MA collective showcases craft
and design at new exhibition
Transition, a collective of Masters (MA) alumni from the School of Craft and Design at the University for the Creative Arts (UCA), Farnham, will be hosting an exhibition of the same name at Oxmarket Gallery in Chichester this week.
18 Nov 2019
Transition, a collective of Masters (MA) alumni from the School of Craft and Design at the University for the Creative Arts (UCA), Farnham, will be hosting an exhibition of the same name at Oxmarket Gallery in Chichester this week.
Opening on 19 November Transition showcases expressive, innovative and recent work, which breaks new ground, blurs boundaries between disciplines, and tests our conventional ideas of craft – whilst remaining beautiful and desirable. With a focus on high-quality crafts(wo)manship, the exhibition will present makers working in textiles, jewellery, ceramics, metalwork, product design and mixed media.
'Nudibranch' crescent brooch by Nicky Lawrence
The collective was formed by artists who met on the Craft and Design MA at UCA, with the aim to continue supporting one another and promoting the value of craft and design after leaving UCA.
Jo Lally, one of the jewellers in the collective said: “We all came to UCA with different skills and backgrounds, each taking something different from the support we were given. This varied from having the encouragement to reflect and question why and taking advantage of the facilities to produce cross-disciplinary works, to seeing things differently.”
'Liminal Space' by Annette Mills
Throughout the exhibition many of the makers are concerned with physical, mental, social and environmental health. A mental health activist uses mixed media to foreground the hidden anguish of mental illness and represents the path to health. A diver uses glass and metal to make stunning jewellery representing damaged coral reefs, and more often than not makers use sustainable, natural, recycled or otherwise unusable materials to minimise their impact on the world.
'Swirl' by Jo Lally
“We hope that the viewer will take from the exhibition thoughts about materials, materiality, and the levels of skill needed, as well as thoughts about our concepts, which include the hidden nature of mental health, the urgency of the need to look after our environment, and the relationship between artwork and audience.
“Craft and making are fundamental ways in which humans interact with the world and make sense of their surroundings. More and more we are losing this direct contact with the world, and this loss is damaging us. The feeling of complete calmness and being in the moment that comes when engaging in craft is wonderful and beneficial for our health,” explained Jo.
The makers are Annette Mills, Jennifer Jones, Tara Kennedy, Nicky Lawrence, Jo Lally, Susan Stringfellow, Manuela Kagerbauer, Steven Edwards, Colleen Hillman, Jo Hannah.
Join the Transition collective at the Oxmarket in Chichester from 19 November to 1 December. View the exhibition, meet some of the makers, and listen to them talking about their work.
To learn more about the School of Craft and Design at UCA, visit the subject pages.