Charred: Creative Depth and Infinite Possibilities

The London Craft Week returns to the capital for its fifth edition –8 to 12 May 2019-. In the context of this festival, the Fitzrovia chapel houses the exhibition Scorched curated by Sarah Myerscough. Her eponymous gallery has long been aesthetically connected to the traditional Japanese charred wood process of Shou-Sugi-Ban. Scorched continues to investigate this process from a Western perspective, celebrating wood and its significance in the world of craft, art, and design.

The collection of hand-crafted, scorched objects and unique furniture pieces are all made using traditional woodworking processes. Highlighting its materiality, it also demonstrates the creative depth and infinite possibilities of the material. According to Myerscough this is important in order to change perceptions of the material: ‘’Wood is rarely considered a serious element of contemporary craft when compared to the giants of ceramic and glass, but hopefully, this exhibition will present a real sea-change in such archaic perceptions.’’

The introvert beauty of the material contrasts extravagantly with the decadent interior of the chapel. The matte with the shiny gold and the geometric against the organic, while also allowing the material’s sensory aspect to show. As the musty smell of the church interior will be mingled with the aroma of burned wood. Myerscough reflects: ‘’The overall ambiance of the exhibition will be haunting; a burnt wood landscape, the remnants of a fire… yet each piece is beautifully crafted, conceptually and aesthetically complex”

The exhibition includes the following artists: Sebastian Cox, Alison Crowther, David Gates, Christopher Kurtz, Eleanor Lakelin, Malcolm Martin & Gaynor Dowling, Ernst Gamperl, Gareth Neal, Jim Partridge & Liz Walmsley, Benjamin Planitzer, Wycliffe Stutchbury, Julian Watts, Nic Webb, and Forrest + Found.

Cover image: Benjamin Planitzer. On the 8th Day, 2019.