Maker’s Eye: Stories of Craft Crafts Council Gallery 7 July — 9 October 2021

Exhibition Information Curators Maker’s Eye: Stories of Craft

Assemble (Amica Dall & Giles Smith)p2 Taking its name from a 1982 Crafts Council show – p4 the first at its former gallery on Waterloo Place, Michael Brennand-Wood Piccadilly, Maker’s Eye celebrates the breadth and Caroline Broadheadp6 qualities of craft and the Crafts Council Collections. Neil Brownswordp8 p11 Dr Christine Checinska The starting point – then as now – was to We encouraged all to look beyond their own interrogate and reflect on what craft is. 13 disciplines and area of expertise, to consider p14 John Grayson makers, each with work in the Crafts Council works that inspired them, or reflected their Collections, were invited to consider the experience and understanding of craft. Each p16 Ineke Hans question: “What does craft look like and of the 13 makers was asked to identify an mean to you?” Maker’s Eye offers a range additional work that was not in the Collection, p18 Angela James of perspectives on the issues driving and for the curator, was. craftspeople today. p20 Michael Marriott The exhibition is the most significant Together, these makers represent a cross- presentation of objects from the Crafts Council p22 James Maskrey section of craft interests, disciplines, career Collection in its 50 year history and serves as a stages and models of practice. We asked platform to explore the stories of craft, and the p24 Freddie Robins them to each select up to 15 objects as their role of collecting and collections, past, present response. To do this, they had access to more and future. p26 Matt Smith than 2,400 objects in our main and handling collections, plus Crafts Council’s extensive We invite you to explore the displays, discover p28 Esna Su archives and library collections and nearly their stories and make your own connections. 50 years of Crafts magazine. p30 Simone ten Hompel Which objects and stories speak to you? In Summer 2020 curator, Dr Christine Can you choose a favourite? Checinska, was invited to expand the Share your stories of craft using #MakersEye

narrative by considering this same question from a different perspective, selecting objects @CraftsCouncil representing makers and making not found @CraftsCouncilUK in the Collection. By exploring what is missing, this selection opens up a conversation about craftscouncil.org.uk the Collection and how it needs to evolve.

Exhibition Information 1 When we hear the word ‘craft’, most of us The objects in our selection are all made for probably think of something very (if beautifully) everyday life. These rugs, spoons and tiles Assemble old-fashioned. An individual artisan in a dusty are ordinary. This is a word that is often used workshop filled with arcane tools carefully pejoratively, but for us it is democratic and Architecture carving, chiselling or weaving an object from universal. It is our belief that craft should another age. We think of things that are special, be ordinary. And it is not only ceramic particular. Whether we treasure ‘craft’ objects sanitaryware. The objects we use on a day-to- & Design or dismiss them as unaffordable luxuries, we are day basis comprise a huge part of our reality, unlikely to think of them as particularly useful. it is important that the objects available to everyone are made with thought and care. Collective But that really is a matter of perception. For example, very few of us think of craft as we sit The ceramics workshop we helped establish on the toilet at home, at work, or in a motorway in Liverpool, Granby Workshop, whose work service station. But there is just as much craft in is in the Collection here at the Crafts Council, the production of a porcelain toilet bowl as there was founded on that idea. The ceramics made is in the products made in the dusty workshops there use everyday materials in experimental of medieval craftsman. In the Armitage Shanks ways to produce objects that express the way factory in Staffordshire, where the mould we that they are made. nominated for the Crafts Council Collection was made, we spoke to technicians who had spent a lifetime developing the deep, highly complex Website and intuitive skills deployed in making moulds assemblestudio.co.uk for new prototypes and production items. Selected 1 2 3 4 Objects

1. Large Serving Spoon 2. Autumn Migration The Diary and Observations C3 Stacking Chair Large Storage Jar 4. Terracotta Tile William Phipps, 1974 Vanessa Robertson and of a Tench Fisher David Colwell, 1986 Andrew Young and Ruabon Clay Products Forged and hammered silver Norman Young, 1977 DR Wakefield, 1981 Steam-bent ash wood, lacquered Joanna Young, 1984 Manufactured natural Welsh clay M15 (Image: Stokes Photo Ltd) Woven linen warp and woollen weft Published by The Chevington Press. kiln-dried sycamore Wheel-thrown stoneware, glaze HC249 (Image: Anon) T26 (Image: Heini Schneebeli) Hand-made paper, leather, gold W70 P367 Round Fruit Basket Poster, A Closer Look: Rugs B28 David Drew, 1979 Scarf Clear Round Jug on Flat Base Two Fairytale Boxes: Jack Philip Miles, 1983 Unstripped Somerset willow Geraldine St Aubyn Hubbard, 1980 Poster, A Closer Look: Rugs Simon Moore, Glassworks, 1989 and The Beanstalk & Little Crafts Council W27 Woven cashmere warp and Crafts Council, 1983. Blown lead glass Red Riding Hood AM422 silk weft AM422 G46 Jim Edmiston, 1988 Carved Articulating Snake T44 Stained and painted pine and Howard Raybould, 1979 3. Cup and Saucer Mug birch plywood Carved coloured Quebec pine Joanna Constantinidis, c. 1990 Karen Downing, c. 2000. W76 W34 Wheel-thrown porcelain, glaze HC186 HC177 (Image: Relic Imaging Ltd)

Maker’s Eye: Stories of Craft Exhibition Information 3 The crafts provide an alternative space for Everything was possible, you made your select pieces that had exerted an influence on creative thought. I’m interested in the interface own way in whatever material landscape you my thinking. Images that have never lost their Michael between traditional and contemporary found yourself. I’ve always been drawn to the power to intrigue, ideas that pointed towards expression, in the skills and materials that border areas, the margins between disciplines, possible futures previously unimagined. I was Brennand- provide a launchpad for experimentation. the points at which ideas overlap, blurring also curious how a group of diverse objects I have no interest in replicating the past. distinctions – textile or sculpture, applied or might converse with each other. There’s a dialogue between concept and fine art piece. People talk about the hierarchies Wood making that I find endlessly fascinating – one of materials. It’s worth reminding ourselves There’s a slightly unexpected figurative feel shapes the other. that there’s also a hierarchy of ideas – stylistic in my selection. Virtually every piece relates to approaches that are deemed acceptable and the body, which was completely unintentional. Textile Artist I’m the product of a system when a cornerstone ones that don’t fit a contemporary construct Relooking at the group, the conversation of art school practice was anarchy – students of craft practice. centers on work as a physical manifestation were encouraged to ask all the wrong questions of an individual maker’s persona, a creative at the most inappropriate moments to put I believe that good artists take risks and that extended self. themselves in unfamiliar territory. It’s a directive was the main focus for my selection. I was I continue to follow. The first question I always interested in the work of individuals who On a very elemental level, everything I’ve asked myself after any technical demonstration pursue distinctive, independent and non- selected I would love to live with. In the end, was, “What could I do with this?”. It was never corporate lines of personal research, makers the making is the language that articulates enough to replicate; traditions need to evolve whose practice has influenced, excited and the idea. otherwise they ossify. challenged. Innovation in crafts requires both an expressive and a constructional voice. Website My perception at the time was that the applied I’m receptive to works that exhibit a synthesis brennand-wood.com arts were completely uncharted territory. of both qualities. My primary focus was to Selected 1 2 3 Objects

