TALKING SPACES - A LIFE IN CRAFT

‘Talking Space – A Life in Craft’ is about telling some of the stories of the many aspects of what it means to live a life in craft. This is often hidden behind closed doors. The creative spaces of three established artist-craftspeople were chosen: a domestic setting, an established studio, and a lost studio.

This work was selected and developed for Collect Open: The International Art Fair for Modern Craft and Design, by the Crafts Council, held at Somerset House, London, February 2020.

The three collections: NURTURE, LEGACY & RENEWAL were created for COLLECT, The International Art Fair for Modern Craft and Design at Somerset House, London in 2020.

“How interesting! Beautifully crafted and a wonderful comment on space and creativity.”

— Ruth Housby, Sir John Soane’s Museum

NURTURE

Paula Reason, NURTURE, 2019. 55 X 70cm. Embroidered and painted silk panel

Paula Reason, LEGACY, 2019. 2 x 51 x 124cm. Embroidered and painted silk panels

Paula Reason, RENEWAL, 2019. 90 x 86 x 147cm. Embroidered and painted silk panels

“Blown away by this work. Very inspiring and original.”

— Barbara Roberts, Sunbury Gallery

“Beautiful and inspiring Thank you!”

— Jo Bailey, Homes and Gardens

“Paula’s translation of these spaces into embroidered drawings call to mind Paul Klee’s description of ‘taking a line for a walk’ – that’s how she makes them and that’s how we read them. The eye follows the line, catching on fine details, like arresting phrases. In their exactitude they transcend mere representation. They are exercises in deep looking, but they are also tributes, acts of respect, suffused with affection for lives lived in a certain way, centred on making.”

— Paul Harper in Talking Spaces : A Life in Craft (2020) International Textile Research Centre, University for the Creative Arts