Agnieszka Krawczyk's decollage chest of drawers

This stunning chest of drawers is the first project from my new Painter in Residence, Agnieszka Krawczyk. Agnieszka has a great style and her projects are so interesting partly because she uses a technique that involves creating texture and layers through the use of woodworking tools, such as chisels and scrapers. She applies layers of paint thickly and then scrapes, chips and sands away to create interesting texture and layers. This technique reminds me of décollage, a technique that artists such as Robert Rauschenburg and Yves Klein used in the 60s – layering posters and ripping in to them to show previous layers. But at the same time there's an antique, vintage look – the piece looks naturally aged and distressed.  

Agnieszka used a palette of Provence, Pure, Old White, Napoleonic Blue, Antoinette, Louis Blue and Antibes Green on the outside of the chest, to create layers of colour and texture. Some of these colours were used as they come out of the tin, others were mixed to create softer and lighter shades. As soon as the paint was dry she used a scraper, sandpaper and putty knife to begin chipping in to the paint.

The inside of the drawers have been painted in Duck Egg Blue, and the edges have been painted with Napoleonic Blue to frame the shape. To finish the piece Agnieszka used Clear Wax – this seals the paint and makes it wipeable.

Have you ever used my paint to create a chippy, distressed texture? Agnieszka's work has really inspired me to pick up some different tools.

Yours, Annie

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