Victoria & Owen Phillips-Walmsley have spent much of their working careers creating the visual language of other people’s messaging, in the world of advertising and marketing. As a result, they have become more and more aware of the importance of...
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Victoria & Owen Phillips-Walmsley have spent much
of their working careers creating the visual language of
other people’s messaging, in the world of advertising and
marketing. As a result, they have become more and more
aware of the importance of what is being said using these
graphic techniques, and the truthfulness of a medium.
In 2012, Victoria and Owen founded Bread Collective with
a group of like-minded creatives, initially winning funding
for a series of large-scale typographic murals by the
London Olympic Park. This first project gained nationwide
press, and led to various projects across the UK and USA.
In the past six years, they have been commissioned to
design and install large-scale public artworks by the
Southbank Centre, Arts Council England and the Heritage
Lottery Fund.
As the couple have begun to develop their personal
practise, they build on their experiences and technical
knowledge of traditional signwriting and gilding techniques,
applying them to more abstract conceptual works.
The body of work created over the past year centres on
the theme of ‘things not being as they seem’.
Gold leaf is used throughout (water-gilded, oil-gilded
and also gold foil), alongside traditional craftsmanship,
to create juxtapositions between the ideas of luxury
and value associated with this ‘elevated’ material, and
everyday signs and messages. The ‘everyday’ messaging
ranges from the often-ignored, functional health & safety
warnings, to cryptic idioms, and mystical, potentially
harmful cosmetic ingredients.
