Cover Photo: Courtesy of Luca Barberini Modern mosaic art can be quite dense and difficult to understand because modern mosaicists are challenged to craft artworks that go beyond the obvious. Instead of creating decorative mosaics of realistic landscapes and still lifes, they developed a mode of communication to transmit a sort of message to the viewers. This article offers an amenable overview of modern mosaic art through 10 mosaic artworks. From Sonia King’s mosaics of coded messages and cryptic communications to Luca Barberini’s hypnotized characters, each mosaic has its own story but also reflects bigger tendencies in the world of modern mosaic art. These 10 mosaics are not meant to be a “Top 10” list, but an intentional selection of modern mosaics that allow debate of some of the most prominent paradigms of contemporary mosaic art today. Sonia King The story of contemporary mosaic art will remain incomplete without Sonia King. Earlier this year, the legendary mosaic artist was featured in “10 of the world’s most inspiring women mosaicists” as one of the pioneers of contemporary mosaic art. Aside from being one of the most successful modern mosaicists in the history of the art form, Sonia has inspired some of the most extraordinary artists who follow her technique and experiment with innovative compositions. Copyrighted Credits to Sonia King Enzo Valentinuz When you think of the story of modern mosaic art what comes to mind? How about pioneering, revolutionary, and risk-taking? When I think of these qualities the first mosaicist that comes to mind is, of course, Enzo Valentinuz! As far as contemporary mosaic artists go, there seems to be one who stands out from all the rest. The Italian Artist Valentinuz creates hue-defying mosaics using natural and vibrant elements. Copyrighted Credits to Enzo Valentinuz Kate Jessup Kate Jessup is one of three first American mosaicists to enter the permanent collection of contemporary mosaic art at the Museo Della Citta di Ravenna, with some of Italy’s most revered masters like Signorini, Pope, De Luca, Nittolo, and Palladino Her mosaics are particularly provocative in that she uses eccentric materials as she strives to achieve an everlasting union between process, content, materials and creative intent. Copyrighted Credits to Kate Jessup Helen Miles I’m one of the greatest fans of Helen Miles, her insightful writing never fails to inspire me! The enthusiasm she portrays on her blog is as real as the fact that she started crafting her mosaics with all the great qualities that make an artist stand out! Like Enzo Valentinoz, Helen Miles is a mosaicist who stands out from all the rest. Her mosaics are a marriage of traditional and modern style, finishes, and materials. Whether she’s taking pictures of geological mosaics or creating mosaic artworks, Helen can conjure up the story of modern mosaics all around her. Copyrighted Credits to Helen Miles Tarmac and pebbles, New Town, Edinburgh, Scotland. Photo: Helen Miles Mosaics Flaking paint on the wooden door, Perthshire, Scotland. Photo: Helen Miles Mosaics Rock strata, Kalamaki beach, Pelion, Greece. Photo: Helen Miles Mosaics Julie Sperling Canadian mosaicist Julie Sperling, explores various climate change trends and concepts, from rising temperatures to ocean acidification and the difference between weather and climate. Most recently, Sperling took over the outstanding SAMA Detroit, where she included a mosaic about how size matters to her “Fiddling While Rome Burns” collection. Created using one piece of mookaite courtesy of Marian Shapiro, this mosaic was entitled “Enough (Size matters)”. Copyrighted Credits to Julie Sperling Ariane Blanquet French artist Ariane Blanquet mainly works with one material(marble), but what she can do with it is highly impressive. Though she’s skilled at creating sparkling black and white photographs, it’s her modern mosaic artworks that set her apart from the rest. From her latest exhibition, at the Grand-Palais in Paris, Ariane Blanquet presents “Mutter” alongside her latest mosaic creations. Copyrighted Credits to Ariane Blanquet Charles NGUYEN VAN DU Vietnam-born, France-based artist Charles NGUYEN uses an old technique, modernizes it and takes it to a different level. Using marbles, semi-precious gemstones, glass pastes, shale, pearl and coral, Charles cuts, shapes and then glues them to create impressive modern mosaics. His mosaics offer multiple perspectives depending on the angle of perception and the intensity of light. This is particularly noticeable in most of his creations. Copyrighted Credits to Charles Nguyen Van Du Luca Barberini How could I create a list of modern mosaic artists and not include the Italian artist Luca Barberini? The legendary mosaicist reached pronounced originality and expressive force. A manifesto to his style, Folla (Crowd) was bought by the Museo d’Arte Della Città of Ravenna. Although he works in a wide variety of materials, Luca is currently known for crafting mosaics of modern and hypnotized characters. Copyrighted Credits to Luca Barberini Nathalie Benoist Sometimes, all a traditional mosaic needs in order to be modernized is a bit of abstraction. Specializing in textile art and painting, French artist Nathalie Benoist transforms still mosaics into kinetic masterworks. Whether she’s bonding a pile of marble stones or creating a passageway of wandering figures, Benoist can influence modernity all around her. Copyrighted Credits to Nathalie Benoist Rachel Bremner Last but certainly not least, Rachel Bremner, a multi-award winning Tasmanian-based mosaicist, crafting with traditional materials the story of contemporary mosaic art! Like many of the great mosaic artists, Bremner’s “Sunflower” mosaic has become a beloved work of art in its own right. Now thanks to Mosaic Art Now, her sublime mosaic has been given a great popularity and public acknowledgment. This artwork has also won the First Prize in MAANZ Victoria’s Exhibit, “Art from the Heart.” Copyrighted Credits to Rachel Bremner If you liked this article, you may also want to read 10 Mosaic Artists Claiming Their Place in Firenze At some point, we can all lose count of the number of artists who speak to our innermost selves with innovative art pieces.In case I missed any of your favorite mosaicists, you can always mention them in the comment box below. Who Knows? You might see them in future articles! Who do you think will be the leader of the contemporary mosaic art scene? Let him know in the comment box below!

