich burnt umbers when viewing from a side angle, as you can see below in one of my early explorations.
© 2014 Jacqueline Iskander. Gold Rising (2007). 13" x 15" | 33cm x 38cm. Smalti, 12 shades of mosaic gold.
I remember Maestro Lucio Orsoni being amused by the common reference of gold smalti: "It isn't smalti; it is nothing like smalti," he said. Of course, it is nothing like smalti. Although the term seems to be more commonly used all the time, I remain a holdout and call it mosaic gold.
For an informative article about golds, check out Going for Gold — 10 things you should know about gold smalts from Mused, a very nice mosaic blog that I follow.