#jerwoodmakers

1, 3, 5, 7 or more. As a Stylist, it’s an occupational necessity to group things in an uneven number. Not sure why a duo or a quadruple stack of plates never looks quite as good as their trio counterparts. But it just is. Fact. And as a Textile Designer, repetition is always a winner so the current installation of Ian McIntyre’s A Ton of Clay plays favourably into my love of a collection.

McIntyre has been investigating industrial scale craftsmanship hence his presentation of hundreds of plates & bowls for this years Jerwood Makers Open. The display grabs you upon entering the space, so incredibly tactile (so incredibly frustrating not being able to touch); almost like voluminous meringues that have beautiful subtle variations and irregularities. Singularly, the effect wouldn’t be quite so pronounced. Like any display, the more-the-merrier on view makes the goods all the more enticing. And when displayed tonally, the shift of light & shadow creates depth & interest to the eye (of the yet-beholder).

I’m in LOVE with the Astier De Villatte store on the oh-so swish Rue St Honore in Paris. The predominately white ceramic collection is all the more delicious for their delicate edges, uneven textures and slightly wobbly appearance. All set against a wonderfully, almost abandoned interior which is the perfect backdrop for the pieces. The stacks of goods on the shelves, dressers and tables make you slightly woozy as there’s just too much choice. But I did manage to decide on one plate on a recent visit. It’s happily hanging on my wall with some other finds but it’s my new ‘thang’ to buy a piece each time I hop across the channel, so that one day I might too have a creaking sideboard with a pile of wonky plates to admire.

The single colour approach to a collection certainly ensures that the focus becomes all about shape. The stunning Alice Anderson exhibition at the Wellcome Collection is an exploration of memory through sculpture. But visually it was a sensory experience of copper and curiosity. The everyday objects have been wrapped meticulously in copper threads; devoid of branding or associated colours, the objects take on a revered appearance on their simple black plinths like archaeological finds. This varied selection of everyday objects (binoculars, TV, tools, ladders etc) transformed into ‘art’ by the precise and tenacious method of mummifying, has created an evocative space to wander around.

In contrast, years ago, the brilliant exhibition entitled Waste Not by Song Dong was a fine example of how decades worth of clutter, with no obvious connection other than it was all housed under his Mother’s roof, was curated to be seen as a collection of memories and out of necessity.

Visually this totally contradicts the tonal beauty of what I highlighted above but the volume of repetition made a lasting impression on me and illustrates that collections of goods shouldn’t solely be concerned with aesthetic (my Pendelfin obsession as a child is a prime case in point) but if you treasure something(s), then go ahead and show them off.

On a recent holiday to Tuscany, I glimpsed at some of the marble graveyards, heaving with slabs of the stuff, which was quite breathtaking from the road yet (sadly) snapping a pic whilst driving wasn’t on the cards but this video by Yuri Ancaroni spectacularly documents the Marble at source.

https://www.nowness.com/story/artist-yuri-ancarani-il-capo?utm_source=tw&utm_source=Master%20List&utm_medium=SM&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=tw270715&utm_campaign=4d7fc92dc0-CCHQ%20Weekly%20Roundup%20-%2031%20July%202015&utm_term=0_04051a3fb3-4d7fc92dc0-85171925

Marble is certainly having its ‘interior’ moment (despite the material always having been a popular choice in both Architecture and Sculpture). The interiors world has adopted it as a must-have, with magazines featuring many a luxurious marble kitchen island and leading contemporary designers (Lee Broom, Tom Dixon, Bethan Gray et al) are feeding this revival by designing some fabulous contemporary products that filter down onto the high street with consumers readily taking a (shiny or matt) white & grey accessory home. Me included. A bespoke marble table top from Diespeker is now our dining table and a recently purchased chopping board is there to be admired (no one dare actually chop on it)

But a couple of marble related things have caught my attention this week. Firstly a bit of Trompe L’Oeil.

Lelievre has launched a range of fabrics depicting the veined appearance of the rock, to fool the eye into thinking that curtains are in fact a luxurious, rippling marble wall.  And Chesneys have debuted a phenomenal marble bath that has been sculpted to emulate drapery.

Traditionally associated with bookbinding, Marbling is a technique which creates unique & spontaneous surface patterns echoing the striations and swirls found naturally in stone.

Pernille Snedker Hansen has reinvented this typically small scale craft by applying it to wooden floorboards, creating striking multicoloured environments that mimic natures own patterns but with colours more nu-rave than au-naturel. Also upping the scale is an American wallpaper duo called Calico who have also embraced this craft and blown it up to fill wall spaces with their rich marbled creations.

A recent visit to see the Jerwood Open Makers 2015 showcased 2 artists whose practice nodded at this ancient technique too. Jasleen Kaur displayed plastic busts with a marbled finish, mimicking the mass-produced buckets often found in hardware shops. And Silo Studio capture the movement of liquid resin by creating a series of bowls which have flowing surface patterns too.

All of which reminded me of my experiments with nail polish and water when I was a first year Textile student. Inspired by my writing of this post, I almost passed out from nail polish fumes in my non-ventilated office space to bring you this marbled concrete tile. This could be the start of a new venture....or perhaps I should just leave it to the craftsmen.