Crafts Council has eyes on MMU artist

The prestigious Crafts Council has judged MMU student Clare Knox-Bentham to be one of the ‘very best up-and-coming artists’ in the country.

The Creative Business Development student, who graduated from Three-Dimensional Design with First Class Honours last year, is one of only eight emerging artists selected to exhibit new work at The COLLECT Trail in London.

Clare was invited to create site-specific work for the Duke of York Square, Chelsea, to celebrate the Crafts Council’s annual show COLLECT at the nearby Saatchi Gallery.

The aim of The Trail is to take dynamic contemporary craft beyond the gallery by showcasing it in retail windows and unexpected spaces around the capital’s King’s Road.

Bowled over by her designs

The 39-year-old designer describes her work as “turning drawings into three dimensions” and has produced a vibrant large-scale illustrative wall hanging in brightly coloured plastic for the exhibition.

Using heat-extruded EVA glue and lacquer, Clare has created a delicate lace-like installation from which a random mix of fish bones, skulls and flower-heads emerge.

Kath Libbert, who commissioned Clare for the show and has previously exhibited her work at the Kath Libbert Jewellery Gallery, says: “I was bowled over by Clare’s work, which I though was particularly special. These are full of amazing drawn faces. The more you look at them the more you see!”

Fluid forms intrigue the observer

The talented Stockport designer has used the same technique to create an abstract jewellery collection, holding a solo exhibition at the HUB National Centre for Craft and Design in September 2009.

Her jewellery was described by HUB as “resembling a series of drawings for the body. The saturated colour and slippery surfaces allude to precious lacquerwork, whilst fluid forms blur the line between liquid and solid.”

The COLLECT Trail opened on Saturday and runs until the 18th May 2010. Two 30-minute walking tours will take place on Friday 14th May and Saturday 15th May, starting outside the Taschen store on Duke of York Square at 1pm. Crafts by other artists include crochet, mosaic, metal and ceramic work.

Read more about the trials and tribulations of creating the huge installation piece on Clare’s blog.