Million Air Winter 2022

DISCOVER

etr li at ve eler WINTER 2022/23 57

Object of desire by Svetlana Nartey

Creation vs destruction

A cherry blossom is fl owered to life by blood like splashes of ruby paint. Above this surface from which white light illuminates, darkened statues prepare for battle, the bloodshed on the ground spurring on the fi ght. The blood-spilled arena is rimmed by oceanic tones of blue and green. Like the white-screen surface of the board, it too sprouts vibrantly pink fl owers, unwithered by the waters that engulf them. Though these natural hues frame the central board, they are not the main attraction. Much as our own world is de fi ned by the creatively compassionate or infuriated actions of its inhabitants, creativity and destruction instill feeling into this piece. Daniel Brusatin is a Colombian-born artist who, having grown up in a family of agronomists and architects, was accustomed to the harmonies of nature and art. While training at The Academy of Fine Art in Florence, Brusatin not only nurtured his love of painting but grew impassioned for the crafts of ceramics and stain glass under famed British painter Brian Clarke’s apprenticeship. After moving from Florence and Milan to Paris, Brusatin fi nally settled in a London studio in 2013. Though he settled in one location, Brusatin never settled on a speci fi c medium— but rather retained a keen interest in all art forms, particularly in their power to enhance and converse with one another. Brusatin’s one-of-a-kind chess table, which includes 34 hand-carved and hand-painted chess pieces, is exemplary of this artful prowess. While the table’s legs are beautifully arched to a symmetrical point, they are inverted, pointing down instead of inviting passage. The burnt oak board is made of Italian Nappa leather with an 18-karat gold embossed Purling logo. From $88,770, purling.com

A one-of-a-kind chess table by Daniel Brusatin