I am and have always been, an obsessive collector. Sometimes an old collection gets moved on to make space but suddenly a new one has started unknowingly in it’s place. I was always fascinated by peoples collections as a child, by museums and galleries and individuals boxes of keepsakes and curios, kept under beds and in drawers and cupboards. Much of my current artwork has come out of collecting or an interest in collections. For me it’s the stories it generates, the questions these objects ask and a fascination with the feelings of the past. As I stumble into middle age, I hanker for a return to all things hand-made, the end of mass-production, a return to lives where everyone makes what they need.
My collecting has infused much of my educational practice and I wrote and delivered a project for Manchester University in 2010 which is now a travelling portable museum feeding into curriculum subjects but with a specific emphasis on literacy and getting boys to write. The Museum Of Lost Stories can be set up in any space but benefits most from a room with spotlighting. It uses original/historical costume and artefacts etc to create dramatic scenarios which have all lost their stories. Through specific techniques and detective work delivered using a variety of narratives it uses a combination of art, text and literacy types. If you’d like further details please do get in touch…
Most recently, as the legacy of a Literacy Team Project at Gatley Primary School, I have had the dream task of making and filling a ‘Cabinet of Curious Things’ which is a direct link to my collecting madness! More info on this can be found on the Gatley Primary post.
I am always interested in obtaining the following:
Antiquities (esp. Roman & Medieval), hammered coins, pewter, treen and woodcarving, architectural curiosities, taxidermy & bones, old photographs, militaria, pre-Georgian pottery, fossils, keys, watch parts, old boxes, bottles, detector finds, medieval to Victorian tiles, costume, Victoriana, beach-combed items, fairground & circus miscellanea and anything old, odd and interesting.
Do get in touch if you’ve any of the above for sale or have something you think may be of interest….
Published: 20th July 2009
Themes: antiquities boxes collections hoard museum objects old
