Object as Muse

Asentamiento Dress’ 2006 (1450×840×620mm) © Julie Cook/ Crafts Council 2007

Object as Muse is an exhibition that presents six different artist responses to the Asentamiento Dress by textile artist Julie Cook that is part of the Crafts Council Collection. This new exhibition is launched at the recently opened Winchester Discovery Centre from 8 August to the 19 October, 2008.

The Asentamiento Dress is part of ‘Duende: A time for healing’ a series that was developed by Julie Cook in collaboration with counselling psychologist, Lisa Isaacs. Influenced by an expressive Andalusian culture and Flamenco song and dance, the Asentamiento Dress provides emotional catharsis to the wearer through the act of performance. Made from a cotton duvet with silk poultice and tapes it is worn as a dress that encompasses the whole body in warm, comforting duck down.

Object as Muse presents us with work by six artists of varying disciplines in response to the Asentamiento Dress and its accompanying video performance piece. Colette Bryce, David Birkin, Dunne and Raby with Noam Toram, Tamsin van Essen, Arabel Lebrusan and Susie MacMurray present a poem, a photo, a film, six ceramic vessels, a silver mantilla and a drawing that will be shown alongside the ‘muse’. Through these very different works the artists explore rituals, neuroses, emotional and physical health and relationships, all prevalent themes in Julie Cooks work.

Colette Bryce uses the duvet as the starting point for a poem about a woman dealing with the break down of a relationship, Arabel Lebrusan worked with a Spanish craftsman to create a silver filigree mantilla that refers to Andalusian culture and Susie MacMurray draws an intricate gauze bandage that picks up on the theme of wounds and the healing process.

Object as Muse is a diverse exhibition that unites craft and fine art disciplines and presents the viewer with a thought-provoking range of made objects that raise questions about how we express our emotions to the outside world and consequently how we deal with those emotions.

The Crafts Council are excited by this new partnership with the Winchester Discovery Centre as they embark on an innovative new programme that intends to develop further its exploration of contemporary craft.

“Hampshire County Council is delighted to be holding such a wonderful exhibition which covers many different artistic genres which I hope will hold appeal to a wide audience. I would like to thank the Crafts Council for making this exhibition possible and treating the people of Hampshire to yet another exciting cultural experience at the Winchester Discovery Centre.”
Executive Member for Recreation, Heritage and Communities, Councillor Margaret Snaith

“We are really excited that the Winchester Discovery Centre are the launch venue for the new Crafts Council exhibition Object as Muse. The exhibition is unusual in its presentation of both art and craft in response to an extraordinary textile piece – the Asentamiento Dress by Julie Cook. We hope this exhibition heralds the start of a fruitful relationship with this ambitious new venue.”
Rosy Greenlees, Executive Director, Crafts Council

For more information and electronic images please contact Jill Read in the Crafts Council Press Office on Tel: +44 (0) 20 7806 2549, Email: media@craftscouncil.org.uk

—Ends—

Notes on artists

• Julie Cook graduated from Middlesex University in 2002 where she studied jewellery under Caroline Broadhead and Pierre Degen. Julie’s 20 year, and continuing, experience as a nurse has become the foundation for her textile constructions that provide emotional and physical therapy for the body in pain. Her ‘therapeutic appliances’, often made from duvets, blankets and pillowcases with strong medical overtones, are there to comfort and console in times of heart-break, grief and intense sadness.
• Colette Bryce used the material of the dress, a duvet, as a starting point for a poem about a woman dealing with the break-down of a relationship.
• David Birkin presents ‘Confessions’. Members of his family made a confession in private with only a camera as witness. The shutter remained open for the duration of the confession resulting in a blurred image of a figure. The physical shape of guilt is seen through the outlined trace of the body and its movements.
• Dunne & Raby with Noam Toram work addresses modern day neuroses by providing ‘appliances’, such as ‘Huggable Mushrooms’, that help people feel comforted and safe.
• Tamsin van Essen picks up on the medical element of Julie’s work to present ‘Scars’, a collection of apothecary ceramic jars with the interiors representing different diseases. They comment on the tendency of people to conceal ill health rather than accepting it as part of life.
• Arabel Lebrusan’s ‘Mantilla’ was developed with Spanish craftsmen, who still use the dying craft of silver filigree work. The silver filigree and steel provide certain protection and the mantilla as garment, expresses grief.
• Susie MacMurray’s drawing ‘Gauze Bandage’ echoes the notion of physical and emotional repair, contrasting with the voluminous Asentamiento Dress.

Notes to Editors

• The Crafts Council is the national development agency for contemporary crafts.
The Crafts Council aims to position the UK as the best place in the world for making,
seeing and collecting contemporary craft.
• For further information about the Crafts Council visit www.craftscouncil.org.uk
• The Crafts Council is supported by Arts Council England.