Mother and Child / Continuum
The exploration of curious sculptural forms and their intersection with straw marquetry, intentionally blurs the line of art, craftsmanship and design allowing the emergence of something unexpected. In the Mother and Child cabinet, the dual definitions of emergence as processes that make something visible after being concealed or bring something into existence are explored. The former finds expression in the opening of the cabinet, in the disruption of the undulating form to reveal the recognisable figures of a mother and child, slightly orientated towards each other at 170 degrees. The latter through the transference of the continuum of energy suggested by the linear pattern of the closed form, to the mother and child, making their existence possible. The space in between, the opening of the cabinet by the viewer, enacts the mystery of this process, evoking palpable surprise and wonder.
Mother and Child has been the duo's most ambitious project to date, requiring over 16,000 individual ribbons of straw. As white straw is difficult to achieve through dying, it is never seen traditionally in straw marquetry. After much experimentation A&A established a system to create a rich pearlescent tone, thereby achieving a monochrome pallet. Complementing Mother and Child is the Continuum table, whose similarly inventive form comprises an extruded equilateral triangle with slanted sphericons at either end enabling it to be positioned in two different ways. These pieces are a departure from the riot of colour usually present in A&A's work. This allows the concentric lines to be amplified, accentuating form, while the properties of straw direction create a spectrum of tone and texture within the confines of black and white.
Mother and Child / Cabinet / 2021-22.
Custom dyed rye straw, birch ply.
200 (h) x 140 (w) x 35 (d) cm.
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Continuum / Table / 2021-22.
Custom dyed rye straw, birch ply.
40 (h) x 160 (w) x 92 (d) cm.
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All pieces acquired for private collection (2022)
Images by Andrew Curtis.