See the best show stopping tile for your kitchen or bathroom design as curated by LiLu Interiors in Minneapolis, Mn. 612-354-3271

This mosaic art pattern is inspired by the Greek language. An Abstract Encryption where only the owner of this mosaic artwork knows the meaning. This abstract mosaic pattern holds meaning and is an aesthetic modern mural.

In this stunning villa, we had the opportunity to design and create a completely new kitchen, with carte blanche from our client, we were able to unleash our

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Cover Photos: Courtesy of Sonia King To celebrate International Women’s Day on Wednesday 8 March, I come up with a list of 10 of the world’s most inspiring women mosaicists. 10 selected mosaicists from over a 100 nominees, had a great impact on almost every corner of the world, and made it think differently about mosaic art. Nathalie Vin On International Women’s Day, I’m glad to start my list with an incredible artist, who I’m proud to call a friend! I loved the digital photos of her mosaics, but in person, they were just a knockout! Her mosaics are a visual expression of smalti layers within layers that reveal a flare of sentimental beauty that gets thrown off-balance. Nathalie has been the subject of numerous major museum exhibitions in recent years, beginning with her 2002 show at Brighton Artist Gallery In Brighton, Uk, arriving at “Mosaic Odysseys 2016” which embraced her mosaics at the Hellenic Centre in London, Michael Cacoyannis Foundation Centre in Athens, and Mykonos Town Hall in Mykonos Island. Copyrighted Credits to Nathalie Vin Mia Tavonatti Again for similar reasons, Mia, like Nathalie is an incredible mosaic artist. Her swelling mosaics underpinned by a cohesive structure leave us with the impression of an up-welling 3D movement. Mia has crafted an award-winning diverse profession in art. Over the last twenty-five years, she has tackled her artistic vision by a life of adventure, beauty, and faith. Her paintings and glass mosaic artworks are ornamenting many public and private institutional and corporate collections all over the globe. Copyrighted Credits to Mia Tavonnati Julie Sperling Julie Sperling, the most popular mosaicist of 2016, is an award-winning Canadian mosaicist who arouses social as well as cultural awareness in order to alter assessments and knowledge in large-scale issues, such as global warming. Despite worldwide admiration, 2016 was a year of firsts for Julie. Her first SAMA and MAI, as well as her first Juror’s Choice award at the international juried group exhibition at the Women’s Museum of California, and of course being the most popular and one of the best contemporary artists of 2016, according to your votes! Copyrighted Credits to Julie Sperling Sonia King Sonia King is one of those mosaicists that just refused to conform, there were no artists like her around and whilst mosaic enthusiasts were quickly finding their formulas as the popularity of mosaic art increased. Her outstanding mosaic, “Depthfinder” is the first American artwork to enter the permanent collection of contemporary mosaic art at the Museo della Citta di Ravenna. In 2010, she also received an International Prize for Mosaic Art and Architecture in Italy and two Spectrum Awards for the mosaic mural that she created at Children’s Medical Center of Dallas. Copyrighted Credits to Sonia King Nermine Elmasry Nermine, a humble yet ambitious artist, who manifests the epitome of beauty and miscellaneous textures. Her mosaics combine unique andamento, color and form to depict many interesting