1. The Punter’s Dream; The Large bowl with curved horn Tail of the Dog Pumpkin Form A Willow for Ai Weiwei, Hollow-form story so far: A man punting Jacqueline Poncelet, 1983 Gillian Lowndes, 1983 Amanda Bright, 1988 Wen Tao, Liu Zhenggang, Jessica Turrell, 2010 alone is joined by a woman Hand-built T Material clay, glaze Fibreglass tissue dipped in Etched and patinated mild Zhang Jinsong, Hu Mingfen; Electroformed, blackened from a dream P321 porcelain slip, draped over clay steel sheet Scott’s Cumbrian Blues copper, and cotton string Sam Smith, 1972–73 core, and nicrochrome wire M39 Paul Scott, 2012 J303 2. Unfolding/Hanging; Carved woods, rope, string, P324 Reglazed, refired, earthenware Utility Chair Apple Laundry Basket Spoonie Collection: American shells, feather, glass bead, tacks Willow pattern platter (c.1840), Richard La Trobe-Bateman, 1984 Bracelet Lois Walpole, 1995 Silver Spoon and Pewter and fabric. inglaze, decal collage, gold lustre Sawn and wire-brushed wych Peter Chang, 1987 Coiled cardboard, apple cartons, David Clark, 2011 W1E (Image: Todd White) 2013.5 elm wood Carved Styrofoam, papier maché, willow and string Silver spoon and hand-formed Pumpkin Pot W53 (Image: Todd White) acrylic, PVC, aluminium and steel W121 Padlock (from Ballet to pewter Richard Slee, 1986 J187 Remember series) M91 Megatron – Whatnot – Étagère 3. Guardian Hand-built St Thomas clay and Maria Militsi, 2009–10 Fred Baier, 1985 Claire Curneen, 2011 white earthenware, glaze Found object and lost wax Mould-free lamination of Hand-built porcelain, transfers P378 cast silver plywood, veneered in Movingue and gold lustre J293 and Blue Bolivar 2015.1 (Image: Relic Imaging Ltd) Veneered chipboard, metal W64

Maker’s Eye: Stories of Craft Exhibition Information 5 For me, craft represents the close connection rather than posters or samples, and I wanted to a named author, I liked the idea that we have with the material world. Throughout represent both the timespan of the collection essentially this is a collective, anonymous Caroline human history, the endless scope for expression and its eclectic nature. object, produced individually en masse. through the manipulation of materials has Broadhead always been an important form of visual and I enjoyed seeing familiar works that were Many of the works I selected are everyday tactile communication. I like the way craft current, exciting and inspirational when I was objects that have been altered to give can reference the past, through different starting out in the 1970s and which remain so. a different narrative, an otherworldly, Jeweller materials and traditional and ancient ways Also, it was good to see how newer pieces were extraordinary status. As familiar objects – of making, how it references the ways that forming conversations with older work. Jane a spoon, a pair of gloves, a plate, a pair of different cultures interact, and how it can Atfield’s transformation of plastic bottles into compasses – they do not usually command be used to respond to a current viewpoint a beautifully colourful chair (1992) resonates much attention beyond their immediate or state of affairs. with Fabien Cappello’s Low Table fabricated use. But interfered with and connected to out of discarded Christmas trees (2011). Both something other, they become quite magical. It was both a pleasure and a hardship to highlight our squandering of materials. I value inventiveness, humour and a lively choose 15 works from more than 1,700 items. and idiosyncratic approach. A pleasure, because there was a wealth of Gary Wright’s Fly Earring (1976) was a product exceptional and evocative pieces to choose of the punk era, provocative for those who had from. It was hard because selecting just 15 expectations that jewellery should be demure inevitably meant leaving out a lot of wonderful or placatory, while Abbey Gans Mather’s and favourite pieces. The range of work in the Pussyhat (2016) records a moment when craft Collection is impressive, tracing developments provided an icon for a groundswell of attitude Website through particular materials and makers over change, a significant marker of political carolinebroadhead.com 49 years. In the end, I decided to select objects comment. Although this particular piece has Selected 1 2 3 Objects

Fly Earrings Bracelet Hand of Good, Hand of God Cross Fire Wineglass, Natural Spoonie Collection: Silver Plate A Willow for Ai Weiwei, Gary Wright, 1975 Pierre Degen, 1980 Freddie Robins, 1997 Occurrence series Spoon and Pewter Wen Tao, Liu Zhenggang, Cast oxidised silver Bent and soldered steel wire Machine-knitted Shetland wool Geoffrey Mann, 2010 David Clarke, 2011 Zhang Jinsong, Hu Mingfen; J45 and brass, thread T165 Lamp-worked glass Silver spoons and hand-formed Scott’s Cumbrian Blues J116 G100 pewter Paul Scott, 2012 Alternating series of four Film: A Sensual Shiver M89 Reglazed, refired, earthenware earrings 1. RCP2 Chair (Batch Production) Naomi Filmer, 2000 Spoon/handkerchief Willow pattern platter (c.1840), Susanna Heron, 1975–76 Jane Atfield, 1993 Film, ice frozen in styrene moulds Jasleen Kaur, 2010 3. Pussyhat inglaze, decal collage, gold lustre Silver inlaid with polyester resin Recycled plastic sheet material J275 Found objects Abbey Gans Mather, 2016 2013.5 J64 W115 (Image: John Hammond) HC745 Knitted Valley Yarns merino and Divider (from Ballet to alpaca blend Brooch 2. Twig Remember series) Low Table (from ‘Christmas 2018.8 (Image: Stokes Photo Ltd) Pierre Degen, 1978 Hans Stofer, 1994 Maria Militsi, 2009–10 Tree’ project) Soldered steel rods, thread Welded, blackened and waxed Found object and lost wax Fabien Cappello, 2011 and silver mild steel, twig cast silver Hand-sawn and machine-carved J95 J237 (Image: Todd-White) J301 recycled Christmas tree W163

Maker’s Eye: Stories of Craft Exhibition Information 7 Craft remains a fluid and discursive It is through this multiplicity that I have come As an undergraduate, I remember being platform, dominated by a series of binary to understand my own relationships with captivated by the tactile experience and Neil oppositions through which philosophies craft as both idea and action. No matter what meditative repetition of Takeshi Yasuda. and practices often straddle the ‘in-between’. form or expression my work takes, it remains Interrogating the subtle nuances of making Brownsword It can be concerned with: underpinned by a ‘rigour’ that derives from a handle for one of his vessels, where every thinking through praxis. detail was considered. Gillian Lowndes’ – making or unmaking approach to salvage and transformation says Ceramicist – material specificity, or employ the detritus The practitioners represented in my selection everything about pushing the boundaries of mass production demonstrate sophistications of ‘knowing’ of curiosity and materiality that challenged – archaic/traditional methods, or cutting-edge through this process of immersion from a puritanical notions of what ceramics could digital tools variety of perspectives. None are characteristic be. Often working with an unorthodox mix – slow-paced meditative action, or expressive of recent paradigm shifts. Instead, they of materials through variants of heat, she immediacy reflect a period that was formative in shaping facilitates the unexpected and epitomises – procedural know-how that may be a my thinking and creative identity. Primarily David Pye’s ideas surrounding the hackneyed, formulaic, repetitive – or irrational, concerned with medium specificity, materiality ‘workmanship of risk’. ‘sloppy’, sporadic, intuitive – process and ‘objectness’, all have a personal resonance – time-served technical precision, or amateur/ – where past and present, and the intentional hobbyist gratification and unintentional, often collide. – domestic and utilitarian effectiveness, or a means of protest and activism…

Twitter @neil_brownsword Selected 1 2 3 Objects

Brick Filled Bag 22 In 1 Armpiece 2. Collected Elements Can Collage Thrown Pot Loop Gillian Lowndes, 1981 Caroline Broadhead, 1984 Rushton Aust, 1989–90 Gillian Lowndes, 1998 Simon Carroll, 1999 Helen Maurer, 2002 Fibreglass, porcelain slip, Cotton fabric and nylon line Hand-painted, printed and Sardine can, Egyptian paste, Thrown and pulled clay, glaze Hand-made glass, wood stainless steel, house brick J235 stitched fabrics forks, clay, fibreglass and P466 and found objects and Egyptian paste T97 (Image: Ian Dobbie) galvanised wire G95 1. Although the Puff Adder Slowly Seeping P295 P452 Cannot Fly it has Caught the Fat Rim Dish with Horns Shelly Goldsmith, 1999 3. Shine: Natural Occurrence Fruit Bowl Hornbill (Ashanti Proverb) P398 How To Make A Commercial, Woven cotton and silk Series Richard Slee, 1982 Gillian Lowndes, 1986 Takeshi Yasuda, 1991 Part I: “Cliché” – Bottled T159 Geoffrey Mann, 2010 Hand-built white, buff and Mild steel, Egyptian paste, Wheel-thrown oxidised Silver Sheep Cast bronze, silver plated coloured clays, glaze nichrome wire and clinker stoneware, sansai glaze Laura Potter, 1998 Purchase of ‘Shine Candelabra’ P313 P384 (Image: Todd-White) Cast silver, ready-made glass (2010) is supported by a donation bottles and model grass from Victoria, Lady de Rothschild J255 M86 (Image: Todd-White)

