The Art of Dinosaur Designs

14 October - 3 December 2016

'The first day of school always creates a mix of feelings: the anticipation of dreams to be fulfilled and new friends to meet; the expectations we might have for ourselves and what we might achieve; and the sense of starting a new chapter with endless possibilities.

We were incredibly lucky. Not only was our first day at art school the most perfect March day at the end of a Sydney summer – the kind of day when the sun’s high and bright, but not too intense, the temperature’s around twenty degrees and the humidity’s low – but due to clerical decision that seated us next to each other, we both had an instant connection with the person who was to become our best friend.

That was in 1983. Once we’d discovered our shared love of art and design, we thought it would be fun to create something of our own. Over thirty years later, we are still going strong and the passion and creative flow are more exhilarating than ever. With this book, we want to open our hearts and minds to you, and share our inspirations, ideas and processes we’ve developed over many years while creating the visual language of Dinosaur Designs.

We are constantly inspired by nature; there is something beautiful about the time things take to evolve and perfect in the natural world. Although we work with a range of materials, including copper, silver and glass, we are perhaps best known for our resin. Resin has a wonderful viscous fluidity that allows us to cross the boundaries of sculpture and painting, so we can create pieces we think of as visual poetry – they’re made entirely by hand so they’re very tactile, like three – dimensional poems that can be read by touch. We make pieces as small as a ring and as large as a table, thriving on challenge of perfecting each one while also finding the beauty in imperfection. Coming from an art background, rather than an industrial design background, has been really important for what we create. Making jewellery and designing objects outside the seriousness of our art practices has given us great freedom. Right from the start, there were no expectations other than a desire to make things that people would love.

Our studio is our creative hub. Being present during the production process is really important, as we discover so much while the pieces are being made. Having our own studio has allowed us to remain fiercely independent and to create things on our own terms, which is why it’s taken us time to get to this point. The benefit is that we’ve always dance to the beat of our own drum. Our creativity is still informed by our love of art, with curiosity and imagination at its core.'

LOUISE OLSEN & STEPHEN ORMANDY