Debbie Bourke Mosaic Artist
What is the pique assiette or upcycling china technique anyway?
The term pique assiette has a French origin and various sources say it means ‘stolen plate’ or ‘broken plate’. It is a style of mosaic that incorporates pieces of ceramic shards from tableware: dishes, cups, tiles and other found objects into the design. Traditional mosaics used small cubes that were relatively uniformly shaped, pique assiette or trencadis tends to use non-uniform pieces
The art was first seen in the works of the Catalan architect and artist, Antoni Gaudi, who was a pioneer of the Art Nouveau movement. Appeal and expressiveness of the pique assiette style lies in the ideas of lateral thinking, humour, recycling, and the significance of the found objects.