Ask anyone for their choice of top Portuguese dining spots in town and António Restaurant will always come in high on the list. Established in 2007 in Taipa Village, this Michelin Guide-recommended restaurant is renowned for serving authentic Portuguese cuisine in a warm and inviting environment with great, friendly service and even live music on occasion. And now, as well as great food, the restaurant also features an impressive new mosaic art piece.
Created by Manila-based mosaic artist Candice Cepeda, the mosaic depicts a grand Portuguese caravel sailing along the West African Coast in the 15th century, when the Portuguese started their voyages to explore the East, and eventually arrived in Macau in the 16th century.
Displayed on the wall of the ground floor dining area, the striking 198cm x 173cm art piece features over 22,000 pieces of Italian glass tiles and 24k gold mosaic tiles.
“I used Italian glass tiles, including some 24k gold foil mosaic tiles for the ‘Cross of Order of Christ’, found on the sails of the caravel,” explains Candice. “There’s something about using gold tiles on a mosaic that gives the whole piece a certain quality of ‘aliveness’, illuminating the art work.”
“Each tile was hand-cut and shaped to size. Most of these tiles were quarter tiles (10mm x 10mm) in size and some I had to individually cut into really thin slivers of tile to let some of the finer details of the ship stand out. You can see these details particularly in the hull and shrouds of the ship,” she adds.
Candice has been making mosaics since 2004 and earned a distinction for her studies at Central Saint Martins-Byam Shaw School of Art in London. She also studied at the Art Students League of New York and trained under a Russian mosaic artist in NYC. She works primarily with Italian glass tiles, but likes to incorporate other materials such as natural stones, broken mirror, found objects, and broken ceramic pieces into her work.
Her latest work pays tribute to the heroic Portuguese navigators and explorers who changed humanity’s view of the world, and brought the first Europeans to the shores of many countries, including Macau.
“I see the caravel ship as a good symbol of Portugal – it was a ship developed by the Portuguese to explore the West African coast and used for the next 300 years. This vessel was revolutionary in the sense that it had the ability to travel faster than its predecessors. So I see the caravel ship as a celebration of Portugal’s past, ingenuity, and creativity. My hope is that the work celebrates the artistry of broken tiles, an artform that could also be found on the streets of Portugal, and that it also brings a sense of Portugal’s history into the dining experience at Antonio.”
Describing the creative process, she explains: “Once we finalize the design, I then start by printing the design to actual size which serves as the guide for making the mosaic. I use glass cutter hand tools to cut and shape the tiles before laying them down onto the printed image.With each tile I place down, I make decisions in terms of its colour, shape, and how it will flow in relation to the whole.”
“Since this mosaic was done in the studio, we used a special clear adhesive film to temporarily hold the mosaic in place before dividing it into sections, and then carefully packing it up in a box to send it over from my Manila studio to Macau where it was then delicately installed on the wall, section by section.”
This is actually not the first of Candice’s mosaic to adorn a wall in Taipa Village. She previously created the colourful mosaic on the outer façade of the Barcelona Restaurant, measuring 189cm at its widest point and 212 cm at its tallest. For her latest work, Candice acknowledges some particular challenges.
“One of the key challenges was figuring out a way to create ‘movement’ in the sea and sky sections of the mosaic, whilst still keeping the mighty ship as the main focus. I didn’t want the scene to somehow look static so it was important to think about the direction of the tiles and the range of colours to use for the sea and sky, as well as to carefully consider how to portray some details like the breaking of the waves (crests) on the water.”
Now that The Mighty Caravel Ship is complete and ready to be unveiled to the public, the artist is happy with the outcome, even though she unfortunately can’t physically be in Macau for its inauguration.
“I love how the work completes the charming classic Portuguese-style interior of the restaurant. On a personal level, I think of the ship as a metaphor for life itself – how we’re each riding our own vessel on the open sea, not knowing what great adventures will surely come our way,” the artist concludes.
