Melbourne Design week: Pas de Deux (Step of Two): Escultura X Bettina Willner & XFlOS, Claudia Terstappen, and Christopher Jewitt.
Developed for Melbourne Design Week, this collaboration between Lennox St. Gallery and ESCULTURA challenges the traditional "white cube" convention where the pedestal is treated as a neutral, invisible utility. Instead, this exhibition positions the plinth as an active sculptural participant, engaged in a formal choreography with the ceramic medium. With Floar arrangements by XFLOS
Pas de Deux (Step of Two) investigates the symbiotic relationship between the sculptural object and its architectural foundation. Developed for Melbourne Design Week, this collaboration between Lennox St. Gallery and ESCULTURA challenges the traditional "white cube" convention where the pedestal is treated as a neutral, invisible utility. Instead, this exhibition positions the plinth as an active sculptural participant, engaged in a formal choreography with the ceramic medium.
ESCULTURA is designed and handcrafted by Melbourne based design studio Nitsou x Mo in collaboration with Bishop Master Finishes. A furniture collection constructed by blending sustainable materiality with sculptural design. The substrates are made from eco-conscious, low VOC compressed board, before being hand coated in richly custom coloured lime and micro-cement. The result is pieces that are highly durable with a luxurious finish, sitting comfortably in any space. No two pieces will ever be the same.
The exhibition features the distinct practices of Bettina Willner, Claudia Terstappen, and Christopher Jewitt. While each artist maintains a unique vernacular-ranging from Willner's organic, crustaceous surfaces showcased with floarls by XFLOSS (Kayla Moon), to Terstappen's exploration of monumental landscape and Jewitt's gestural abstraction-they are united by a common structural interlocutor. ESCULTURA's bespoke plinths are go bejond containers towards material responses. By utilising specialised finishes and precision geometries, the supports mirror, contrast, and extend the physical logic of the ceramics they uphold.
The concept of the Pas de Deux serves as a metaphor for this mutual dependency. In classical ballet, the partner dance relies on the precarious balance of weight and counterweight. Similarly, this exhibition highlights how design and fine art converge to create a unified aesthetic experience. By elevating the pedestal to a site of artistic inquiry, Pas de Deux invites viewers to reconsider the hierarchy of display and the integrated nature of contemporary craftsmanship.