organically-inspired abstract compositions! The value of her mosaics was worthy of one of the most prestigious awards within the field of mosaic creation: the Technical Distinction Award 2015. The earthy composition and meticulous craftsmanship had attracted the attention of the jurors, who finally came to the consensus of nominating one of her most popular mosaics “The Storm” as the victor of this award! Copyrighted Credits to Nermine Elmasry Emma Biggs Emma Biggs, a professional mosaicist, lecturer, and author who resides in London, England, and is one of the founders of the renowned Mosaic Workshop, one of the largest mosaic studios in Britain. She recently completed a large public mural “Made in England”, based on the visual culture and ideology of the handmade industry in Stoke-on-Trent, her work has become increasingly concerned with ceramic industry and its social history! Copyrighted Credits to Emma Biggs Yulia Hanansen Yulia Hanansen, another contemporary mosaicist that surpasses all prospects when it comes to the quality and novelty witnessed within her mosaic projects. Having a widespread educational background in art and design, the gifted mosaicist has developed a unique approach to traditional mosaic manufacturing throughout her career, by introducing a practice called the “layered mosaic” technique. This technique gives a multi-dimensional impression, providing an exceptional sentiment of illusion. Copyrighted Credits to Yulia Hanansen Monir Shahroudy Farmanfarmaian Monir Shahroudy, has been recognized as one of the most prominent Iranian artists of our time, as she was the first to achieve an artistic practice to unite geometric patterns and cut-glass mosaic skills from her Iranian heritage with the rhythms of modern Western geometric abstraction. Monir’s work constantly renews itself, as it is always contemporary because she studies what other artists, especially emerging artists, are creating, and she uses these annotations to create the questions and problems that motivate her practice. Copyrighted Credits to Monir Shahroudy Aida Valencia Aida, a mighty, innovating visual artist… In one of her best-known mosaics, she created a deep relation with imagination and magic, perfectly illustrated one tile at a time. Aida Valencia is another beautiful mosaicist who has also been the subject of numerous major museum exhibitions, ever since her first show in 2003 “Illusion in tiny pieces Palma Azul, Tijuana, Baja California”. Copyrighted Credits to Aida Valencia Carol Talkov Last but not least, an artist whose mosaics range from figurative to evocative as her subjects are typically inspired by nature or space. Can you guess who she is? Carol Talkov is an inspiring mosaic artist who has been unveiling her mosaics at several galleries and juried exhibitions. The International Contemporary Mosaic Art Exhibition Invitational in Clauiano which took place in Italy, was one of Carol’s largest to date, spanning around several breathtaking mosaic artworks. Copyrighted Credits to Carol Talkov Who would you most like to meet and wish a Happy International Women’s Day? Let her know in the comment box below! Happy International Women’s Day! We can only wonder what’s next for all of you wonderful mosaicists! If you liked this article, you may also like our previous article exploring The Mosaic Muse Inside La Sagrada Familia.

Retro Colorplay No. 2 – 16″h x 8″w – merribeth Materials – smalti, mosaic golds Retro Colorplay No. 2 was inspired by my love for all things mid-century (forward-think…

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