Wall coverings
Wilding wallpaper – demanding close attention
A ‘wilding’ is, I believe, a tree or bush that has grown from the seed of a discarded piece of fruit. And maybe that is how Melbourne’s Wilding Wallpaper gets its inspiration. They offer hand printed wallpapers which look like nothing else we’ve seen. People traditionally think of wall paper as a background to a room. This is feature wallpaper. When your wallpaper is this good the rest of your room is goign to have to work with it. This is not the Modenus office after a meeting with our IT people. The wall paper is ‘I’ve got you babe’ by Rob McHaffe. So there’s the Sonny and Cher reference, Adam and Eve, the tree of knowledge and an airplane. OK. Need to think about that.
Wolf Dream is a hand printed paper by Anne Wallace. For me it is the stuff of nightmares. Its stark black, white and grey imagery lends the paper a subtle elegance but the detail demands attention. Edward? Can you hear me Edward?
This isn’t wall paper, it is War Paper, by Megan Keeting. Reminiscent of the sort of thing that used to adorn the walls of a young boy’s bedroom the images of airborne killing machines throughout the ages contrast with those fluffy, friendly clouds. There is a point well made here. We’ll leave you to figure it out for yourselves.
Reminiscent of, and no doubt inspired by, Victorian papers, Nutty Squirrels by Simon Mee features both the aforementioned garden pest and a pair of pendulous nuts. Is it me or is there something slightly rude going on here? Or have I been spending too much time with my adolescent son?
And I love this. Wall paper to really look at. Portrait Wallpaper by Sadie Chandler is a pastiche of those old framed family portraits. But look carefully and there is a surprise in there. There is only one full length portrait and it seems to be a little more glamorous than the others.
Who knows what dropped fruit inspires the ideas behind Wilding’s products. There are clearly a range of very creative people contributing to a range that challenges and delights in equal measure.