Natural Makers

Natural Makers brings together the work of four contemporary artists based in the UK

Natural Makers brings together the work of four contemporary artists based in the UK, who take inspiration from the land and the act of making. Using found and natural materials, organic forms and traditional skills, each has developed unique making processes to produce works that are both timeless and contemporary.

Stuart Cairns is a trained silversmith who has re-appropriated these techniques within his practice. Combining precious metals, found materials and twigs collected during coastal walks in Northern Ireland, Cairns creates small artefacts that resemble utensils and tableware. Cairns refers to his recent works as ‘3d sketches’, interested in what makes an object complete. His work here suggests a tactile set of familiar domestic objects, whilst also carrying a sense of danger and distance as a result of their clinical presentation and makeshift assembly.

Laura Ellen Bacon uses complex techniques of twisting, knotting and weaving natural willow cane to produce nest-like forms and sculptural installations that seem to pour, climb and ramble, their free-form presence both beautiful and ominous. Bacon’s sculptures are often site-specific interventions, disrupting and becoming part of the environment into which they are situated, connecting her work directly with the natural environment and its architectural context.

Ceramicist Adam Buick begins with the simplicity of Korean Moon Jars, traditionally made in pure white porcelain. Buick has adopted this lunar form as a ‘canvas’ for his work, onto which he records his observations of place from his home in Pembrokeshire, by either digging local clay or rolling natural materials from the land into the material, before working it on the wheel. The finish on each of the vessels is unique and unpredictable.

Transformative textures and colours are the result of a chemical reaction between the clay and earthy inclusions during the wood firing process.

Sharon Adams explores the essential qualities of tools by using natural and organic materials such as wood, yarn and animal hair to produce intricately constructed kits and abstract devices. Adams’ work process is based on the idea of seven principle tasks - brush, scoop, poke, cut, rake, look and hit. Each tool evokes one or more of these functions, whilst remaining without or with little practical use. Viewers are invited to question the purpose of these pleasingly delicate items, imagining what they might be used for.

Touchstones Rochdale is managed by the Link4Life Cultural Trust and is located on The Esplanade, Rochdale, OL16 1AQ. Open Tuesday to Saturday 10am – 5pm.