Artisan, the Queensland representative body for craft and design, approached CJ late last year to assemble the SPECTRA exhibit.
He had already shown some work with them in the middle of last year at the National Gallery of Victoria, where they hosted a fair celebrating collectible design.
CJ gives credit to Arts QLD, who supported Artisan, himself and Jay Jermyn (his partner in their lighting company ‘Objects for Thought’) in getting positioned in the fair with their booth.
So, when Artisan had a space for a design-related exhibition at the end of the year, they approached CJ to see if he would be interested in curating a furniture exhibit.
Artisan wanted to highlight the diversity of practice happening in Southeast East QLD within the furniture space, so it made perfect sense for CJ to lead the exhibit’s curation.
Fortunately, he is quite active within the community, so he had a treasure trove of people to bring together when selecting pieces for the exhibit.
CJ consciously selected pieces that reflected the various artisan’s personalities to present a realistic view of what design looks like in QLD.
Artisan held a panel discussion, which included a critical dialogue about what design is and looks like in South East QLD. The panel included all designers in the exhibit and lecturers from Griffith University and QUT.
Events like the panel discussion are a great starting point to bring more awareness to craft and design, hopefully leading to more events and building the community on all sides.
The exhibit gives a digestible story to everyday objects such as a chair and a chest of drawers but infused with the design and personality of the maker. SPECTRA is the perfect example of art and design converging through talented local artisans making everyday objects with meaning, quality craftsmanship and longevity.
Discover past, present and upcoming exhibitions at the Artisan
Also, check out Object for Thought by CJ Anderson and Jay Jermyn
