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Egyptian mosaic artist, Saad Romany Mikhaiel recently held a workshop with Gisela Gibbon of MAKEitSO Mosaics. Read her story ...
Laticrete assists with mosaic mural
Gary Drostle, an award-winning mosaic artist, created a River of Life mosaic art mural in June as a part of the University Of Iowa’s £39m campus recreation and wellness centre for its flagship location in Iowa City, USA.
Supporting the fine arts community, global tile and stone innovator Laticrete donated two of its installation products for London-based mosaic artist Gary Drostle’s recent installation, which was commissioned by the University of Iowa.
Laticrete’s co-owner Henry Rothberg spearheaded the donation, and Gary Drostle worked closely with the company’s technical services and locally-based Iowa reps in preparing the specification of Laticrete 254 Platinum Thin-Set and Laticrete Permacolor Grout for the 12 x 47in intricate porcelain and glass mosaic art mural.
Inspired by the connection Iowa City and the state university both share with the Iowa River as it knifes directly through the centre of each on its way to joining the Mississippi, Gary Drostle’s concept for the mosaic mural centred on the river as the vision of well-being or a path through life, rather than just a state of being at a single moment in time.
Installed over masonry in the traditional two-step process, the River of Life is manifested with 0.5in and 0.25in unglazed Winkelman French porcelain mosaics interspersed with Bisazza mosaic glass highlights.
The paper-faced mosaics were set reverse over the course of several days by Gary and his team of four in Laticrete 254 Platinum Thin-Set for its unmatched performance as well as the Laticrete’s PermaColor Grout for the cement-based assembly of tile, stone or glass surfaces.
The architectural commission of the River of the Life was a key feature of the new three-level, 20,000ft² wellness and fitness centre at the University of Iowa, which will be reopened this month. With two pools, a diving well and a 25-person spa, Drostle’s River of Life also addresses the aquatic nature of the centre.
Gary explains the meaning behind the project: “The river symbolising life is an ancient image connecting our most ancient cultures.
“Beginning at the top of the mural, the mouth of the river represents a gateway and the journey to its source – the path to enlightenment. The river as the bringer of life and purification. The meandering pattern of the river is much like the one the Iowa River takes.
“I imagined the ground the river flows over as the rich pattern of human existence, culture and knowledge. The lighter coloured areas in the background symbolise the ideal path of well-being, a life in balance with itself, the community and environment.
“On either side, the darker patterns are a life out of balance. In some parts the blue river lines break out completely, this portrays the extremes of life, illness, poverty, social, emotional and environmental deprivation. As the lines represent the river twist and turn, some break away completely just as some lives end before their time.”
Ironically, the mural was built close to an Iowa flood plain, which, during 2008 resulted in a number of lost homes destroyed. The same flood also resulted in the closure of the University of Iowa's museum of art, as well as its art campus.
The delicate nature of installing a mosaic art mural required the help of four other experts in the field for the recent project. The symbolic River of Life mosaic mural was installed with help from Italy’s Giulia Vogrig from Spilimbergo Mosaic School, Notre Dame atomic physics PhD candidate Levente Borvak, Julie Richey and Sarah Zirkel, Texas-based members of Mosaic Arts Now (MAN).
Furthermore, Julie Richey has been writing a detailed blog throughout the entire project, and readers are encouraged to visit her website for more of her account on the installation.
*images courtesy of Levente Borvak, 2010
*with thanks to the Pam White/University of Iowa, Julie Richey, Melody Dworak and Erica Viola.