Maker’s Eye: Stories of Craft Exhibition Information 9 Neil Brownsword Richard Slee’s work has always struck a Most people think that they understand the Continued personal chord though its embrace of popular word craft(n.) Tracing the etymological roots, culture and the domestic ornament. It mirrors Dr. Christine it’s origin can be found in the Old English cræft the banality of early 20th-century ceramic mass (West Saxon, Northumbrian), -creft (Kentish), production – a ‘lowly’ material culture that Checinska meaning “power, physical strength, might,” surrounded me as a child through collections and the Proto-Germanic *krab-/*kraf- (source my grandmother accumulated through her also of Old Frisian kreft, Old High German factory work. Curator chraft, German Kraft “strength, skill;” Old Norse kraptr “strength, virtue”). Revisiting objects and makers that I had once been inspired by, and reassessing my The Old English expanded to include “skill, understanding of them, was perhaps the most dexterity; art, science, talent” (via a notion rewarding aspect of this curation, alongside of “mental power”), which led to the meaning discovering emerging makers from more “trade, employment requiring special skill recent times. What was interesting was seeing or dexterity,” also “something built or made.” how craft has been constantly redefined. This leads us to craft (v.), in Old English cræftan “to exercise a craft; to build” Or It also represented an opportunity to propose “to make skilfully” which hails from the early a contemporary maker for the Collection, fifteenth century. who exemplifies my present understanding of craft through its embrace – and reimagining – How might we redefine the word craft? How of the past. Website might we stretch it out? Can we think of it as christinechecinska.com an approach, an attitude, or a habit of action? Selected 1 Objects

1. Banksia Vessel 1 2. What’s taking you so long Darren Appiagyei, 2020 (from ‘Neighbourhood Garden’) Banksia nut Shawanda Corbett, 2021 Courtesy of the Artist Glazed stoneware (Image: Renjoefilm) Courtesy the Artist and Corvi-Mora, London Igneous (Image: Marcus Leith) Emefa Cole, 2021 Solid silver, 13 cast pieces, Hold on to your confession soldered, formed and gold plated and tell your neighbour’s Courtesy of the Artist and (from ‘The heavenly plan, BJS Company Limited wade in my water’) Shawanda Corbett, 2021 Ikwla Glazed stoneware Mac Collins, 2018 Courtesy the Artist and Ash wood Corvi-Mora, London Courtesy of the Artist

Maker’s Eye: Stories of Craft Exhibition Information 11 Dr. Christine Checinska This brushes against the meditative space ‘not seeing’ has been accidental. Consider the All have been created by makers of colour but Continued created when we make; the idea of a certain historical divide between art museum and that is not and should not be the first thing that pace, a repetition, a quality of thinking. One ethnographic museum collecting strategies catches the eye. All inspire through the quality imagines the presence of skill and dexterity, that we know were rooted in our colonial pasts. of their thinking, their mastery of materials and foregrounding the mark of the hand and And layer onto that the outmoded relegation of their ability to expand our appreciation of craft. a mastery of materials. On materials, one craft as a field – what we see is a relegation of immediately thinks of ceramics, glass, metal, an art form and a relegation of groups of black wood and cloth. But if we were to expand and brown-skinned peoples. Our museum this to include for example hair, calabash collections have not always embraced Black gourds, plant fibre, could that make space experiences and expertise. But we must move for makers from a broader range of disciplines forward with equity and grace, recognising and cultures? excellence across the spectrum of makers. We must showcase the richness and diversity of In response the question – ‘what does craft works created by Black makers, whilst allowing look like and mean to me?’ I look towards the the voices of each to be heard. future, imagining what the Crafts Council Collection could be. Equally, I find myself This cluster of works starts a conversation about looking back to the past. I find myself wanting what is absent in the Crafts Council Collection, to acknowledge the fact that there have always to stimulate a wider conversation about how been Black makers crafting powerful work but, and why certain objects have been acquired somehow, they have been forgotten about, and not others. The works I have selected or left out, or not seen. Sometimes that ‘not expand the discussion of what craft is and can seeing’ has been deliberate, sometimes that be beyond that currently held in the Collection.

2 3 4

Two red cents for your last dime Vignette No. 5 Two-Legged Vessel Anya or Anum Cut out Brush Elevated Water-Memory ring (from ‘The heavenly plan, Mary Evans, 2015 Bisila Noha, 2020 Anya Paintsil, 2020 Sophie Sellu, 2021 Meron Wolde, 2018 wade in my water’) Cut paper Baney clay and white stoneware Acrylic, wool, human hair, Sycamore with Tampico bristle 100% Recycled sterling silver Shawanda Corbett, 2021 Courtesy of the Artist and Courtesy of the Artist kanekalon hair, on hessian Courtesy of the Artist Courtesy of the Artist Glazed stoneware Tiwani Contemporary The collection of Suha Islam, Asymmetrical Reduced Textured Brush Elevated Water-Memory ring Courtesy the Artist and courtesy of Ed Cross Fine Art Vignette No. 6 Black Piece Sophie Sellu, 2021 (round) Corvi-Mora, London Mary Evans, 2015 Magdalene Odundo, 1992 4. Matching Pairs Walnut with Gumati bristle Meron Wolde, 2020 3. Vignette No. 4 Cut paper Hand-built terra sigilata, Bharti Parmar, 2019 Courtesy of the Artist 100% Recycled sterling silver Mary Evans, 2015 Courtesy of the Artist and burnished, polished terracotta Vinyl marquetry cards, brass box, Courtesy of the Artist Texture and Shape Study Cut paper Tiwani Contemporary P423 and wood/acrylic cabinet Sophie Sellu, 2021 Elevated Water-Memory ring Courtesy of the Artist and Courtesy of the Artist ‘I Exist as Cocoa Butter Pinch Sycamore Meron Wolde, 2018 Tiwani Contemporary (Image: M.O. STUDIOS) and Mangos’ Francisca Onumah, 2009 Courtesy of the Artist 100 % Recycled sterling silver (Image: Tiwani Contemporary) Farrah Riley Gray, 2019 Oxidised copper plated The Sacrifice Courtesy of the Artist Hand-woven synthetic hair gilding metal Moses Quiquine, 2018 Courtesy of the Artist Courtesy of the Artist Goat skin, leather, leather dye, silk thread Courtesy of the Artist

Maker’s Eye: Stories of Craft Exhibition Information 13 Defining craft is difficult because of the Sifting through the 1,700 objects in relation and politics. Lin Cheung’s Willow perhaps multiplicity of practices, materials and to ‘industrialised’ production framed my symbolises the demise of Stoke-on-Trent pot John approaches that it encompasses. I want to selection. The wonderfully bound reprinted ‘banks’ (factories). Michael Eden’s A Tall Pink delineate between what craft means to me trade card – a form of 18th and 19th century Round Wedgwoodn’t Tureen simultaneously Grayson and my selection criteria. My first item, the industrial advertising – sets the context. David celebrates, satirises and contemporises the Crafts magazine article, is a nod to definition Pye’s Dish was chosen because he attained a ceramic industrialist. debates. For me, craft is a broad church – ‘machined aesthetic’ from hand-carving. While Automata messy, contradictory and great for that. Craft’s Gareth Neal’s table leg samples is CNC-cut, Geoffrey Mann’s Shine: Natural Occurrence common denominator is the centrality of hand- they had origins in pieces hand-cut on a table Series similarly explores the craftiness in digital making to create an innate understanding of saw. Neal’s practice is rooted in the furniture production methods to create a distorted Maker materiality and tacit skills in the maker. Whether production of High Wycombe, acknowledging candelabra. Finally, David Clarke’s Spoonie the ‘craftsperson’ is embracing the hand-made the importance of industrial heritage. Collection: Silver Plate Spoon and Pewter is to make a basket rooted in the vernacular, included because of his analogue approach or forward-looking exploring digital fabrication Midland manufactories relied on craft skill. to manipulating manufactured silverware, through a CAD package to create furniture, The ceramics of Wedgewood, the metalware using craft skills common to the manufacturing all rely on a knowledge acquired through of Matthew Boulton, etc. catered for the trades of Birmingham and Sheffield. He turns craft experience. burgeoning 18th-century middle classes; the mass-manufactured item into something the journey continues. Leather objects are a of value – a craft art object. This raises My practice focuses on investigating and nod to the trades of Northampton. Potteries questions on where the value lies – in appropriating making techniques from are referenced through Paul Scott’s A Willow craftsmanship, materials or ideas, in past, defunct Midlands metalworking trades – For Ai Weiwei…, selected for a practice present or future. Twitter 18th century enamelling. I make automata born out of research into transfer-printed @johngraysondesign that satirise contemporary politics and society. ceramics, repurposed to reference heritage Selected 1 2 3 Objects

