Case Study: Ecliptic

Case Study: Ecliptic

by Lauren Herzak-Bauman in Case Studies

Case Study: Ecliptic

Ceramic Wall Installation, Legend of the Seas Commissioned by ICArt for Royal Caribbean

 

 

Project Overview

Ecliptic is a large-scale ceramic disc installation commissioned by ICArt for the Thermal Suite aboard the Legend of the Seas, a Royal Caribbean cruise ship. 80 handmade ceramic discs — glazed white, gilded in gold and silver leaf, and sealed with resin — are arranged across three curved wood-paneled walls flanking the spa entrance.

The piece is part of a growing body of work exploring the disc as a form. It follows Halcyon Blue, an earlier studio work that first developed this visual language, and deepens it with a new theme: the moon cycle. On a ship at sea, the moon is a natural touchstone. The discs read as phases — some fully white, some half-gilded, some catching light differently depending on where you stand.

The Brief

ICArt approached the studio with the Thermal Suite commission. The moon cycle concept grew organically from Halcyon Blue and the disc work already in the studio's vocabulary. The spa context made the theme feel right — the moon, water, and restoration are a coherent set of ideas, and the curved walls of the suite created a sense of being held inside the composition.

The Challenges

This commission had more than one moment that required a pivot.

Material shortage. The studio's luster supplier went out of business mid-project. Gold and silver luster had been the planned finish for the discs, and luster would have been the preference. Instead, we switched to gold and silver leaf applied directly to raw clay, then sealed with a light coat of resin for shine and durability. It was a disappointing pivot, but the result was a good surprise. The leaf catches light differently than luster would have, and the texture it leaves behind is something we hadn't anticipated.

Flammability requirements. The consultant specified that nothing flammable could be used in the artwork. That shaped material decisions throughout and was one more factor to account for alongside the hardware and layout challenges.

The walls. Cruise ships cannot use wood in their construction — it's a fire safety requirement. The walls aboard the Legend of the Seas were built from a lightweight honeycomb material, which makes sense for weight distribution on a vessel but presented a real hardware challenge. We had planned to insert wood backing behind each disc mount. Instead, we poured plaster directly into the honeycomb and sunk the hardware inside. It added minimal weight and held securely.

The layout. The walls on site were a different material and a different configuration than what had been planned. The original concept called for a single sweeping horizontal composition across the full curved wall. What we arrived to required remapping the installation across three separate panels. The composition shifted into tighter clusters, one per wall, which ended up working with the architecture rather than against it.

The Process

Each disc is slipcast, then fired in raw clay with no glaze applied. The result is that beautiful natural white finish that porcelain produces on its own. From there, gold and silver leaf was applied to select discs and sealed with a light coat of resin. Against the warm wood paneling of the Thermal Suite, the gold reads warm and luminous, and the silver reads cooler. The two together suggest the shifting quality of moonlight on water.

The hardware was mapped and templated before shipping, then adapted on site as the wall layout became clear.

The Final Work

80 discs installed across three curved walls. The composition clusters and breathes, tighter in some areas, more open in others. The Thermal Suite is a space people enter to slow down, and the piece works with that. The moon phases move across the walls without directing you anywhere in particular. You notice different things depending on where you are in the room.

This was the studio's first commission for a cruise ship, and it opened up a context that had not been on the radar before. A ship is a particular kind of place — in constant motion, visited by people from everywhere, designed for rest and pleasure. Beautiful work belongs there too.

Ecliptic is part of an ongoing series. The disc language continues in Gilded Discs, a commission currently in progress. A journal post on the full arc of this body of work is forthcoming.

Interested in a large-scale commission for your hospitality space? Start a conversation.

Tags: Commercial Commissions, Hospitality, Ceramic, Wall Sculpture, Cruise Ship, Royal Caribbean

Tags: Commercial Commissions

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