News / Plutonic
YOUNG Shetland painter has won a competition to create original artwork for a new Aberdeen office building.
Vivian Ross-Smith’s striking painting Plutonic was commissioned by BlueSky Business Space for the reception area of WestPoint House in Westhill.
A graduate from Gray’s School of Art, the 23-year-old artist said being awarded the commission was a “brilliant experience”.
Plutonic consists of four individual panels, each 2.44 metres in width.
Ross-Smith used layers of resin to combine flat colour, iridescent and metallic paints, crystals, shards of glass, and chips of different rocks to create a look and texture reminiscent of local granite.
She said: “I have recently become interested in geology within art, so Aberdeen’s history of using granite as a building material, along with North Sea oil and gas explorations, became my inspiration.
“Due to the many layers of resin and rocks, Plutonic will take on a different look depending on the time of day, the weather and the quality of the light within the BlueSky building.”
The company’s business supervisor, Angela Ritchie, said: “We wanted something striking for our reception area – something that would fill the double-height space, catch our visitors’ eyes, and capture the essence of Aberdeen’s key industries, in which many of our tenants work.
“We also wanted to mark the newness of our building by supporting an artist at the very start of their career. Offering a commission to a local art student was the perfect choice and we are very pleased with the finished piece.”
Head of painting at Gray’s School of Art Keith Grant added: “It is an ambitious piece of work and I am sure that those who come into contact with it, either for the first time or as part of their working routine, will get great enjoyment from it.”
More of Ross-Smith’s work can be found at: www.vivianrosssmith.co.uk
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