Mosaic

There's a moment in the long, painstaking process of constructing a mosaic that contains a touch of magic. It happens when the work is almost done; the tesserae fixed in place, the shapes and textures built up, colour set against colour, and the stage is set for the final part: the process of grouting. However unglamorous it sounds, this is where the mosaic 'becomes' itself. It takes on that air of permanence, that sense of being frozen in time that is the essence of mosaic. Here are pure, embedded fragments of colour. Whether the effect is of a clear-cut design, or a more impressionistic approach, the mystery is the same.

Mosaic is a distinctive medium; it's not a substitute for painting or other mediums and when treated as such it loses impact. A mosaic gains much of its energy from the flow and direction of the tesserae - the andamento - which can vividly express that which is felt but unseen: the living energies that make up and surround the things of this world. The scale of the tesserae is also important: larger pieces might be chosen to give emphasis, or smaller pieces to make an area recede. By such tools as these are the dynamics of a mosaic controlled: mood, emphasis, emotion, composition, and movement.

The excitement of mosaic in the present day lies in the tension between the powerful roots of its glorious history and the recent upsurge of interest in the medium. As a creative force, the art of mosaic has come to life again, and is without doubt a medium for our time.

Rosalind Wates