Opening 6pm Thursday 24 June and continuing until Saturday 31 July 2010.

You and your guests are invited to join Craft ACT at the official opening of the exhibitions by Grace Cochrane. Visitors to the exhibition Abstract will be eligible to win a Factor Design Abstract Side Table, valued at $495.

Now an independent curator and writer, until late 2005 Grace Cochrane was the senior curator of Australian decorative arts and design at the Powerhouse Museum, Sydney. From 1988 she had a key responsibility for contemporary Australian crafts and design.

For over 35 years she has talked about the crafts and design in lectures and at conferences, has written for a range of journals and publications, and is the author of The Crafts Movement in Australia: a History (NSW University Press, 1992). She was the co-ordinating curator in the Powerhouse Museum for the permanent exhibition, Inspired! Design across time (2005), and curator for Smart works: design and the handmade (2007). Recent external exhibitions include White gums and ramoxes: ceramics by Merric and Arthur Boyd from the Bundanon Trust Collection (touring 2009-2010) and Looking glass: reflecting ideas, for the Sarjeant Gallery, New Zealand (2009-2010).

Gallerie:   Abstract - Ian Factor

Discover contemporary furniture which explores a new consciousness in furniture design. Factor's distinctive works establish a creative fusion between abstract design and functional furniture using sustainable timbers. The exhibition will examine the effect of placing contemporary furniture in a gallery context showcasing the union of functionality with abstract and sculptural forms.

Read Rodney Hayward's review of Abstract.

Ian will introduce his work from 7.00pm to 7.15pm on Thursday 24 June, following on from the official opening. Come, listen and engage with Ian over a glass of wine and finger food.

Join Ian Factor for an artist floor talk on Friday 23 July from 1 - 2.00pm at Craft ACT Gallery, Upstairs on Level 1, North Building, 180 London Circuit, Canberra City.

Gallerie:   Substrate, Structure, Surface - Leonie Andrews

The compulsion to order, to create physical and visual harmony is at the core of Andrews' work. Recycled textiles are joined through layering and stitching, united by dyes, printed and stitched marks. The holes, wear and tear and stains become key elements adding vitality to these textile works.

Julie Ryder's review of Substrate, Structure, Surface.

 

Crucible Showcase:   Mind Refined - Jane Crick

Craft ACT partners with the Canberra Potters' Society, to award an exhibition selected from the Society's annual members exhibition. Jane Crick is the recipient of the 2009 award. Crick plays with form and texture, creating ceramic objects she describes as 'messed up geometry'. The works are inspired by agricultural and industrial buildings, and represent a progression of Cricks practice to new angular, rustic forms.

Image credits (top to bottom)

• Ian Factor, Legato Chaise, 2010, Western Australian Jarrah. Photo: Holly Treadaway
• Leonie Andrews, Crosswork (detail), 2009, cotton, silk, linen, seaweed dye, eucalypt dye, appliqué and hand stitch. Photo: courtesy of the artist
• Jane Crick, 2 slab-built bottles with squeezed necks, 2010, slab built, low-fired porcelaineous stoneware with crawling magnesia glaze. Photo: courtesy of the artist.