THE HISTORY OF DS ARTISTRY LABS
since 1997
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With nearly three decades of experience and constant professional development, our family-run non-profit organization provides a wide range of services to libraries, archives, museums, collectors of books, furniture and works of decorative art, publishers, artists, in short, to lovers of beautiful objects. All profits go toward the development of our educational, cultural, heritage projects.
...From its humble beginnings in 1997, the cluster of DS Artistry Labs has been perfecting the craft of award-winning works. If you have collectible items, we will take care of your treasures, extend their life through curatorial and restoration works, ensure their visibility, and develop your collection with new pieces that we design and create with minute attention to detail.
Our DS Artistry Labs (formerly DS Art Studio), uses “artistry” to refer to high-level skills in working with rare and antique items, and hints at the extensive knowledge of artistic styles and historic methodologies, taste developed from the study of art history, and from our sensitive involvement with art production. As to “labs”, it points to the fact that each stage of the work is associated with proficiency and brilliant craftsmanship.
Our story began in Ukraine, then continued for 10 years in Italy, where we gained significant experience, to then further develop our skills completing an MA and a PhD at Western University, London, Ontario. We have now re-opened our atelier in Southern Ontario.
SERVICES WE PROVIDE & ITEMS WE SELL:
Award-winning limited editions, art books, with original callifraphy, etchings, other prints, hand-made bindings of our own design and execution.
Multi-level work with rare books collections and archives: arrangement and description (from the viewpoint of historical methods of book production and the history of collections); digitization and creation of online/printed catalogues; information retrieval and research based on historical data; book/paper conservation and restoration; bookbinding; exhibit curation; personalized ex-libris for the collections.
Etchings and engravings (any kind of picture can be engraved on metal/wood to be hand-printed in multiple copies, so that each copy will be, in fact, an original artwork); original printing (limited editions of etchings or woodcuts hand-printed on the etching press); calligraphy (for different purposes); catalogues/layout design; book Illustrations and other graphic/publishing works.
Conservation and restoration of antique items, including furniture, wood and polychrome sculptures, paintings on wood and canvas, icons, objects from ivory or precious materials, works of decorative art, and books (see also Rare Books Lab). We can provide, when necessary, all the documentation related to the processes of work, descriptions and before-during-after pictures, as well as research on the history of a given item or collection.
Creation of custom-made collectibles for everyday use. The services include design, development of models, carvings from ivory, corals, mother-of-pearl, amber, precious woods, with incrustations from silver, nacre, and other materials. Figures of any motif and style can be developed for your order or re-created from an existing picture, such as table sculptures, walking sticks, prototypes of objects to be cast in metal, decorative elements for furniture, and so forth.
Design and production of any type of wooden furniture and in a style taken from any epoch & culture: beds, chairs, tables, secretaries, sculptures, decorative details, and more.
WHO WE ARE
DIANA BYCHKOVA
BFA and MFA in bookmaking, history of the book and printing, and book restoration (the National Academy of Arts and Architecture Kyiv, Ukraine, and the Academy of Fine Arts in Milan, Italy); MA of Library and Information Science (Western University, Canada); PhD in Arts and Humanities (Western University, Canada). WES accreditation.
STEPAN ROMANYSHYN
College of Fine Arts in woodworking and fine carvings; BFA and MFA in conservation/restoration of paintings, woods, and decorative art (the National Academy of Arts and Architecture in Kyiv, Ukraine), Academy of Fine Arts in Milan, certificate (Italy). WES accreditation.
Diana with her teacher of book binding and conservation, V. Chebanyk, (Kyiv's Academy of Arts)
OUR BACKGROUND
The diversity of services we offer comes from our background and experience gained in different cultural contexts. A lengthy and in-depth traditional education makes quite a difference when it comes to professional work. The constant supervision by great scholars and masters of crafts, several joint disciplines, and the requirements of theoretic and practical skills, go hand in hand in forming a skilled professional figure.
Our nearly 30 years of experience working with important European and Canadian collectors of antique pieces, with publishers of art editions, and other figures of related professions, helped us develop our artistic eye when apprising/describing old items and deepen our mastery of execution when creating new collectible carvings or printed limited editions. Graduate studies added to our skills the ability to conduct research and work with libraries, rare collections and museums.
Stepan with his teacher of wood restoration, V. Koval (Kyiv's Academy of Arts)
See more details in ABOUT
Explore our DS Artistry Labs Journal that reflects 30 years of our professional life, offerinig original research on rare collections, insightful articles, tutorials, art trips step-by-step workshops covering diverse subjects.
And SUBSCRIBE
OUR COLLABORATORS
We collaborate with other professionals on an occasional basis, self-employed individuals, including archivists, professional consultants, IT support, carpenters, printing shops, translators, etc., depending on the projects.
COME WORK WITH US
We are always happy to meet new people in our fields, to exchange experience, to extend the range and depth of services we provide, and to create potential collaborations on future projects.
If you believe your background and experience can be a good addition to a specific service we offer, or you are excited about the works we do and would like to join our team, please tell us about yourself and submit your resume to: info@dsartistrylabs.com
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