Traditional materials with a twist

“Wriggling out of the traditional domain of craft, these objects escape the plinth, shelf and glass cabinet, occupying the gallery as unconventional wall pieces and installations that you can walk through,” said a spokesman.

The show runs until August 21, Wed-Sun, 11am-5pm.

Kay Aplin takes references from the world around her, observing pattern, form, colour, symmetry and asymmetry in nature and architecture. She is fascinated by tactile properties, surface texture, how light affects colour and the material’s reflective qualities.

Rosalind Davis turns plain fabrics into ornate articles of clothing, which are then incorporated into installations of lustrous, floating forms. Fragile and ephemeral, the dresses and skirts assume lifelike gestures and suggest a bodily presence.

Rosie James uses the sewing machine as a drawing tool. The marks created through stitching have a unique texture and movement which can only be created by thread on cloth.

Marion Michell’s diminutive garments are simultaneously charming and grotesque, evoking a range of ambiguous and contradictory emotions.

Karin Schosser makes unique ceramic wall pieces that combine three-dimensional forms with richly glazed surfaces.

Isobel Smith creates ‘stills’, which are powerful, static scenes derived from the dream-like narratives of her puppet shows.

Alice Walton experiments with hand building techniques, pushing the clay to its limits and enjoying unexpected results.