Collect Art Fair 2023
Returning to Somerset House for its 19th edition to showcase contemporary craft and design from emerging creators and international galleries from around the globe.
The fair returns to Somerset House for its 19th edition, presenting a cohort of leading galleries from across the globe, altogether representing over 400 outstanding artists. Most of the work has been made in the last five years, with many artists creating new work for the fair. Ceramics, glass, lacquer, art jewellery, precious metalwork, textiles and fibre, wood and paper are all displayed side-by-side to create a unique opportunity for collectors and craft enthusiasts alike.
Alongside international galleries, ‘Collect Open’, the fair’s platform for pioneering craft installations by individual artists and collectives, returned with 14 exciting projects by artists hailing from the USA, Poland, and all over the UK.
Traver Gallery
Seattle-based Traver Gallery attracted attention at this year’s fair with a diverse range of contemporary works. Immediately catching the eye was the ‘Fractograph’ collection by John Kiley Studio. These mesmerising blocks appear to be seen in a moment of destruction from their original forms, creating shatters and fractures that create mesmerising patterns, beautifully capturing the surrounding light. Other works of note include the abstract glass sculptures by Mel Douglas. The pieces are kiln-formed, cold-worked and engraved to create beautiful, tactile designs; their translucency creates an essence of mystery, interacting with nearby objects. Finally, the glazed ceramic works of Juan Kaneko present unique forms that emphasise patterns created by the movement of brushstrokes.
Thrown
The porcelain floral wall sculptures by Zuleika Melluish received an excellent response at Thrown Contemporary, the design's elegant and photogenic presence being a favourite capture for many. In these works, the individual leaves and flowers were created from the plants' pressings, painstakingly built into the flowing wall panels at the show. What is especially beautiful is how they transform in the evolving lighting conditions of the day, continually revealing new details and forms. Ceramic artist Bisila Noha's work draws from influences and explorations of her Spanish and Equatorial Guinean heritage. Bisila challenges Western views on art and craft, reflecting on the idea of home and one-ness, pulling from personal experiences in different pottery communities. Her practice extends from wheel-thrown pieces with the distinctive addition of marbled slip decoration to create eye-catching abstract landscapes; to sculptural pieces mixing throwing, coiling, and carving, which connect her to her roots, the makers that precede her and our past.
Ruup & Form
With such an impressive range of works on display at Ruup & Form, selecting just a few highlights from the show was challenging. The curatorially-led contemporary gallery based in London works with over 40 material-led artists, many of their works on display this year. One stand-out piece was Clare Palmer’s ‘Always’ porcelain wall sculpture. This collection of works expresses concern with the nature of upheaval, showcasing themes of emotional impact, acceptance, and evolution. Erum Amir’s almost alien-like porcelain creations take inspiration from something closer to home; the atoms and cells that create us all and the fascinating shapes, patterns, and forms revealed through a microscope. Naomi Mcintosh’s work is not a stranger to Somerset House, exhibiting as part of an installation for the London Design Biennale in 2021. Working mainly in wood, Mcintosh uses a broad range of skills using digital and hand processes, taking inspiration from movement, patterns, architecture, landscape and the natural world. Using planes and lines suggests forms, capturing volumes, and transforming 2D surfaces into 3D objects.
Gallery Sklo
Founded in 2003, Gallery Sklo is the first and only art gallery specialising in contemporary glass art in Korea, presenting emerging and established glass artists and international ones. It creates a new collector by breaking down the wall of prejudice that glass is a craft material and expanding it into the contemporary art scene. Sunghoon Park’s ‘Seed’ collection consists of blown, coldworked and polished glass spheres, as the name suggests, reminiscent of the seeds and pods seen in nature. Created in various colours, the works capture light and cast mesmerising patterns. Jiyong Lee’s designs were equally alluring; the ‘Foreigner’ collection presented as a series of abstract, colourful ‘sliced’ forms. The colour-laminated carved glass beautifully reveals colour gradients while manipulating light.
Collect Open
Collect provides a unique platform for artists to showcase and realise an ambitious project that takes their creative practice to the next level of their professional careers. 'Collect Open' is the fair's platform for pioneering and thought-provoking craft installations by individual artists and collectives. This fair segment always presents an inspiring and innovative curation of designs and creators.
It was photographer, maker and material innovator Zena Holloway that brought innovation and environment to the forefront of design - cultivating sustainable sculpture from grass root, taking an intuitive leap into the future to imagine a material world that is grown, not made. Inspired by the sprawling, delicate shape of coral and other marine life, Holloway creates soft, textured lamps, wall hangings, and mobiles from wheatgrass seed. The plant sprouts over the course of about two weeks in beeswax moulds. As it grows, it produces its intricately woven root structure, which she guides into specific spaces and patterns to form large, sheet-like textiles. Entirely compostable, the material is 'both reality and metaphor, aiming to expose the beauty and vulnerability of coral and to champion ocean conservation.'