Some Nineteenth Century Willow Bottle 3. Spoonie Collection: Silver A Willow for Ai Weiwei, ‘Anne’ Table Leg Sample Trade Cards and Labels Lin Cheung, 2009 Simon Hasan, 2010 Plate Spoon and Pewter Wen Tao, Liu Zhenggang, Gareth Neal, 2007 Iain Bain, 1976 Found vintage cup and Moulded vegetable-tanned leather David Clarke, 2011 Zhang Jinsong, Hu Mingfen; CNC-milled and hand-carved Letterpress printed, hand-made hand-formed oxidised sterling HC1059 Silver spoons and hand-formed Scott’s Cumbrian Blues walnut wood paper silver sheet pewter Paul Scott, 2012 HC1070 Shine: Natural Occurrence B12 M82 M89 (Image: Todd White) Reglazed, refired, earthenware Series Willow pattern platter (c.1840), 1. Dish 2. A Tall Pink Round Geoffrey Mann, 2010 inglaze, decal collage, gold lustre David Pye, 1976 Wedgwoodn’t Tureen Cast bronze, silver plated 2013.5 Carved English walnut wood Michael Eden, 2010 Purchase of ‘Shine Candelabra’ W8 (Image: Todd White) Plaster and gypsum, non-fired (2010) is supported by a donation ceramic coating from Victoria, Lady de Rothschild P493 (Image: Todd White) M86

Maker’s Eye: Stories of Craft Exhibition Information 15 Is craft an activity involving the skill of making Stools Make things by hand? Or by hand and mind? Or I was trained as a furniture designer at However, some tools can’t take over. The Ineke Hans by hand and tools? Or a combination of it all? the Royal College of Art years ago, and from ingenuity and skills that some craftspeople that a preoccupation with furniture can easily master to create their design impresses Product For me, craft has very much to do with a be justified. (at least me) deeply. combination of mastering hands, mind and tools. But what comes out – the design – is Tools Shake Designer also important and, also when looking at the I find it fascinating that old tools are sometimes Last but not least, a design can have impact Crafts Council Collection, these outcomes picked up to work with in other ways; when because it touches on issues and values that often relate to a certain time and are relevant new means of production mean that there are are important for our society. for that time. My selection presents a number new tools to master; and there are even tools of themes: Stools & Tools, Make & Shake. These that can take over the work of hands. themes are illustrated with some items from the Collection that are – for me – interesting and topical for design today, and relevant beyond their time.

Website inekehans.com Selected 1 2 3 4 5 Objects

Unfolding/Hanging; Folding Stool Wednesday Light Pewter Stool 4. ‘Anne’ Table Leg Sample 5. Digitally Hammered Utility Chair Tomoko Azumi, 1995 Tord Boontje, 2001 Max Lamb, 2006 Gareth Neal, 2007 Silver Bowl Richard La Trobe-Bateman, 1984 Cardboard and cherry wood Etched metal Sand-cast pewter CNC-milled and hand-carved Kathryn Hinton, 2011 Sawn and wire-brushed wych veneer W151 M88 walnut wood Digitally hammered silver elm wood W104 HC1070 (Image: Stokes Photo Ltd) HC389 (Image: Anne Purkiss) Light Constructions Aqua-Poesy VII W53 Chair/Bench Neckpiece Hiroshi Suzuki, 2002 Plytube Stool (Natural) Patience Flower XXIII Prototype XL1 Chair Tom Hall, 1996 Sarah King, 2004 Hammer raised fine silver Seongyong Lee, 2008 Vipoo Srivilasa, 2014 Michael Marriott, 1991 Birch plywood, plastic laminate, Cast bioresin and PVC cord M71 Plytube (thin, steamed and Hand-built and cast super-white Reclaimed oak and tea chest Plastazote foam and steel hinges 2017.11 glued plywood sheets) porcelain Break Out Piece plywood HC705 2013.7 Courtesy of Adrian Sassoon 1–3. Arnold Circus Stool Gareth Neal, 2007 W100 Classic Carrier (Black, Red, Yellow) CNC-milled and hand-carved RCP2 Chair (Prototype) Sharon Porteous, 1997 Martino Gamper, 2006 timber Jane Atfield, 1992 Hand-woven recycling waste Rotation-moulded polyethylene HC1071 Recycled plastic sheet material plastic, and reclaimed yarn plastic W116 T145 2018.16; 2018.19; 2018.20 (Image: Stokes Photo Ltd)

Maker’s Eye: Stories of Craft Exhibition Information 17 While it felt like an honour to be one of the Personal preferences influence one’s choices I felt about my selection. In the end, my final 15 makers to select objects for Makers’ Eye, it also and so I chose pieces I admired for their skill, comprises pieces from Automata, Furniture, Angela seemed daunting. Where on earth to start? artistry or sense of humour. Not all my choices Ceramics, Jewellery, Glass, Textile, Metal and, I looked at old copies of Crafts magazine and make me laugh but they all make me smile. I inevitably, Books (an often-ignored area), from James catalogues, reminding myself of objects from looked at some of the Collection objects stored 1974–2014. All are objects I would love to own the early days of the Crafts Council. I tried to at Pentonville Road and it was wonderful to so this becomes a very personal selection and include a wide variety of disciplines from both see things ‘in the flesh’, when tactility is added one I enjoyed choosing. Bookbinder established and newer makers, and objects to the mix. that will stand – or have already stood – the test of time. I am a bookbinder, a craft that embraces a number of disciplines. A book (in my view) has What does craft mean to me? It means integrity to function as a book even if it is rarely opened of design and execution so that the making and read, so one of the qualities I was looking involves head, hand, heart and eye. It means for was that objects should be fit for purpose something more than a piece of fine art – it is – that one could use the table, bowl or spoon something conceived by the artist and then if one could bring oneself to put such a lovely created by them, using long-honed skills where object to use. the beauty of the design is matched by the excellence of the making. Looking for these Having drawn up my long list, I slowly whittled qualities in the Collections was like searching it down. If there were too many objects in Website for pearls in an oyster. All the objects were one category, some had to go. Rather like designerbookbinders.org.uk/members/ potentially eligible, but some spoke to me choosing the winner of the Booker Prize, all fellows/aj more than others. on the shortlist are winners and this was how Selected 1 2 3 Objects

Bluebeard’s Castle Mokume Gane (Woodgrain 3. Stripe Occasional Table Marram Scape Untitled (Vessel with a Twisted Grey Loop Ron King, 1972 Metal) Bowl John Coleman, 1986 Polly Binns, 1994 Felt Base) Merete Rasmussen, 2009 Published by Circle Press Alistair McCallum, 1980 Sycamore and coloured Painted linen, cotton and Simone ten Hompel, 2000 Hand-built stoneware, Mould-made paper, silk-screen Fused copper and red brass veneers, MDF linen thread Fine silver and dyed felt coloured slip printing and letterpress cutting M21 W67 (Image: Todd-White) T119 M70 P490 B15 1. Six Marquetry Brooches The Garden by Andrew Marvell 1 Bowl, 2 Jugs Bench in Memory of Nick Arber Natura Morta: Forget-me-not Patronal Festival (Series) Joan Pilsbury, 1987 Gwyn Hanssen Pigott, 1998 Jim Partridge, 2001 and Buttercup Lawrence Whistler, 1974 Peter Niczewski, 1980 Vellum, Chinese ink, watercolour Limoges porcelain, glaze Scorched and polished Christopher Thompson Royds, Engraved glass Dyed sycamore and chestnut and gold P454 green oak 2014 Blown glass by Whitefriars Glass wood veneers, birch plywood B34 W147 Painted silver Rose No 2 Limited, drill and still-point J119 (Image: Todd-White) 2015.3 Sheep Shearing Man Harriet Wallace-Jones , 1998 engraved 2. Painting in the Form of a Bowl Ron Fuller, 1992 Loom woven, dyed shantung silk G3 Gordon Baldwin, 1984 Painted wood and electronics and linen Buff clay, engobes, oxides W94 T140 and stains P349 (Image: Stokes Photo Ltd)

