Theme and Variation

Artist: Peter Randall-Page (b. 1954)
Date: 2014
Medium: Ceramic
Research and Cultural Collections
Accession number: BIRRC-A1161
Location: Bramall Music Building - Chancellor's Court. To find this sculpture, you can either use its what three words location or use the campus digital map.

Royal Academician Peter Randall-Page was commissioned to create a frieze for the newly completed Bramall Music Building in 2012. The frieze is made up of over 900 ceramic tiles. Each tile was hand made using a traditional technique called sgrafitto which means ‘to scratch’ in Italian. To achieve the two-tone effect the tile is dipped in light clay, before areas of the surface are scraped away to reveal the contrasting red terracotta beneath. The abstract design represents a visual interpretation of improvisation in jazz music.

Left side close up of Theme and Variation ceramic frieze by Peter Randall-Page with corner turret of Bramall Music Building

Detail of Theme and Variation ceramic frieze by Peter Randall-Page including carved stone parapet above

Right side close up of Theme and Variation ceramic frieze by Peter Randall-Page with corner turret of Bramall Music Building

Theme and Variation ceramic frieze by Peter Randall-Page in context of Bramall Music Building

Visual description

This architectural frieze is made of ceramic tiles and is installed at height, just below the roofline of the front of the Bramall Music Building in Chancellor’s Court. It runs the length of the building and is long and narrow in appearance. The frieze is deep red-brown and light cream in appearance, creating a two-tone abstract pattern. Undulating lines curve and turn through the frieze creating irregular shapes.