Furniture and homewares retailer Coco Republic has teamed up with Natural Curiosities to make the LA-based design studio's full portfolio of hand-finished artworks available to Australian customers for the first time.
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Coco Republic, which has showrooms in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane, has carried a limited range of about six to eight of Natural Curiosities' best-selling works for the past few years.
But the two partners have expanded their collaboration so that the entire offering of more than 700 pieces is now available locally through Coco Republic's bricks-and-mortar and online stores.
The works cover a variety of media from black-and-white photography to screen prints finished in gold or silver leaf and three-dimensional pieces incorporating materials such as feathers and origami - but the common thread running through all of them is a reverence for the natural world.
The pieces are not one-offs like the sort of art for sale in private galleries, but most of the works have a hand-made element that lends them a sense of uniqueness. For example, the gold and silver leaf on the prints is painted on by hand.
Beth Finkh, homewares buyer for Coco Republic, says the bespoke nature of the pieces places them in a middle ground between mass-produced prints and individual works of art.
"They're a beautiful proposition from a design and price point perspective," she says.
The works, which are framed in the studio and come with a certificate of authenticity, start at $1200 for a 40x40cm print and range up to around $5000 for the largest pieces. Coco Republic plans to launch a less expensive, unframed offering in October.
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Natural Curiosities founder Christopher Wilcox says he is excited about the studio's expanded collaboration with Coco Republic.
"Natural Curiosities has been a source in the US for over 15 years supplying authentic art that has been placed in hundreds of movies, amazing homes and hotel projects all over the world," he says.
Beth's top tips for hanging art
First off, pick the position in a room where you want to hang your art - above a bed or centred to a sofa in a living room are often great spots.
Next, position the height of the artwork at average human eye-height - that's somewhere between 140-160cm from ground level. If you're hanging a piece above a sofa or bed, it's a good rule of thumb to leave a 20cm gap between the top of the sofa or bed and the bottom of the artwork.
Use a classic picture hook to suspend the art on your wall; these can be easily purchased from a local hardware store. If the art piece is oversized or heavy, or you aren't too sure about doing it yourself, it's best to book a professional handyman or picture hanger to install it.
If you're an art fanatic like me, consider a picture rail for one or all of your walls. I've recently installed a gallery-quality picture rail in my living room, which means I can move around and change my art on a whim as I don't need to drill in any permanent fixtures.
I also love the look of art en masse - if you have the space, don't be afraid to select a range of small to medium-sized artworks that can be clustered together.
Never hang your art in direct sunlight - all paintings and prints will fade overtime in direct sun.
