Materials Masters, Collect 2022

I’m really delighted to be exhibiting at Collect, the leading international fair for contemporary craft and design, organised by the Crafts Council at Somerset House in London.

I will be showing with the Queen Elizabeth Scholarship Trust as part of an exhibition entitled Material Masters. The showcase will feature pieces by QEST Scholars working across a wide range of materials – a snapshot of the broad selection of crafts the charity supports.

“Each maker has an individual voice, but they are united in their passion and devotion to mastering their chosen material, as evidenced in these wonderfully crafted objects.

Curated by Brian Kennedy, the showcase investigates what has drawn each maker to their material, the unique challenges each material presents along with the skills required to overcome these, and the role that QEST has played on each maker’s journey to becoming a material master. Selected materials range from porcelain to paper, fleece to glass, thread to slate and more.”

QEST To Return To Collect in 2022 with Material Masters - QEST

My two selected artworks were created in response to a residency undertaken in India in 2018.

The indigo coloured artwork is handwoven in a bast fibre I sourced from a market in India, and a mercerized cotton from one of my UK suppliers. After being woven, it was dyed by hand. Both the cotton and bast fibre were already coloured, so it was an interesting exercise in overdyeing to achieve this colour. It's woven in a favourite open weave structure which is entirely structurally stable but offers a wonderful 'view through' to the shadows cast onto the wall behind.

The lighter coloured panel is handwoven in organic handspun Kala cotton which I sourced from the Khamir Craft Centre in India which hosted the residency, and a mercerized cotton from one of my UK suppliers. Due to the twist of the Kala cotton weft, once woven in this same favourite open-weave structure, its latent energy is revealed as it retracts and curls in the most wonderful fashion.

Collect is open to the public from the 25-27 February 2022, with previews on the 23-24 February. For further information and to buy tickets, please follow this link.