The many small-scale factories and workshops in Guadalajara are an evolution of a traditional culture of making; a hybrid between craft and industry. Fabien decided to work with a local glass factory and design a product that made use of the waste generated by his own production to decorative effect. In this way the circular Offcut Plates are cut from a square sheet of glass, with the excess material being used to create a strong graphic surface pattern. The glass is first cut and then the patterns composed before being fired at 1000 degrees to fuse them together (Fabien calls this the ‘pizza’ stage). It is then fired a second time into a bespoke porcelain mould into which the glass ‘slumps’ to create a three-dimensional shape.
The Offcut Plates are super-sized and generous with a deliciously moreish, liquid-like, finish. The exaggerated surface area works as a platform for the irregular decorative patterns and colour is used to maximum, eye-popping and spirit-enhancing effect; each plate in the limited edition of fifteen has a bold and unique colourway: “I had in mind large decorated plates made of terracotta that you find in traditional West Mexican kitchens. Some of the most collectible plates are decorated with fantastic animals or naive mundane scenes of daily life by renowned ceramic artists. I also was thinking about the large lacquered wooden trays from Central Mexico which have a bright red background contrasting with carefully hand-painted voluptuous fruits and vegetables. Both objects' primary function is to be hung on a wall as a decoration rather than be used. With a more contemporary vision, I also had in mind an inspiring 1973 project by Enzo Mari where he constructed plates and vases from slabs or rolls of clay. Here the construction itself becomes the object’s most decorative feature.”
Research
