Milanese mosaic designer Orodè Deoro has transformed Vondom’s Curvado planter with a hand-cut ceramic coating for an exhibition at Chemin des Arts in Chartres, France. At 180 centimetres in height, the planter is taller than the artist and features a woman’s face and upper body at the front, and a parrot at the back. Created by Deoro and his brother Dario Dieci, who hand-cut the individual pieces to create the mosaic, the transformed planter is relaxed, fun and avant-garde - just like Vondom. Deoro is self-taught artist who began delving into contemporary mosaics in 2000 when he spent five years living and working at the eccentric museum-like abode Vincent City in the Italian town of Guagnano. Using the works of Gaudì and Hundertwasser as his references, he created a surreal and fantastical world of mosaic art and sculpture using hand-cut ceramics, stones, mirrors and cement to cover the exterior and interior walls of the structure. Deoro avoids quadrangular forms in his mosaics; instead using unique, symbolic and curved tiles that he arranges like a collage to create characters, bodies and faces. “Each of my works is a story. When I create, I feel a poet’s soul,” Deoro explains. His technique also pays great attention to the negative space in a work, considering the effect of the spaces between the tiles. “[They] are as essential as the tessera, because they support my design, vibrating, widening, and getting more space and importance.” The mosaic coating on the Vondom Planter emerged from Deoro’s residency at Chemin des Arts during May and June this year. The residency is part of Chemin des Arts’ desire to weave links between the creative approach of an artist and the public through one-off exchanges and workshop visitations. Deoro will exhibit at Prieuré Saint-Vincent, while other contemporary art exhibitions forming part of the program will also take place at Saint-Eman chapel and Saint-André collegiate church in Chartres. Vondom’s Curvado pot is made of polyethylene resin and is 100-per cent recyclable. It’s suitable for indoor and outdoor use and available in a range of finishes. For more information about the planter, drop by the KE-ZU showroom at Alexandria or view Vondom’s collection online HERE.