For The Making, our collaboration with the Royal Ballet and Opera, artist and maker Florence Sweryda created a miniature theatre full of movement, detail and imagination. Hand-cut and layered in paper and card, it brings together the stage, the workrooms, the orchestra and our one-of-a-kind opera- and ballet-inspired furniture pieces, all set within a theatrical world inspired by The Sleeping Beauty.
The commission was inspired by the Royal Ballet and Opera's long history of model boxes for set design. These small-scale worlds are part of the design and making process, helping creative and technical teams develop the look of a production, plan how scenes will move, and preserve details of colour, texture and atmosphere long after the first designs are made.
Rather than recreating the Royal Opera House in miniature, Florence has distilled the spirit of the collaboration into paper: a theatre of layered scenes and half-hidden details that slowly draw you in.
We spoke to Florence about where ideas come from, why she is drawn to miniature worlds, and how she created this special commission for The Making.
How does a piece usually begin for you?
Sometimes I'll have an idea and act on it immediately. A lot of the time, I'll have it mulling round my head for a fair bit, sometimes years before it's put into action.
Usually everything will start as an idea on a small scrap of paper or envelope from the recycling. It would be better if I used higher quality paper for these, as they can often be nice drawings in themselves.
Where do you tend to find inspiration for your work?
Quite often from everyday experiences, things that I've seen or done or heard throughout the day. I also love antique shops. Lots of ideas pop up when walking round the flea market.
We've lost the decorative elements in everyday objects. I'm drawn to the craftsmanship of items from another era, and I hope to emulate this in my own work. I've always loved Joseph Cornell's work and his use of boxes. I think there's something fascinating about objects in boxes, how they're placed and displayed and how it can make you feel.
David Gentleman and Edward Ardizzone's work are also great favourites of mine.
Has working in miniature always been part of your practice?
I've been working in this small scale and with paper-cut layers since I was a child. They've become very familiar and a large part of who I am.
My materials vary very little at the moment. If it's small scale, I'll use watercolour, ink, all types of paper with glue and wire and balsa. If it's large scale, it's interior paint.
How has your approach to your art changed over time?
I've become more confident in my abilities over the last few years. I don't think it's anything that wasn't there before, but more a permission that I can.
How did you interpret the brief for The Making?
It's been so fun to be able to make a theatre and illustrate the creative partnership between the Royal Ballet and Opera and Sofas & Stuff.
I've always liked the unseen aspects of production in both senses, theatrical and manufacturing. I wanted to show small glimpses of the behind-the-scenes work that goes on to create what you're seeing and watching.
What inspired you about the Royal Ballet and Opera's model theatres?
The simple paper-cutting techniques that inform a large-scale set.
Were there particular details in the bespoke Sofas & Stuff furniture pieces that caught your imagination?
I liked the movement in each piece and the storytelling that lay behind them.
How do you draw people into a scene and guide the viewer's eye through the layers of the paper theatre?
I would say the paper-cut layers really do that for you. I like to employ some sort of paper or kinetic movement within the piece, as I think it makes it quite intriguing.
Are there any hidden or subtle elements we might miss at first glance?
Watch the sky in the background of the theatre set!
When people see the finished piece, what would you most like them to notice or feel?
Charmed.
That is what makes Florence's contribution to The Making feel so fitting. Her work carries many of the values the campaign set out to celebrate - artistry, patience, imagination and the beauty of something made by hand. The theatre may be miniature, but there is nothing small about the care, commitment and creative generosity it contains.
To celebrate our partnership with the RBO, we have created a limited edition postcard set. Find out more and request your keepsake from The Making.
