Steven Griguol works in metal, steel and wood. A cabinet-maker by trade Steven has worked with leading architects designing premium cutting edge cabinetry for many years. His keen eye for creative solutions appeals to architects looking to do things differently. His work was recognized by leading garden designers and as a natural extension the builders whom he has worked closely with for many years quickly embraced his creative pieces. His ideas come from his love of nature and the environment. Steven is often commissioned to create pieces for specific locations or homes.
A new vision created from the past
When I was a boy I helped my dad with welding jobs he was always doing for things he was involved in, the cultural clubs and the church, and it gave me a love of welding, creating something from an idea, that only existed on a plan or in someone’s imagination.
When I had my own family I started to construct things in the backyard for the kids, swings and play equipment, stuff like that. My first attempt at doing something more creative was a set of doors I did for a property my wife and I were doing up, with the flowing lines of the exterior screens based on the flow of water, and it was a defining moment for me as an artist.
I started with the organic shapes in nature, then moved to more abstract forms and shapes of people, for me it’s about that relationship between us, living on this planet, in balance with our environment.
A part of that is the sustainability of the materials, recycling the elements so they can have another life. When I drive around the countryside I look at old materials from bygone days lying around on farms, from tractor parts to old implements and windmills, and I can see another whole incarnation for them.
Everything I look at inspires me, and sets me thinking how I could use it to communicate something new. I’m also in love with the colours of the country, the red, brown and gold of the earth – what I call the ‘rusted rustic.’
Real events inspire me too and inform my work. We toured Tasmania after their horrific bushfires and saw the devastation there, and when I came home I realised I was making shapes of flames and balls of fire.
The more artwork I create, the more I start to look at things differently, too. I can find myself stopping to look at shapes in the bark of a tree, or the form in a flower I have never looked at before and you somehow become more poetic and lyrical with your own vision, you see more that inspires you everywhere.
The materials I choose to work with mean they have a limited life, and that’s deliberate. They will eventually break down and return to the earth in some form.
Life is brief and ephemeral, nothing in nature lasts. We should appreciate its forms and beauty while we are here, and celebrate it. I believe it’s what makes us human.
My art has a solidity and a strength about it, and what I create is very robust. But at the same time it acknowledges the transience and fragility of our existence and the fact we are all just passing through this life. It’s about the harshness and industrial fabric we create, and using those materials to say something beautiful about who we are, and about this wonderful place we live in.