Nature / Nurture at Collect Art Fair 2022
These two ideas have been historically cast in binary opposition, an incompatible comparison between human influence and the natural world. Yet there is clearly a pressing need to reassess and learn to value our relationship with the natural. This is a conversation about what our connection to nature actually is, and could or should be.
The international artist-designer-makers included in this collection by turn embrace, problematise and re-conceptualise ideologies of sustainability and conscious sourcing to create beautifully crafted sculptural objects and wall-pieces in materials such as grasses, wood, jute, sisal, willow, and stoneware.
This exhibition will be presented at Collect 2022, at Somerset House, London, it is a new exploration of our NATURAL ROOM collection. The intention, however, is for it to be much more than a collection: it’s about an approach to living through design that respectfully connects us to the natural world. It aims to create interiors that are of our moment – to focus our thoughts and reflect on our lives - while embodying a long-term vision of how we might live in the future.
The artists and designers express our wider society’s growing awareness and concern for our ecological health; this societal movement is of course pivoted on our environmental emergency. The collection raises questions about how we might make meaningful change at a domestic level through the choices we make about our interiors. It asks us to look around our homes and think about why and how we’ve chosen the objects we live with. At the same time, the collection is not meant to be didactic; it is about opening up a conversation and also about introducing these pieces to a wider audience, so that they may appreciate the value of these materials and enjoy design that engages with nature on an essential level.
The curation will highlight Arko’s rice straw constructions, featured here, She uses the material to not only reference her Japanese heritage, but also to highlight the ability of raw materials to provide energy and sustain life on earth through her work, she encourages us to carefully consider the gift of natural sustenance, which will only continue if we respect and nurture a symbiotic and balanced relationship with the earth. Luke Fuller’s work offers a different perspective, urging us to interrogate our often naive or simplified notions of sustainability. His monumental, tectonic works in clay confront us with forms drawn from coal mining, and imagined barren landscapes manipulated to human ends. He focuses our attention on the sheltering of the urban populace, our privilege distancing us from the fundamental means of production and the realities of industry that we rely on.
Adding to the conversation will be Fernando Laposse’s sisal pup bench- part of his sisal series of furniture- recently shown by the Design Museum in London and produced in collaboration with local artisans in Mexico. We will also show Joe Hogan’s hand-woven sculptural baskets and new work from Julian Watts and Ernst Gamperl ahead of their solo exhibitions at the gallery in 2022.
Sarah Myerscough will be part of a discussion at the fair on How to acquire and live with contemporary craft
(in association with House & Garden magazine)
Saturday 26 February, 15.00 (GMT)
Attend online - £8.50, via Eventbrite
Attend in person at Somerset House - included with your ticket admission
Chaired by House & Garden’s Features Editor Elizabeth Metcalfe, interior designer and antiques dealer Max Rollitt and gallerist Sarah Myerscough reflect on the role craft plays in interiors today. United through their love of natural materials, the pair demystify the process of collecting craft for your home and reflect on how these tactile pieces can enrich an interior.
