We’d like to take up permanent residence inside the maximalist world created by Francesca DiMattio at Pippy Houldsworth Gallery. Against a backdrop of hand-painted wallpapers and vinyl flooring with a trompe l’oeil mosaic design, the artist’s ceramic sculptures and domestic objects disrupt our understanding of the decorative.
Bedecking the interior, you’ll find sculptural furniture that recalls 18th-century Sèvres porcelain, alongside a matching chandelier, a Rococo mirror and Wedgwood-inspired wall sconces, crockery and seating – but she plays with their scale and imbues each object with personality. Decorative elements behave unusually, jumping from pedestal to wall, while totemic figures clad in traditional decorative motifs sport unusual accessories, such as a suitcase for a shoe, and a snorkel.
All is not quite what it seems, but deciphering DiMattio’s decorative codes is all part of the fun.