Maker’s Eye: Stories of Craft Exhibition Information 19 When embarking on this selection process, something from the original Maker’s Eye of contemporary furniture that illustrates a I had in mind that it would be good to assemble exhibition – Emmanuel Cooper’s inclusion of current attitude and maker. I chose a coat rack Michael a group of diverse objects that, together, might a Triumph motorcycle. This struck me at the designed and made by Max Frommeld, made describe a feeling of space that it would feel time as an exciting contrast to all the obviously from ash wood, powder-coated steel tube and Marriott comfortable to spend time in. The juxtaposition ‘hand-made’ things. I tend to have more marble. It formed part of a group of objects he of, say, a rubber bracelet by Thomas Eisl and interest in industrially manufactured objects, made for an exhibition at the Aram Gallery in a David Pye walnut bowl, next to a ceramic precisely because I can’t make them myself. 2017 and was part-funded through the furniture Product piece by Alison Britton, on a pinewood table by design award from The Arts Foundation. The Fabien Cappello, and that standing on a wool I am also interested in how the motorcycle exhibition was called Making A Living, a title rug by Peter Collingwood, felt immediately illustrated a lot of what the UK was about, that expresses an element of his concerns as Designer interesting as objects that would present culturally and industrially, then and now. an emerging practitioner. differing accents, textures, conversations The UK still has a number of thriving cottage and generations. industries (including the current iteration of Triumph), where things are typically made I have mostly chosen objects that I have some in smaller batches, sometimes bespoke, personal connection with. Some I knew from combining newer technologies with a passion exhibitions, some I knew via the makers, some for making high-quality objects alongside are contemporaries of mine, some are students a raft of craft skills. I have taught. Several I have worked with in different ways over the years. On reflection, I felt a responsibility to add something to the Collections that would Website In terms of proposing a new piece from outside further the stories already embedded within michaelmarriott.com the Collections, my first thought related to them, and that I should propose a piece Selected 1 2 3 Objects

Dish Three Flat Jugs C3 Stacking Chairs Swollen 2. Gob 3. Low Table (from ‘Christmas David Pye, 1976 Steven Newell, 1979 David Colwell, 1986 Emma Woffenden, 1996 Alison Britton, 2004 Tree’ project) Carved English walnut wood Blown lead glass Steam-bent ash wood, lacquered Free-blown and cast glass Hand-built earthenware and glaze Fabien Cappello, 2011 W8 G21 kiln-dried sycamore G84 P486 (Image: Heini Schneebeli) Hand-sawn and machine-carved W70, W71 recycled Christmas tree 1. SS37 Black Ladder with Balloon Stile Miss Ramirez W163 (Image: Todd-White) Peter Collingwood, 1977 Pierre Degen and Compass Richard Slee, 1997 El Ultimo Grito, 2006 Woven mohair, horsehair and Rosalind Perry, 1983 Thomas Eisl, 1989 Hand-built earthenware, Pressure-moulded cork and latex, Norwegian spaelsan wool Wood, rubber inner tube, iron Black rubber with built-in compass sprayed glaze steel tube, roll wheels and leather T22 (Image: Heini Schneebeli) wire, rubber balloon and paint J214 P451 W155 J160 Round Fruit Basket Grape Trap Group of Objects The Stuff of Memory; Round David Drew, 1979 Hans Stofer, 1993 Around 2000 head, tapered handle Unstripped Somerset willow Spot-welded and blackened Elizabeth Callinicos Simone ten Hompel, 2010 W27 mild steel Hand-made and found objects Hand-formed silver M53 J276 2013.12

Maker’s Eye: Stories of Craft Exhibition Information 21 My interpretation of craft has changed over a personal feeling that there is more to the Retrospectively, I have thought about other years of making. My original approach was object than might initially meet the eye. pieces that didn’t make my cut with some James geared around the mastery and refinement regret. I also wished I could have viewed some of technique in a very traditional way. Some of my selection reflects my original, of the pieces ‘in the flesh’. On a different day, Maskrey Spending hours honing fixed and strict skills technically-driven material theology, but I may have made different decisions but with appealed, as did the discipline of doing other selections interested me in their each choice came a moment of contemplation, so. Over time, I found this restrictive to my subject matter – something ‘beyond the a review and ultimately an evaluated decision. Glass Maker creativity and originality. I found myself making’, sometimes playful, sometimes This process taught me a lot about myself and searching for my own voice, trying to pull narrative. Some objects were visually the plethora of remarkable objects that are held away from a technique-laden world into a captivating, odd, strange or quirky. I felt like within these wonderful Collections. more expressive one. I don’t look at this they had a bigger story, more layers, more as time wasted; my early investment in depth. Some asked questions. technique provided me with a good toolbox. I live in quite a glass-laden world. In my Now, understanding material is the driving selection, I tried to look further than my force, understanding not so much how but own back yard and use the experience to why – not following a firm set of steps or rules question and expand my tastes and ideals, but learning how the material works and while trying to remain true to my love of thinking about that, feeling it, understanding materials and techniques. I made a very it, working with it, searching for a feeling of visual selection – objects leapt out, had Website symbiosis. Beyond that comes the depth of instant appeal, based on my inquisitiveness, sunderland.ac.uk/about/staff/ an object, the point at which it seems to have the making, use of materials, sometimes a creative-arts/jamesmaskrey more to say than simply form or function – combination of these. Selected 1 2 3 Objects

Box and lid 1. Working Drawing, ‘Five Artists Tower Construction 3. How To Make A Commercial, Aqua-Poesy VII David Pye, 1976 Reflect on Their Waning Powers Jean Davey Winter, 1992 Robert Cooper, 1994 Part I: “Cliché” – Bottled 2002 Turned and cut kingwood Paul Spooner, 1983 Brass sheets and brass wire Found rusted metal, flint, pebbles, Silver Sheep Hiroshi Suzuki W12 AM444 (Image: Stokes Photo Ltd) T110 ceramic fragments, cement Laura Potter, 1998 Hammer raised fine silver medium and sealing agent Cast silver, ready-made glass M71 Hand Mirror with Carved Back ‘Currant Drying Shed’ On Tower M55 bottles and model grass and Fine Gold Inlay Wheels, Candle Powered Jean Davey Winter, 1992 Padlock (from Ballet to J255 (Image: Todd-White) Robert Legg, 1978 Drying System Canvas sheets, linen thread 2. Large Hexagonal Wavy Remember series) Turned and carved mild steel, Hazel Jones, 1989 and steel Bowl No. 1 Hundreds and Thousands Maria Militsi, 2009–10 gold inlay Cut, shaped and soldered silver, T111 Keiko Mukaide, 1996 Angela O’Kelly, 1999 Found object and lost wax M20 copper, brass and steel Fused crystal glass strings Financial Times newspaper, cast silver Last Night the Moon… M46 G83 (Image: Todd-White) piano wire, fine silver and J293 Porcelain Handled Bowl Ewan Clayton, 1994 Mokuba paper Nick Homoky, 1981 Bamboo Box Gouache and watercolours 64 Compartment J263 Thrown oxidised porcelain, Tessa Clegg, 1999 on black Fabriano paper Grainne Morton, 1998 carved and inlaid with black stain Cast, ground and polished glass B52 Found objects, copper and acrylic P290 G86 J254

