ABScraft

Birkenhead, United Kingdom

http://www.abscraft.com

My work is definitely a by-product of the 21st century & I have been described as a 'techno -cannibal' by BBC journalist Clare English. My career has spanned 3 decades and three different countries since leaving Edinburgh College of Art in 1990. The motivation behind my work comes from being the child of post war parents, Scottish thriftiness and an avid watcher of Blue Peter! My need to re-use, re-develop and re-create can be seen in my use of ordinary materials in my creations. Although my training was initially in jewellery and silver-smithing, I have crossed over successfully into the world of textiles, costume and fashion (I have won several awards including Scottish Fashion Designer of the Year, Recycling Fashion Designer of the Year and various awards for Fibre in North America and Australasia). A staple ingredient in my work is wire that I reclaim from old televisions, the older the better. I've found over a hundred different colours and hues of copper and aluminium wire. It takes me about an hour to gut a television salvaging all that I can use and about 3 days to re-create it into a hat. The first hat took me months to do and is now in the National Museums of Scotland Collection (they also have my first pair of shoes and a hatpin). Lately though, due to the rate of development in technology, I've found it harder to find the old television sets and have had to resort to buying various colours of wire! There is always a high component of re-used materials in my work - whether it is re-using charity shop finds or sweetie wrappers to get the right colour. I have become increasingly aware of how wasteful our society is becoming. Alison Bailey Smith BA Hons Jewellery, Dip Des www.abscraft.com