John Grayson
-
Snuffed Out Charlotte (Fascinator), 2015. 18th Century enamel box (Wolverhampton Arts and Heritage collection EM50), contemporary vitreous enamel and brass. Photo credit: Cat Fuller. -
#Chaterama, 2015. 18th Century enamel finches (Wolverhampton Arts and Heritage collection EM238 and EM239), contemporary vitreous enamel.
Photo credit: Dan Haworth-Salter. -
Tinderbox and Voyeur Viewer, 2015. 18th Century enamel lid (Wolverhampton Arts and Heritage collection EM294), contemporary vitreous enamel and brass. Photo credit: Dan Haworth-Salter. -
Tinderbox (Close up), 2015. 18th Century enamel lid (Wolverhampton Arts and Heritage collection EM294), contemporary vitreous enamel and brass. Photo credit: Dan Haworth-Salter.
What inspires me
My current focus is exploring the manufacturing processes of the Georgian Bilston Enameller, and using this aesthetic to make contemporary craft objects that critique contemporary society. This has resulted in features on Michael Portillo's Great Railway Journeys and Flogit: Trade Secrets. I make satirical metal objects from either printed tin sheet or vitreous enamelled copper. Reflecting back over my life I realise I handle sheet metal now in a similar way to how I manipulated sheet card as a child; cutting and scoring it to fashion three dimensional forms.
Making in the Midlands
Place is extremely important for my work, allowing me to simultaneously make work with two narratives. The first is an explicit, satirical one depicted in the form and imagery on the metal surfaces. The second more subtle one makes reference to the often unacknowledged role that craftsmanship played in many early industrially manufactured objects.
Although my work is rooted to locality, I use and celebrate metal working processes particularly associated with the Black Country and the West Midlands, I have never placed a greater emphasis on exhibiting within the region than anywhere else.
John ran the Crafts BA at Staffordshire University and was the Director of Designer Maker West Midlands.
What has changed most about the crafts in the last thirty years
The profile of craft has increased greatly over the period I have been making, especially within the public domain. TV programmes such as Kirstie's Hand Made Britain illustrate this. However the reality is that this idea of 'craft' is often far removed from what most of us 'crafts makers' do. Juxtaposed with this has been a greater increase in discourse within the sector, particularly around new technologies, sustainable working and defining what craft is. This has made it a much more vibrant, exciting and within the arts, respected sector to work in.
return
