In my visit to London for New Year celebrations we went fo a trip to the V&A. The main reason was for an exhibition on the life and work of LEE MILLER. It was fascinating to see how she managed her various roles as model, photographer and journalist and how each role fed and informed the others. Due the nature of the media, the show was very ‘clean’ and information was limited to text panels at key stages of Lee Miller’s life.
There was also a free exhibition showing, entitled OUT OF THE ORDINARY: SPECTACULAR CRAFT. This was an unexpected and exciting surprise. I was not previously familiar with any of the 7 makers in the show and came away with a very different idea of how craft can be seen in a gallery space. Each piece was more of an installation rather than a craft object (i.e. for sale, for use, for decoration alone). Each artist used craft techniques to make large scale pieces that were fascinating and beautiful. The show made me think about the scale of the objects I make and how these larger pieces serve a completely different purpose. Craft skills + fine art ideas.
I was particularly taken with ANNE WILSON and her lacemaking skills used to create a landscape which for me had strong links with mapping and the imagination children have when drawing treasure maps. Her creation of animations using pins and threads with wonderful soundtracks were mesmerising yet simple.
My ‘take home’ item from th show would have to be one of ANNIE CATTRELL‘S glass pieces from ‘Conditions’ (or all of them). They were so delicate yet solid.
Filed under: session | Tags: Chris Lewis-Jones, creatures, earning, fine art, ideas, money, workshop
I enjoyed CHRIS LEWIS-JONES‘ visit today. Whilst a lot of what he talked about was not particularly relevant to my own practice, it was still entertaining and gave me the opportunity to re-kindle a few of the fine art ways of thinking that got left behind after foundation.
It was interesting to hear him speak about how he has narrowed down what he is prepared to undertake to keep the money coming in compared to before his ‘Connect’ experience. The change from taking on any project someone asked of him to projects that were only related to his own practice makes a lot of sense and got me thinking about the processes and methods I use and how these could be shared / used to earn me money.
The interpretation of objects workshop was eye-opening and fun. It makes me happy that I am not asking people to try and read any messages into my designs other than what they see - ‘Oh look, a smiling creature’ ‘What a funny looking teacosy’. I might be lucky enough to get a ‘It looks like an alien seashell’ – but I don’t mind if I don’t.