Maker’s Eye: Stories of Craft Exhibition Information 23 What does craft mean to me? I easily found my use it to exclude. Artists often fiercely deny It doesn’t put up boundaries. Craft has never answers in the objects that I selected from the any relationship with it for fear of exclusion. told me what I can, or cannot, do. Freddie Crafts Council Collections. Articulating this is However, as Glenn Adamson wrote, “for all that a harder process. craft is an embarrassment for the construct of The most explicit expression of what craft modern art, it seems that the art world cannot means to me can be found in the two most Robins 3 Craft is giving attention. It is an activity, an do without it”. The design world cannot do recently made objects in my selection. They active discipline. It is all about doing, making, without it either. both use text, inexpensive materials and are Textile Artist ‘thinking through making’, through physically not unique objects – Anthony Burrill’s screen- and emotionally knowing your materials Peter Dormer asked, “Why is craft intellectually printed handbill, Our Future is in the Making5 and processes. As Tanya Harrod put it, “Craft inconvenient in modern and contemporary and Tatty Devine’s I AM HERE laser-cut acrylic is a tool to think through”.1 It is intelligent. art?”.4 Craft as a commitment to skill, material necklace. Both make short, bold statements, It has integrity. and process still presents this inconvenience. illustrating the necessity of hope. They reiterate Despite its power, craft remains the creative my belief in people and the positive, life- Craft means power. It is a powerful activity. underdog – making it rich territory for affirming act of making – a way to take control. Participation in craft has strong links to subversion. When I revisit my selection, the improved psychological wellbeing. It can build most commonly shared attribute is ‘subversion’. 1 Tanya Harrod speaking at Craft: Phyllida Barlow and Tanya Harrod, 2 Documents of Contemporary Art, Whitechapel Gallery, London, communities. Craft has economic power. 29 November 2018 I love objects that I can wear, touch, use or 2 According to data from Measuring the Craft Economy (2014) by TBR for the Crafts Council, the craft economy generated nearly £3.4 billion Exhibitions of craft, particularly textiles, have simply look at. I love the stillness and silence for the UK economy in 2012 alone. huge pulling power. The power of craft is so of objects. They are constant and dependable. 3 Glenn Adamson, Thinking Through Craft, (Berg, 2007), p163. 4 Peter Dormer, The Culture of Craft, (Manchester University Press, 1997), p3. great that the word can strike fear. The term They are evidence that I exist, that others exist. 5 Anthony Burrill was commissioned to print his handbills in the House of Commons to launch the publication of the Crafts Council’s Our Future Website continues to be contested and is a ‘turn off’ for For me, craft is an inclusive and open-minded is in the Making: An Education Manifesto for Craft and Making, freddierobins.com some. The gatekeepers of opportunity often arena for creativity and self-expression. 10 November 2014. Selected 1 2 3 Objects

Section of Rainbow Allsorts D.I.Y. Stile Spoonie Collection: Silver 3. Handbill, Our Future Ann Sutton, 1974 Judith Robson, 1977 Lynn Setterington, 1992 Richard Slee, 1997 Plate Spoon and Pewter is in the Making Chain-linked wool Painted birch plywood Hand-quilted cotton cambric Hand-built earthenware, David Clarke , 2011 Anthony Burrill, 2014 T1 J34 and thread, polyester wadding sprayed glaze Silver spoons and hand-formed Screen-printed paper T116 P451 pewter AM484 (Image: Stokes Photo Ltd) 1. 1–11 Floor Pad Diminishing Macrogauze M90 Ann Sutton, 1974 Peter Collingwood, 1981 Allerseelen Eartab I AM HERE Necklace (1/50) Machine-knitted wool and Dacron Woven linen and steel rods Hans Stofer, 1994 Laura Potter, 1998 Diamonds Brooch Tatty Devine, 2015 T6 (Image: John Hammond) T53 Blackened, waxed and welded Silver Katy Hackney, 2012 Laser-cut acrylic and mild steel, carved olive stone heads HC1089 Hand-carved, cut, polished non-precious metal 2. Match Pin 22 In 1 Armpiece J236 and painted wood offcuts 2018.13 Gary Wright, 1976 Caroline Broadhead, 1984 Room Temperature 2013.4 Lost-wax cast silver Cotton fabric and nylon line Lin Cheung, 2007 J49 (Image: Todd-White) J235 Hand-folded photo-etched sterling silver, acrylic, and glass thermometer M79

Maker’s Eye: Stories of Craft Exhibition Information 25 The desire to make, and the ability to create Craft is dull. Craft is learned by repetition, The rationale for my selection is difficult what I want or need, is something that I grew performing the same actions until your to pin down. Starting with Rie and Coper, Matt Smith up with and continually return to. Being able knowledge of the material allows you to the works of Pearson and Partridge seemed to make something yourself allows objects produce the objects you want. I love dull. a natural aesthetic fit. While I adore their Ceramicist to be created with unique voices and from I love that so many of the makers I selected simplicity of form, it was the figurative works individual viewpoints. dedicated their time to repetition, to produce of Dixon, Eglin, McNicoll and Curneen that objects of sublime beauty. I also love the influenced my own practice and needed to This individuality gives craft a very personal ones who refuse the notion of perfection and be included. The cross-border movement of connection – it can be hard to separate the allow the haphazard, wonky and the hand- Rie and Coper was echoed in the hybridity maker from the object. I’m fortunate to own made to be celebrated and remind us that of Kaur’s work and the politics of Follen’s a few pieces by people I both like and whose we are human. practice. I selected works by Keeler, Peterson, work I admire, and my daily interaction with Yardley and Farmer since, while I covet them, those objects provides much more than a Mostly, I love that craft cannot be contained. I really want to see how they interact with each functional interaction. Like squeezing jelly, craft will always pop out other and the other objects selected. While whenever it is constrained too tightly. It will many of us in craft work alone, when we get Craft knows few boundaries – in collections continue to adapt and mutate, to shape our together interesting things happen. of applied arts or ethnographic museums, craft lives and be shaped by them. It will remind us is used repeatedly to solve quotidian problems that people count more than corporations and and provide beauty. It helps us and elevates that relationships deserve time and reflection. what we do. Craft reminds me of what we have in common. While we may have individual Website voices, we learn from each other. mattjsmith.com Selected 1 2 3 Objects

1. Flattened Pot on Foot Porcelain Winged Bowl Rectangular Bowl Coffee Set Standing Figure Crocheted brooch Hans Coper, 1972 Colin Pearson, 1980 Jim Partridge, 1985 Carol McNicoll, 1991 Claire Curneen, 1999 Lina Peterson, 2008 Wheel-thrown and joined Wheel-thrown reduced porcelain, Scorched and turned green oak Hand-built earthenware, glaze Hand-built porcelain, glaze Lost-wax cast oxidised silver, oxidised stoneware, copper manganese glaze W66 P394 P465 crocheted wool and stainless steel manganese glaze P239 HC400 Tufted Rug No. 80 Bound Their Finest Hour P40 (Image: John Hammond) Small Yellow Bowl Helen Yardley, 1986 Steven Follen, 1994 Stephen Dixon, 2004 Carpet/brush 2. Bright Side Lucie Rie, 1983–84 Tufted wool and cotton Softwood form coiled in steel wire Slab-built T Material clay, Jasleen Kaur, 2010 Mary Farmer, 1979 Wheel-thrown oxidised porcelain, T88 M59 coloured slips and lead glaze Found objects Woven cotton and wool American pigment glaze 2013.18 HC743 3. Venus et Amour Crabstock Teapot T67 (Image: Heini Schneebeli) P344 Philip Eglin, 1990 Walter Keeler, 1998 Soft slab-built T Material clay, Thrown white earthenware, glaze white slip and lead glaze P455 P392 (Image: Ian Dobbie)

Maker’s Eye: Stories of Craft Exhibition Information 27 Craft is permeable. It is the meeting and Craft is my sore hands. It is the physical but, at heart, it is a repository for memory and fusing point of different stories, disciplines and journey of making, the material experience of a tool for expression. My pieces evoke the Esna Su techniques. I trained as a jewellery designer touching. At first, my mother refused to teach past – traditions and possessions that are lost in but cannot define my practice so easily. My me the traditional Turkish technique of weaving displacement – through shapes materialising Weaver wearable pieces are sculptural embodiments hasir (wicker), a painful process. This method memory and change. of political and personal narratives, which come imparts my pieces with the rough and tangled to life through performance and interaction. nature of the stories they tell. Adam Buick’s Journey Jar is a simple yet evocative piece that speaks of personal Selecting works for Maker’s Eye was a journey I selected Adi Toch’s Oil Drizzler for its complex landscapes, connection and change. Alison through history; 1,700 pieces from across the use of silver, which creates an ambiguous Britton singularly incised and painted Big world, showcasing the transformation and material requesting intimate exploration. Green Jug, a ceramic sculpture that creates a interplay of skills, materials and technologies. Lina Peterson’s Crocheted Brooch articulates canvas with changing perspectives and angles. I chose pieces that resonate with me as a maker a dialogue between textures, translating and a viewer, pieces I have seen and been crocheting into metalwork and wood into The pieces I chose are each a part of my living inspired by. Alistair McCallum, Peter Chang silver. Silver Plate Spoon and Pewter illustrates interaction with craft, mediating who I am and and Hiroshi Suzuki’s works poignantly express how David Clarke subverts silversmithing by what I’ve experienced. that fluid essence of craft. Raised from a single creating pieces that playfully combine used sheet, Suzuki’s Aqua Poesy VII connects a objects with high craftsmanship. European aesthetic and inspirations from Japan to form vigorous waves. Castro Smith Craft is personal. The act of cutting, weaving applies his metalsmith training to reinvent and knitting was a relief, a way to mend and Website signet rings, engraving their entire surface give shape to my story and those surrounding esnasu.co.uk with motifs evoking a myriad of inspirations. me. Craft is made for many different reasons Selected 1 2 3 Objects

