Robert and Gavin Paisley are the architecture enthusiasts, and brothers, behind the architectural sculpting studio Chisel & Mouse. In their workshop in East Sussex, England, the Paisley brothers make architecturally inspired art pieces out of plaster by combining traditional sculpting, molding, and casting techniques, with modern technologies like CAD and 3D printing. While their sculptures are predominately made of plaster with metal etching, “we are happy to experiment with all types of materials,” says Robert Paisley. Pieces range from a commission to create 26 pound, approximately 23”-long model of the Heal’s department store headquarters, to a model of Hepworth Wakefield Gallery in West Yorkshire. The Hepworth commission, for the Stirling Prize nominee David Chipperfield, “is small but perfectly formed,” says Robert. “An inspired design from one of our favorite current architects.”
Before launching Chisel & Mouse in 2011, the brothers had a small software development company that they ran for 10 years. The change of direction came out of a desire “to bring architecture into the home,” says Robert. While he notes that they both have a passion for Modernist and Art Deco buildings, “we also find ourselves inspired by the Brutalist era.” The most challenging piece to date? Westminster Abbey. “We still haven’t completed the model and we have been trying on and off for two years. We will get there. But at the moment the spires are proving very troublesome!”
architectstoybox.com 