The hard and solid cement turns into something light and mild: it seems to be a piece of airy sky.
How? Through the hands of the artist Fernando Mastrangelo, who presented his series of elements of Cement Series (part of MMaterial Collection) at New York Design Week, in Sight Unseen Offsite exhibition at Manhattan’s Grace Building. The series consists of a table and different types of chairs and drum-shaped stools.
Mastrangelo creates his pieces by throwing the cement which is then dyed by hand with pigments of different pastel colours, ranging from grey to blue, to arrive to light pink. The cylindrical elements are made using fiberglass moulds and the concrete layers are left drying one after the other, in order to avoid that the mixture of the different aggregates.
The layers thus have different colours and textures, from the heaviest to the lightest, from the bottom upwards: these shades are then accentuated by the colour tone added in the final phase. Eventually the pieces are sanded, polished and finally sealed. The purpose of Fernando Mastrangelo, who is no stranger to the experimentation with raw materials, is to turn a rough and rugged material into soft and poetic elements.
The desk, for example, is marked with stripes that soften the squared and rigorous lines of its design, while the number of seats are turned into works of art, similar to paintings, ready to be exhibited. The pastel shades create a wonderful harmony, a peaceful agreement that soften the environment and that lighten the space and mind.
The complete MMaterial Collection is made up of many other products including side tables, consoles, seating, planters, drums, coffee and dining tables.