Gyro Bracelet 22 In 1 Armpiece Mokume Gane Bowl 1. Crocheted brooch Hollow-form 2. Oil Drizzler David Watkins, 1974 Caroline Broadhead, 1984 Alistair McCallum, 1998 Lina Peterson, 2008 Jessica Turrell, 2010 Adi Toch, 2012 Machine-formed acrylic and gold Cotton fabric and nylon line Spun patinated silver and metal Lost-wax cast oxidised silver, Electroformed, blackened Spun, raised and soldered J14 J235 M63 crocheted wool and stainless steel copper, and cotton string Britannia silver HC400 (Image: Stokes Photo Ltd) J303 M92 (Image: Stokes Photo Ltd) Big Green Jug Bracelet Transition 39 Alison Britton, 1979 Peter Chang, 1987 Naoko Sato, 2002 Third Hand (from Ballet to Spoonie Collection: American 3. Journey Jar Oxidised earthenware, glaze Carved Styrofoam, papier maché, Cast, slumped and polished glass Remember Series) Silver Spoon and Pewter Adam Buick, 2014 P235 acrylic, PVC, aluminium and steel G96 Maria Militsi, 2009–10 David Clarke, 2011 Coloured stoneware with J187 Found object and lost wax Silver spoons and hand-formed inlaid porcelain Tall Stoneware Bottle Aqua-Poesy VII cast silver pewter 2015.6 (Image: Todd-White) Richard Batterham, 1983 Brooch Hiroshi Suzuki, 2002 J291 M91 Wheel-thrown stoneware, glaze Jacqueline Mina, 1992 Hammer raised fine silver P353 Partially-oxidised 18 carat gold M71 and platinum mesh fusion inlay J234

Maker’s Eye: Stories of Craft Exhibition Information 29 I felt humbled and proud to be invited to make In the last 10 years, craft, design and fine art a selection, and wondered whether I know have come closer together. Michael Rowe has Simone enough. I only have a history in this country a fantastic quote, that I like to refer to. He says, since the late 1980s/early 1990s, when I left he goes beyond the boundaries in order to ten Hompel the Royal College of Art. I remember thinking, report back. This sort of debate, going to look if I had to choose work that is significant to a into design or fine art and bringing certain period, and I can only use these 30 years, then qualities, aspects or principles into craft Metalworker I wanted to have a plan. making, happens much more now.

I jotted down a couple of names that were Looking forward, I’m sure that digital will have significant. And I decided I didn’t want to a bigger input. I’m not interested in digital choose people I work with or people I’ve work, I like the hand, the slowness, the rhythm taught – that’s too close to have a non-biased of my heart that goes through me and into the perspective. I needed to have a principle work. But digital work, computer-generated or system that I could bounce off. The most work, rapid prototyping and 3D printing could relevant is obviously, how did this work have the same sensitivity. My hands are my resonate with me? Maybe the overarching mouth, they are the way into the metal and principle is what reaction these things have become the language. And that works for me. caused in me. They all are obvious to me having seen people work, how they developed, or just outright admiration of how stunning Website that work is. tenhompel.com Selected 1 2 3 Objects

Samurai Square Bowl 2. Hemisphere Red Figure ‘Anne’ Table Leg Sample Poster, Objects of Our Time David Watkins, 1981 Janice Tchalenko, 1986 Elisabeth Holder, 1987 Dawn Dupree, 1994 Gareth Neal, 2007 John Rushworth/Pentagram and Steel wire coated in red neoprene Wheel-thrown earthenware, glaze Crumpled and compressed fine Dyed, silk-screen printed and CNC-milled and hand-carved Kelvin Murray J172 HC2 silver foil, and stainless steel rod painted cotton drill walnut wood AM473 J192 T118a HC1070 Plate Sphere 3. Poster, No Picnic Janice Tchalenko, 1984 Elisabeth Holder, 1987 Prototype XL1 Chair Yellow Figure Poster, British Jewellery 1960– Angus Hyland/Pentagram Wheel-thrown earthenware and Crumpled and pressed copper Michael Marriott, 1991 Dawn Dupree, 1994 1985 & German Jewellery and Jun Maejima, 1998 palette of glazes foil, solder and stainless steel rod Reclaimed oak and tea chest Dyed, silk-screen printed and Paul McAlinden, Peter Campbell, AM474 HC161 J191 plywood painted cotton drill David Cripps and Otto Kunzli, 1989 W100 T118b AM466 1. Blue Flower Bowl Janice Tchalenko, 1985 Hand of Good, Hand of God Wheel-thrown reduced Freddie Robins, 1997 stoneware, glaze Machine-knitted Shetland wool P374 T165

Maker’s Eye: Stories of Craft Exhibition Information 31 Acquisition Proposals Golden Heart Ring Craft Kills Castro Smith Freddie Robins for the Crafts Council 2019 2001 18 carat yellow gold and blue rhodium Machine-knitted wool and knitting needles Collection 2019.11 2019.21 Purchase supported by Art Fund Purchase supported by Art Fund Proposed for acquisition by Esna Su Proposed for acquisition by Freddie Robins

“Smith is particularly well-known for his signet “This piece is a self-portrait based on the well- The maker-selectors were invited to take on the rings, which he uses as a canvas for his drawings. recognised image of Saint Sebastian being role of acquisition advisor and propose a new He hand engraves the entire surface using hand- martyred. I’m concerned with the stereotypical made chisels. His inspirations range from natural image of knitting as a passive, benign activity. or recent work for the Collection. Each selector history to British mythology, and a naturalistic What if craft was considered dangerous or identified a particular moment in the trajectory style inspired by his training with Kenji Io. He is subversive? Since September 11th and its of contemporary craft, that they felt would add a unique jeweller, taking traditional engraving aftermath, you can no longer fly with knitting skills beyond expectations.” needles in hand luggage. Knitting is now classed to the Collection’s narrative. – Esna Su as a dangerous activity.” – Freddie Robins

Unnecessaries Cardboard (Wellpappe) Rustic Stool series Amulet Eri Funazaki (binding) & Danny Flynn David Bielander Mark Laban Kate Haywood (words and print) 2015 2017 2016 2017–18 White gold and silver Valchromat (coloured MDF) Porcelain, silk, steel and gold leaf Goatskin, vellum leather, letterpress print, 2019.10 2019.14:1–5 2019.16 onlay, gold and white gold leaf Purchase supported by Art Fund Purchase supported by Art Fund Purchase supported by Art Fund 2019.13 Proposed for acquisition by Proposed for acquisition by Ineke Hans Proposed for acquisition by James Maskrey Purchase supported by Art Fund Caroline Broadhead Proposed for acquisition by Angela James “Laban is an experimental furniture designer “I was immediately drawn to Haywood’s “Bielander’s ‘cardboard’ bracelet displays and maker. His Rustic Collection is made by approach to materials and process resulting in “The work is a perfect marriage of skills extraordinary mastery. There are many stories of CNC machines but, for me, the work radiates objects that invite us to question their history and Funazaki and Flynn’s senses of humour. deception and fraudulent practice in jewellery, the ruralness and individuality of crafted and function. Playful yet sophisticated, her visual The press work is good and the binding and with materials designed to imitate more valuable furniture, like the straw-backed chairs from language draws on many resources. This piece box making is high quality. This is a very good ones. Making gold look like cardboard is an Orkney and the wicker chairs made by bodgers is considered, sympathetic and beautifully example of why bookbinding should be treated inversion of this. We are invited to consider what in Buckinghamshire. They all require deep finished. It celebrates all the qualities of great as applied art. It covers several disciplines is valuable –the importance of play and humour knowledge of the material and its capabilities.” craftsmanship with an added depth of narrative.” and is well-crafted, interesting and amusing.” and high craftsmanship.” – Ineke Hans – James Maskrey – Angela James – Caroline Broadhead

