Phrenology - (Wolf) Big Enough to Eat You

This is the first in a new series of Phrenology pieces. This one is based on a wolf, the other two in this new set are rabbits. I'm adding final details to the others but will post them soon. I'm working against the clock - but hopefully these will be showing at the Scope Art Fair in New York with Gallery 'Jack the Pelican Presents'. The first Phrenology series will also be transferring to 'Jack the Pelican' when the 'Pricked: Extreme Embroidery' exhibition closes on the 28th of April

'we make money not art'

Just a quickie. I love the 'we make money not art' website and they've just done a great review of the 'Pricked: Extreme Embroidery' exhibition. Please click to see the review and have a look around the fantastic site.
http://www.we-make-money-not-art.com/archives/2008/03/pricked-extreme-embroidery.php

scraps for phrenology

I'm working on another set of phrenology heads - each head is stitched into and appliqued with printed texts and images from my sketchbooks. This is part of a set of sketchbook pages I'm using for the current work.

Burnett & Catt recycled costume commission - designs

We've been commissioned to design a new costume made of recycled materials to help promote recycling. This is the initial design sheet. Its based on a late Baroque Madame Pompadour/ Marie-Antoinette style character with a powdered wig created from old knitwear. The main part of the gown to be created from used carriers and foil packaging, embroidered and woven onto
a fabric backing. The shape of the dress is based loosely on tree roots - carrier bags wrapped around a padded framework of spiralling curls. The bodice can be heavily stitched and patterned. The wings to be attached to fibre rods, we're imagining a loose and delicate filigree of stitched plastics. The gown to be sleeveless but finished with a set of heavily embellished bands at the forearm and a sash of flowers created from plastics (bottle bottoms/ carriers etc). A pair of fans will finish the outfit and enable the actor to create shape and character. As far as possible we will will limit the palette, we're imagining white with greens and maybe a touch of purple / blue, but this really depends on what materials we find. There is also scope to create little creatures, birds/ butterflies etc, and hide them within the wig and folds of the dress to add interest. We'd aim to make the costume look sumptous and baroque, with closer inspection revealing the nature of the materials used to create it.

sheep unveiling

The sheep was unveiled today. We had a clown, a band, donkeys and the deputy Mayor came to do the honours in her jewellery, releasing helium balloons to a countdown. Even the sun came out! The council produced some sustainable sheep shopping bags to hand out to the crowd - 'a very ewesful bag'.

public art - installing the sheep

The sheep is being installed in the town centre. Its a tight deadline as the unveiling is this Saturday the 1st of March. So far we've had freezing temperatures, gale force winds, torrential rain and the odd earthquake, along with various cuts, bruises, aches and pains, coffee burns and a cement filled eye. If whoever it is in charge of the weather happens to glance at this tonight can we have a few days of sun please? There's been alot of interest from the public - alot of good comments and a few bad - including concerns that we're planting a devil opposite woolies. Anyway there are a few photos above of the last couple of weeks progress. Some shots of the iron umbrella from its beginnings in the Old Forge Foundry through to its welding into the site. A detail of the mosaic before the mesh was applied to the plinth and fantastic support artist Kath who's been out in all weathers.

Public Art Project in Progress (Sheep)

These images show the development of a current project to create a sculpture for a town centre space. Last year I was commissioned to undertake the consultation with the general public and make sure that local people had a say in the final piece. The local community decided on a sheep sculpture in stone, with a realistic/comic element and the final theme was voted on as - a shopping sheep. Later I was commissioned to design and create the final piece. Anyway the pictures show a few of the stages of the design process - from sketchbook roughs through to my maquette to it's current stage, also pictured is the life size version in clay which will be used to create the mould for the cast stone to be fabricated locally by Martin Bond.

pricked: extreme embroidery exhibition pictures

Well I didnt take many photos at the opening and when I went back the next day I was only allowed to photograph my own work in situ. But here are a few snaps anyway - and a link to a review in the New York Times.

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/28/arts/design/28embr.html

Myartpace Interview link

I'm back from New York - it was a great experience and i took pictures of the Pricked: Extreme Embroidery exhibition. Can't post images here at the moment though as my own computer is in storage till I move house. Meanwhile though, I was interviewed by myartspace - the interview is at this address:


http://www.myartspace.com/blog/2007/11/art-space-talk-morwenna-catt.html

Pricked: Extreme Embroidery

Still not having any chance to update my blog but I'm showing my Phenology Heads as part of the Pricked: Extreme Embroidery exhibition at The Museum of Arts & Design, 40 West 53rd St, New York. The show opens on the 8th November and runs until the 9th March 2008.

Please see press release below:

Samplers, table cloths, tea towels, and party dresses often spring to mind when the word “embroidery” is invoked, but the forty international artists highlighted in Pricked: Extreme Embroidery tell a very different story. Pricked is the Museum of Arts & Design’s latest exploration into how centuries-old handcraft traditions are rejuvenated in the mainstream of contemporary art and design. The artists are both men and women from 12 countries as diverse as Transylvania, Egypt, Wales, Mexico and the Netherlands, as well as the U.S. Chosen to showcase the diversity of approaches to this standard needleworking technique, the works in Pricked: Extreme Embroidery also convey powerful and personal content that ranges from subjective dreams and diaries to controversial politics in today’s world. The works are individually arresting, provocative, satirical, and humorous.
Pricked Extreme Embroidery follows the success and international acclaim of the Museum’s exhibition Radical Lace & Subversive Knitting, which premiered earlier this year at MAD and is now on an extensive tour to other art museums. Like Radical Lace, this new exhibition is poised to change the way the public views the contemporary evolution of an ancient art.
Works by artists of the caliber of Maira Kalman and Elaine Reichek are shown alongside works by emerging artists such as Andrea Deszo of Transylvania, who records aphorisms and warnings received from her Transylvania mother in a series titled “My Mother Claimed That…” In addition, works by designers such as Mattia Bonetti document the use of embroidery techniques in the sphere of design.
In addition to fibrous materials like cotton and wool, artists and designers employ the unexpected ranging from stone to digital prints to human hair and skin. A North Carolina artist, Nava Lubelski, explores the contradictory activities of spoiling and mending by stitching over spills, stains and rips she finds on tablecloths, napkins, and canvas. The artist uses canvas stretchers as her embroidery loop, and the wooden strips are often visible through the mended tears.
The artists in Pricked use embroidery as a means to reflect, both internally, and on the outside world. Dutch artist Tilleke Schwarz stitches the subconscious; dreamlike scenarios, fleeting thoughts, and imaginative imagery recorded on cloth. In Fast Machine, 2006, Benji Whalen embroiders tattoos onto a wall-mounted, stuffed arm. For the exhibition, the artist has created a large installation of hanging tattooed arms, each with imagery alluding to alternative culture and art.
The exhibition is accompanied by an illustrated, full-color catalogue published by MAD that includes an essay by chief curator, David McFadden; illustrations of works by each artist, along with short biographies; and an index. For more information about ordering the catalogue, please call The Store at 212-956-3535 x157.