Exquisite craftsmanship is on show with our Wood makers at Collect Art Fair, from large-scale sculptural installation to bespoke home decor. Featuring Makers Katie Walker, Carl Fox & Porter + Trundle
Katie Walker’s approach of combining sculpture with practical furniture design has resulted in a diverse range of work from small pieces of domestic furniture, through one-off commercial commissions to art based sculptural pieces.
Katie was inspired to make her Collect piece ‘Still Breathing’ after watching the film ‘painting the line’ about the life and work of Bridget Riley. She talks about capturing the essence and rhythm of nature within the realm of ‘flat’ painting. This approach resonates deeply with her although her language is most definitely three dimensional. Katie’s approach uses the inherent tension in a natural material, wood, which enhances the expression and intention of the piece, bringing it to life. Her three panel screen is a development of the techniques used in her Bridget Riley inspired ‘Still Breathing’ pieces, celebrating the colour blue.
Carl is a self-taught leather craftsman working with the ancient craft of marquetry, creating abstract works with leather and wood veneer. He works from his studio in Greenwich.A self-taught artist, Carl has dedicated his spare time over the last twenty-five years to learn a range of craft skills that have culminated in the practice he has today. Ranging from interior design to upholstery, textile work to furniture restoration, Carl discovered leather craft and it's been a love affair ever since.
For Collect, Carl’s ‘As day turned to night, there was you’ explores themes of self and queer identity, community, chosen family and perseverance. Using block work and abstraction, Carl illustrates this narrative without the use of figurative imagery. With only colour and materiality to connect the viewer to the piece, he invites the audience to intuitively translate the work to their own experience. Materials that are ingrained in the collective psyche, leather and wood envelop you with a feeling of comfort, tactility, the desire to move toward the work and touch it. The healing power of colour and texture combined.Carl relates this to his experience as a queer man, one of many children who lost their family through just being, discovering a community that embraced him without question and a craft that evokes a serenity deep within.
Since 2019, London based artists Sarah Emily Porter and James Trundle have collaborated as Porter + Trundle to create playful and sculptural interior objects that remind us to be both bold and daring. Using a combination of traditional craft techniques with digital process to manipulate wood into ambiguous forms, Porter + Trundle create work that is unconstrained by the expectations associated with the material. The application of colour, a key component of their work, obscures the craftsmanship invested, further simplifying the forms to allow them to drift into pure abstraction.
This new body of work ‘Flotsam & Jetsam’ explores the diversity of British timber, using a mixture of timbers from across the British isles. In this collection, their signature splash of colour and playful forms are all derived from the British Seaside. Rather than using driftwood and naturally weather forms traditionally associated with coastal craft, this work uses contemporary techniques, alongside traditional woodturning, to create crisp, modern abstractions that showcase the diversity associated with harbours and beachside resorts.
