Buttons! and weaving at Masterworks

Masterworks Gallery, 30 July-19 August 2017

Craig McIntosh, Becky Bliss, Neke Moa, Stephen Bradbourne, Lisa West, Ross Malcolm.
Craig McIntosh, Becky Bliss, Neke Moa, Stephen Bradbourne, Lisa West, Ross Malcolm.

Two new exhibitions with costume and textile interest open at Masterworks Gallery in Auckland at the end of July. Weaver Christopher Duncan is part of  Room for Conversation, with ceramicist Aaron Scythe and glass artist Layla Walter. Duncan’s work is linen, cotton and silk; some silks are vintage, others dyed with Tasmanian Blackwood or walnut.

Christopher Duncan
Christopher Duncan

Scythe also features in the other exhibition opening at the same time, Pretty and Practical: The Button Show. The show’s title comes from a series of buttons of the same name made in the 80s by feted New Zealand jeweller Warwick Freeman, some of which are included in the exhibition.

Frances Stachl, Jane Dodd, Lisa Woods, Fran Allison, Mary Curtis.
Frances Stachl, Jane Dodd, Lisa Woods, Fran Allison, Mary Curtis.

Inspired by conversations with clients and artists about textile art and projects that noted the scarcity of the kinds of buttons that complement such projects, the gallery invited its artists  to design and make some buttons. The response was ‘overwhelming’, and unique, handcrafted buttons in glass, ceramic, pearl, bone or metal have been arriving for the opening on Sunday 30 July.

The buttons live up to the title and brief: works of art to delight the senses that are still functional. Pretty and Practical is a collector’s dream, the answer to the maker’s dilemma of embellishing that garment with a worthy button; a delicious detail for a special textile object.

Jane Dodd - Bone 'Ghost Brooches'
Jane Dodd – Bone ‘Ghost Brooches’
Ross Malcolm 'Akeake Button' mounted on foliage card
Ross Malcolm ‘Akeake Button’ mounted on foliage card
Warwick Freeman 'Weka' and 'Star' buttons
Warwick Freeman ‘Weka’ and ‘Star’ buttons
Lisa West 'Wolf Button'
Lisa West ‘Wolf Button’
Jane Dodd 'Pearl Ghost Buttons'
Jane Dodd ‘Pearl Ghost Buttons’
Aaron Scythe 'Ceramic Mountain Buttons'
Aaron Scythe ‘Ceramic Mountain Buttons’

 

Photographs supplied by Masterworks (weaving photo by Christopher Duncan).

 

 

 

Leave a Reply