The positioning of art within interiors can be so powerful. As interior designers, we are constantly using colour, light, and form to provoke an emotional response to our spaces. Just as a cool white LED light can make a room feel cold and unwelcoming, art can aid in informing the mood and can make you feel relaxed, invigorated, or even challenged. It can become a focal point, give personality, tell a story, add colour and texture but also stir emotions. How, when, and why we use art in interiors is therefore vitally important.
Godolphin Arms, Marizion, Cornwall
Art and wellbeing
In a hospitality setting, such as a hotel reception or cocktail bar, art can be used to provoke a wide range of thoughts and emotions, however, when used in a healthcare environment, that artwork has to do a much more careful job.
The positive effects of art on human wellbeing have been understood for some time. Used in a healthcare environment it can reduce stress and encourage a positive mindset thus helping patients make a quicker and more complete recovery. In 2018, realising the healing power of art, a group of Canadian doctors became the first in the world to prescribe art to their patients with conditions ranging from anxiety to high blood pressure. It’s no surprise then that it has become a key element to healthcare interior design.
Organisations such as Hospital Rooms are paving the way for exciting artwork within the mental health care sector in the UK. Forget mass-printed replicas of impressionist landscape paintings and think more sensational large scale graphical wall murals! Hospital Rooms brings together artists, designers, NHS trustees, healthcare specialist, and patients to create bespoke artwork that aims to aid recovery and healing throughout the whole process.
Sara Berman – Jasmin Lodge, NHS Mother & Baby unit.
At the NHS Mother and Baby Unit, Jasmine Lodge, Art was instrumental in the interior design and the nurturing environment it hopes to achieve.
Supersized graphics
Another exciting way to introduce colour and enhance the overall aesthetic of a scheme is by the use of large scaled art work and graphics. Whole walls and corridors festooned in original art. These can often be hand-drawn or printed onto specialist vinyl and resin wallpapers. In some cases the art can be in the form of relief, creating a 3-dimensional image to the flat wall surface. Working with Hospital Rooms, the artist Julian Opie created a series of supersized outline acrylic figures, walking within the corridor of the Mother and Baby Unit in Exeter. The colourful wall sculptures added colour and movement to what would have been a long sterile space.
Julian Opie – Jasmin Lodge, NHS Mother & Baby unit.
Locality
In public spaces, hospitality and healthcare environments, artwork can portray an organisations values, location, heritage and brand. In these spaces, it can be key to setting the mood, assist with way-finding and delineate areas.
As a generation of smartphones and Instagramers influences the way we travel and communicate, hotels and restaurants, amongst other places, have to visually represent their ethos and branding in ever more original and captivating ways with interiors and art used as a defining tool.
Paul Wadsworth – Reception to Mount Haven Hotel, Marizion, Cornwall.
Local artwork and artists can help ground a project in its surrounds – communicating the local vernacular, culture and history to the viewer and help them connect to it. At Mount Haven Hotel textile artist Sam Pickard was commissioned to create large scale pieces that spoke of the local Cornish flora and garden setting of the building whilst adding to the hotels relaxed and tranquil vibe. It was a collaboration of ideas and inspirations from all who were involved with the project that made a successful and harmonious interior.
Mount Haven Hotel Lounge with Sam Pickards textile botanical artwork.
Working together
At 3idog we’ve always understood the importance of art in our interior schemes, whether in a private home or an NHS building and have often collaborated with Art Consultants such as Art Eye to deliver an engaging and vibrant project. Working with Art Eye, the relationship between restaurant owners, location and artist was the driving force for the interior and art scheme at the Godolphin Arms, Marazion. The restaurant’s unique position, opposite a Cornish landmark, gave inspiration for the commissioned artworks that sought to complement the spectacular coastal views and work in synergy with the interiors.
Art is no longer exclusively for the wealthy or seen as a frivolous luxury. It has become more and more attainable, essential to express our individualism and a crucial part of human wellbeing in the spaces we inhabit. Given the potential for such impact it is so important that, as designers, we use the important role of art within interiors so that the spaces we design, spark joy, tell a story and contribute to a healthy and engaging environment.