Maker’s Eye: Stories of Craft Exhibition Information 33 Suitcase Foundry Camber-Esker Vessel Large Cup with Handle Cup on a Floating Ground Will Shannon Sara Flynn Julian Stair Julian Stair 2009 2015 2018 2018 Mixed media, including found objects Porcelain Coiled and thrown stoneware, glaze Coloured porcelain, glaze, polyurethane, 2019.15 2019.18 2019.20 lime, marble powder, pigment and conservation Purchase supported by Art Fund Purchase supported by Art Fund Purchase supported by Art Fund grade wax Proposed for acquisition by John Grayson and a donation from Sir Nicholas Proposed for acquisition by 2019.19 and Judith Goodison Simone ten Hompel Purchase supported by Art Fund “Shannon’s fictionalised workplaces and Proposed for acquisition by Matt Smith Proposed for acquisition by enactment of the role of different craftspeople “This work, juxtaposing scaled-up versions Simone ten Hompel epitomise several themes. The resurgence of “Flynn has worked with thrown porcelain of ceramic everyday objects with smaller works, interest in craft, globalised manufacturing, the for a long time and her material knowledge represents Stair’s current thinking and contrasts blurring of boundaries between art, design is evident. The knowledge gleaned from with his earlier works. These pieces suggest that and craft, and the exploration of process are all experimentation directly informs the craft can go beyond being about the hand- hinted at in this work.” possibilities of subsequent works. I see her as made, and is about skill and strength of thinking. – John Grayson a modern link between Lucie Rie and Hans Stair combines intellect with an empathetic Coper. Her work is a testament to a sustained material understanding.” practice, which allows her to produce highly – Simone ten Hompel accomplished and beautiful work.” – Matt Smith

Caiaphas Wreath Clothes Rack Armitage Shanks Closet/Pan Mould Untitled Rozanne Hawksley Max Frommeld 2019 Takuro Kuwata 2007-2015 2017 2015 Armitage Shanks (Ideal Standard MENA) Silk, crab shells, leather, pearls and Marble, ash, powder-coated steel and brass Lafarge plaster Hand-built porcelain, glaze, pigment, taxidermy bones 2019.17 HC.2020.1 steel, and lacquer 2019.12 Purchase supported by Art Fund Donated by Armitage Shanks Loan courtesy of Alison Jacques Gallery, London Purchase supported by Art Fund Proposed for acquisition by Michael Marriott Proposed for acquisition by Assemble Proposed for acquisition by Neil Brownsword Proposed for acquisition by (Amica Dall & Giles Smith) Michael Brennand-Wood “Frommeld is part of a new generation of “This work epitomises my understanding of furniture designers and makers using craft skills. “Visiting the Armitage Shanks factory, we were craft, via its connection to understanding “Hawksley has had a significant influence on This piece is a good illustration of a current inspired by the skill and expertise we witnessed heritage and exploration of materiality, creating other makers. She constantly refines and generation of makers who are designers by in the mould-making workshop. Every toilet new tensions between the past and present. develops themes, trying to get pieces exactly training but whose practice is defined by made there is the result of mechanised Kuwata reworks traditions such as ishi-haze right and is concerned that work is resolved and innovative use of materials and exploring processes combined with the highly skilled (inserting stones into the surface of the body/ placed in a collection where it will be looked manufacturing techniques to create refined, labour of a long line of people, all of whom have glaze) and kairagi (deliberately inducing patchy after and accessible. Innovation in craft requires sculptural yet functional pieces. His works are an extraordinary depth of knowledge about clay. glazing), bringing together happenstance, both expressive and constructional voices. rich and inventive.” This mould exemplifies the craft that goes into control and material mastery.” Hawksley’s work exhibits a synthesis of these.” – Michael Marriott making everyday objects.” – Neil Brownsword – Michael Brennand-Wood – Amica Dall & Giles Smith

Maker’s Eye: Stories of Craft Exhibition Information 35 Acknowledgements

Curator-selectors Exhibition design Cover Images: Left to Right Flattened Pot on Foot, Hans Coper, 1972, Wheel-thrown Assemble (Amica Dall and Giles Smith) 3D design: Studio Mentsen Collected Elements, Rushton and joined oxidised stoneware, Aust, 1989–90, Hand-painted, manganese glaze, P40. Michael Brennand-Wood 2D design: Pentagram printed and stitched fabrics, T97. Selected by Matt Smith Caroline Broadhead Illustration: Maggie Li Selected by Neil Brownsword Stile, Richard Slee, 1997, Hand- Neil Brownsword Build production: Oval Workshop Dish, David Pye, 1976, Carved built earthenware, sprayed glaze, Dr Christine Checinska Graphics production: Paw Print English walnut wood ,W8. P451.Selected by Freddie Robins Selected by John Grayson and and Michael Marriott John Grayson Lighting: TM Lighting Michael Marriott Ineke Hans Spoonie Collection: Silver Plate Small Yellow Bowl, Lucie Rie, Spoon and Pewter, David Clarke, Angela James The Crafts Council would like to thank 1983–84, Wheel-thrown oxidised 2011, Silver spoon and hand- Michael Marriott Adrian Sassoon, Alison Jacques Gallery, porcelain, American pigment formed pewter, M89. (illustration) glaze, P344. Selected by Selected by Caroline Broadhead James Maskrey BJS Company Limited, Corvi-Mora, London, Matt Smith and John Grayson

Freddie Robins Ed Cross Fine Art, Gagosian New York, Golden Heart Ring, Castro Pussyhat, Abbey Gans Mather, Matt Smith Salon 94, New York, The collection of Suha Smith, 2019, Purchase supported 2016, Knitted Valley Yarns merino by Art Fund. Proposed for and alpaca blend, 2018.8. Esna Su Islam, Tawani Contemporary, Theaster Gates, acquisition by Esna Su Selected by Caroline Broadhead Simone ten Hompel for object loans Guardian, Claire Curneen, Although the Puff Adder Artists who kindly lent their work; 2011, Hand-built porcelain, Cannot Fly it has Caught the Crafts Council Project Team transfers and gold lustre, 2015.1. Hornbill (Ashanti Proverb), Darren Appiagyei, Michael Brennand-Wood, (illustration) Selected by Gillian Lowndes, 1986, Mild steel, Annabelle Campbell Emefa Cole, Mac Collins, Farrah Riley Gray, Michael Brennand-Wood Egyptian paste, nichrome wire Curator: Creative Projects & Partnerships and clinker, P384. Selected by Bisila Noha, Francisca Onumah, Bharti Parmar, Sphere, Elisabeth Holder, 1987, Neil Brownsword Crumpled and pressed copper Uli Gamper Moses Quiquine, Sophie Sellu, Meron Wolde foil, solder and stainless steel rod, Prototype XL1 Chair, Michael Projects Curator J191. Selected by Simone ten Marriott, 1991, Reclaimed oak The Art Fund for supporting the purchase Hompel and tea chest plywood, W100. Selected by Ineke Hans and Louise Kelly of new acquisitions Simone ten Hompel Brand and Marketing Manager Sir Nicholas Goodison for supporting the Alasdair Lawrence purchase of Camber Esker Vessel Collections Documentation Officer Ralph Turner (1936–2017) for curatorial Maddie McCann inspiration Exhibitions & Collections Coordinator Chloe Patrickson Marketing Officer Which objects and stories speak to you? Can you choose a favourite? Jill Read Share your stories of craft using #MakersEye Head of Communications Deborah Ridley @CraftsCouncil Collections Manager @CraftsCouncilUK

Sarah Turner craftscouncil.org.uk Projects Curator Crafts Council Registered Charity Number: 280956