Art gallery at home
WE ALL HAVE TREASURES STASHED AWAY BUT THIS TREND PUTS YOUR COLLECTION ON SHOW FOR VISITORS
Agood gallery wall is just one piece away from being a bad gallery wall. It’s the home interiors trend of the moment but, while there’s an art to its arrangement, it’s also about breaking all the rules. Content creator Jessica Nguyen says the key is to not over-think the formation of a gallery wall, which she recently completed in her Melbourne home. “The way to approach this is to be quite personal, to reflect your taste and it’s a way to style your life really because it’s a collection of things you have accumulated over the years,’’ Nguyen says.
“It shouldn’t be an abstract piece of art. It should represent you as a person and the things you love. If it’s all your art, it will have a theme and look cohesive because you’re the one who has personally curated it.’’
Concern about artworks she had stored throughout her house, prompted her to take them out of hiding and put them proudly on display. But she soon broadened her vision to include a range of other pieces that had sentimental meaning. Vintage posters sit next to prints, travel photos, trinkets, polaroids of herself at parties and a framed clipping of the first time she appeared in the Herald Sun.
She also mixed up all the frames. Some are bright colours, others are clear glass, patterned or wood and they come in a range of sizes from A5 to A1. It took about two weeks to complete and includes 20 pieces. After selecting and framing the pieces she wanted to display, she traced around each one with brown paper, cut out the shapes and stuck them to the wall so she could see how the shapes complemented each other.
“I didn’t want to nail them all straight to the wall so working with a template was much better for me even though it took a bit more time,’’ she says. “I left the template on the wall for a week to marinate on the idea. I didn’t make many changes but occasionally had to change the flow mainly because parts of my wall are brick, and I couldn’t use nails or a drill in those sections so I had to adjust some of the pieces.’’
Gallery walls first became popular in 17th century France when they were known as salon walls and Early Settler lead buyer Monica Porter says they were particularly prevalent at last year’s Paris trade fair.
Porter says the trend is about being eclectic and an upsurge in sentimentality and selfexpression since the onset of Covid.
“People aren’t afraid to show statement pieces or something that is vintage, mixing it beautifully with new pieces,’’ Porter says.
“It’s about personalising your own home so photos from your travels can sit next to a plate that has some family history and new artwork. What’s quite important is that everything must mean something to you and is your story to tell. If it makes you happy, it’s already done something.’’