New Ravenna introduces Natural Selections, a collection of 12 mosaics designed by Kevin O’Brien. Each design represents a mosaic interpretation of O’Brien’s velvet textile designs. For this collaboration with New Ravenna, O’Brien sourced designs spanning his 20-year library of artisan creations. Imagery in Natural Selections represents nature inspired geometrics, botanicals and historical design motifs.Brocade (pictured) is an interpretation of a classic damask, which originated in the Middle Ages. Vines is a nod to a sinuous William Morris botanical, notable in the 19th-century Arts and Crafts movement. Fretwork is a window to centuries old Moroccan design, the perforations that allow breezes to flow through the stone walls in northern Africa. The primary materials in the collection are glass and stone with brushed brass emulating the metallic threads found in O’Brien’s textiles. A trained artist, O’Brien said glass allows him to think like a painter, and shade his image more freely because of the limitless array of colors available at New Ravenna. Natural Selections can be installed on walls and floors, indoors and out.
