Thursday, September 26, 2013

Crochetdermy - Shauna Richardson

Not a book but art. Since July some of Shauna Richardson's work has been displayed in what used to be a bakery in Leicester. I think the exhibition continues until mid October and anybody who can should go and see it. I try and walk past it as often as I can, have dragged several people along to have a look, and to my today finally got round to taking a few pictures on my phone through the windows. (I hope this isn't breaching any sort of copyright). Please do have a look at links here and here as well.

33 Cank Street had been empty for a couple of years so seeing it as a pop up gallery is brilliant, though I'm sorry that I only spotted it by chance - this is the sort of thing that deserves posters around town to draw the would be viewers attention (would it surprise anybody to know that almost all of the very many council funded posters about the place feature Richard the Third in some way?) The old building has been divided up into a series of little rooms and dressed in the manner of a Victorian diorama, the Crochetdermy is extraordinary - anatomically correct animals ranging from small (rabbits and the like) to the huge (bear) made out of crochet. Crochet has never really conjured images of wild animals to me before, it's always seemed a particularly homely sort of craft, and I have no idea how you get these type of results out of it but it's amazing - my pictures (crappy though they are) will do a much better job (painting a thousand words and all that) than anything I can say. I really hope Leicester does more of this kind of thing.







4 comments:

  1. Now I understand where the eye came from! Amazing work.

    Diana

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    1. It's incredible Diana, the anatomical detail is what makes them so disturbing - they look like muscled beasts that could spring into action - far more so than most taxidermy I've seen. The first time I looked I thought it was amusing, but each time I look at them they haunt me a little bit more.

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  2. Oh wow - they are amazing. Off to look at her website. It's sort of like the shock you get from crochet made from metal wire (for instance) -- a complete jolt to one's expectations.

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  3. It's just that, the orange baboon (?) is a portrait of Prince Harry apparently, they're not especially friendly looking animals... I've been past several times now to have a look at her work and come away more impressed each time.

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