The Future of Craft - London Craft Week with Design Nation
I'm very excited to be showing at London Craft Week Thursday 12 - Sunday 15 May 11am - 6pm
I’m exhibiting my Portrait of an Engineer series and my Boat Builders at Bargehouse, a fantastic industrial building at Oxo Tower Wharf. The perfect setting for these two projects both about people who make things but with quite different perspectives at different points in their careers.
Bargehouse, Oxo Tower Wharf, London SE1 9PH
It is great to be part of the Design Nation group.
I'll be demonstrating my making technique on Sunday 15 May 2 - 5pm in the talks room.
Portrait of an Engineer - Bridgeport Milling Machine 2019
Hand stitched silk organza on linen
53 x 70 cm (framed size 76 x 85cm)
I spoke at length to Steve Suttle, Engineering Manager of Technical Production at The Natural History Museum a fascinating and knowledgeable person with a lifetime’s experience of making.
Before coming to The Museum, Steve (like several of his colleagues) worked in the Aerospace industry for over twenty-five years, starting as an apprentice when he left school. Despite being really welcoming and interested in my Value of Making project, Steve was pretty gloomy about the future of engineering in this country he couldn’t see where the next generation where going to be able to learn and grow and practice the haptic skills required to become proficient.
Steve didn’t single out a particular favourite tool but rather expressed the idea that all his tools were an extension of his hands and that he would feel lost without them. Consequently he felt really aggrieved if anything went missing, or was borrowed and not returned. We also talked about having the right tool for the job and developing new skills and enjoying learning to use new tools like CAD.
For me the Machine tools were the stars of the show, the big enamelled beasts, oily and covered in sparkling swarf. I went on to make three large textile pieces based on these machines ‘Portrait of an Engineer’.
The Boat Builders a series of portraits documenting the work of the Foreman and Apprentices at Berthon Boatyard in Lymington. Highlighting the Value of Making and the importance of skilled labour. A celebration of people who prefer a hands-on approach, whose knowledge and skill is gained through the doing, learnt through making. This project was supported by Arts Council England.
Steph Jung - 3rd year Apprentice Engineer
Hand stitched silk organza on linen
23cm x 27cm
Steph is an enthusiastic advocate for Berthon Apprenticeships. She had planned to go to university to study engineering but switched to do an apprenticeship at the last minute, enjoying earning alongside learning and being free of student debt. She has taken full advantage of all Berthon have to offer including taking up the invitation to travel on board an explorer yacht from Puerto Montt to Puerto Williams through the Patagonian fjords.