WOOD at Manchester
Ring, Anthony Roussel
Manchester Craft and Design Centre explores all things wood in its newest exhibition (until 31 October)
The idea behind the exhibition is to prove how versatile a material wood is and so the centre has jewellery, lightboxes and shades alongside the furniture and turned vessels you would expect in this type of show. Stand-out pieces here are Anthony Roussel’s sinuous jewellery made up out of layers of laser-cut wood bent to form wonderfully weird and wild organic shapes. They’re inspired by geological formations and what Roussel calls ‘the epic sweep of the British coastline’ and they recall the squashed, curved layers of rock which you can often pick out in cliffs. Although a traditional ‘craft’ material, Roussel treats his wood in a decidedly contemporary way, using laser-cutters to build up the individual layers and 3D modelling software to mould them into the required shape – the result’s a beautiful marriage of the natural and the high-tech.
Other makers featured here include Jane Blease who makes plywood lightboxes cleverly decorated to give the impression that a light is shining through patterns cut into the wood and so creating a warm glow. Look out also for Clinton Pilkington who’s made a new multi-functional modular furniture system specially for the show, and Nick Baberton who uses deciduous hardwoods to make turned and carved vessels.
www.craftanddesign.com
