Out of the Ordinary: Spectacular Craft

I just wanted to tell you about a really inspiring exhibition I went to last week at the V&A: Out of the Ordinary: Spectacular Craft . Art made with craft techniques/ artistic craft (or whatever you want to call it) has received a lot of much deserved publicity and discussion of late and while this exhibition is small in scale it showcases some really inspiring international artists/craftspeople.

I was really impressed by Susan Collis, who uses jewellery techniques where you would least expect to see them. I loved her table, where what appear to be watermarks and paint splashes are in fact made from inlaid mother of pearl, howlite and opal, among other things. I also really liked her dust sheets, which look paint-splatted until you inspect them more closely and see that they're meticulously embroidered. I tried to find some good images of her work but this is something that really only comes alive when you see in up close and personal. The images just look like ordinary screws, rawl-plugs, paint-splattered furniture and dust sheets!

Lu Shengzhong's papercut work (pictured above) was amazing too and really quite moving. Incredibly, each of the thousands of figures that make up the work is individually cut with scissors and scalpels.

There are photos of each artist's studio space on display as well, which is really interesting if you're anything like me and enjoy nosing around other people's spaces!