Handmade textured surfaces

Twin brothers Richard and Ian Abell of studio Based Upon create surfaces like a work of art using metals, resins and lacquers. Applied as a liquid, the handmade textured skins achieve a luxurious, painterly aesthetic.

Based Upon Surfaces creates hand made finishes using liquid metals, resins and lacquers. Typical applications are wall panelling, sculptural forms, fixed joinery, free standing furniture, doors and flooring.

Based upon surfaces have been acclaimed worldwide and are Winners of the recent FX design awards in the Surfaces category where their finishes were described as ‘every surface a work of art’. Clients include David Collins, Candy and Candy, Alberto Pinto, Armani Casa, HMKM, Donna Karan, Nobu and Fortnum & Mason.

Based Upon Surfaces have featured extensively in some of the largest and most exclusive yachts built over the last couple of years, creating handmade textured finishes that can be easily specified by a designer for application to any object or feature. Their process works with most metals, mixing them like paints to create a range of alloys and blends to produce bespoke surfaces that will complement an existing scheme.

While the surfaces have the quality of metal in the way that they reflect light, patinate and wear, they are much lighter as they are only applied as a fine skin. Applied as a liquid, built up in layers and then worked by hand to reveal the layers beneath, they can achieve a much more painterly aesthetic than conventional metal surfaces.

Based Upon Surfaces is perhaps best known for its more composed integrated artworks in which it treats an entire elevation or whole room as a canvas. Nature-inspired features such as abstract cracks and fissures that run seamlessly between panels or intricate patterns of cherry blossom and butterflies are used to create immersive interior landscapes which have filled entire ballrooms, covered restaurant ceilings and traversed 3 story stairwells.

Aesthetically the work is defined by the interplay of colored resins and aged metal surfaces with unique natural textures, many of which have been collected by taking casts within London Parks, Scottish Highland glades or Arabian Deserts. Most of the work of Based Upon Surfaces is inspired by the work of Based Upon Studio, its sister entity.

Based Upon Studio specializes in one-off furniture commissions and commemorative narrative based artworks. Most of its artworks are the result of a journey in which the artists map a personal narrative or location by collecting photography, casts and found objects which become the building blocks for a piece of art. They have created a number of commemorative artworks for new developments that begin with the provenance of the location or the history of the site to create a work of art entirely tailored to the project.

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