It’s a Crafty World After All
By Merinda Wilson • Nov 12th, 2009 • Section: Featured, Melbourne Talks
Collection made in Melbourne
Peering through the window was a little like looking into a wonderland that was half Alice and half Yellow Submarine: in the window itself, felt sculptures in white, red, pink and orange resembled a sea of deformed eyes, while beyond it, past the shelves displaying pale ceramics and misshaped wood, a neon world of string, fur and splattered paint unfolded like a fantastical volcanic eruption.
For anyone still under the illusion that craft is boring, I’d recommend a visit to Craft Victoria. This shop-cum-gallery is among the most beautiful spaces in Melbourne: its bright, welcoming rooms are filled with the creations of local designers and makers. Each object here is part of the city, a tangible piece of its individuality, and, for me, what’s between these walls is a big part of what makes Melbourne such a great place to live.
This is a subject close to my heart, as I’ve always invested so much of myself into the objects around me. Many hold memories of a person or place and others just make me happy, but the things I surround myself with all say a little something about who I am. I love that objects tell a story.
Along with antiques and vintage, handmade objects are the best storytellers. Their stories begin as an idea, or a word, or a joke, and work their way through a person’s mind until they are crafted into reality. Before they even reach a shelf they are imbued with thoughts and memories, a shadow of their maker and the experiences that led them to create in the first place.
Luckily for us, Melbourne is full of people making their stories. Each object and each story will appeal to different people, but the ones that get me excited are those told with playfulness and humour: I like to see the funny side of things and so I surround myself with objects that bring a smile to my face. Even better if they make me giggle like a lunatic.
Brands such as Limedrop have mastered the cute/funny aesthetic, with their range of wooden necklaces and pop-out earrings in the shapes of paper planes, dinosaurs, and sinking ships. Birds and forest animals in particular are popular muses and can be seen across a huge number of ranges in every colour, shape and material; Prudence and Horatio do it very well, cutting out vintage pictures of native birds, putting them on rubber backing and coating them with resin to give them a shiny, glass-like finish.
Jewellery is the most common medium, and within that it is the brooches, badges and buttons that most consistently tickle my funny bone. The Philos-o-face brooches (also by Prudence and Horatio creator Prudence Rees-Lee) are great, featuring the faces of well-quoted philosophers such as Nietzsche and Socrates. With a Philos-o-face or two in your collection you can, in the words of the Prudence, “Put your thinking face on,” whenever you please. Who wouldn’t want that?
While there are an obscene number of people making things that feature lovable critters, there are also those who are doing things no one else is. Lisa Kearns, who works under the brand name Kearnsie, has created badges that are not only funny and sweet but have the potential to break down social barriers. Her colourful ‘Hello’ badges are a play on name tags, but instead say things like ‘Hello, I like to skim stones and take long walks in the park’. There’s a feeling of vulnerability about them that is inherently charming.
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