China Town

Crochet Crab

The lace and chiffon below is to me reminiscent of an exhibition of Joana Vasconcelos' work I went to see at Haunch of Venison when it was camping out at Burlington Gardens back in 2010. The show was amazing, and definitely one of the best I went to that year.

Vasconcelos creates crochet webs that mask objects. My favourites were the crochet covered animals

'I will Survive', Vasconcelos' exhibition at Burlington Gardens, suited the space perfectly. The wood panelled rooms provided the ideal backdrop for these carefully crocheted pieces. I was completely floored (actually quite literally) by 'Garden of Eden', a vast space initially appearing pitch black, until ones' eyes adjusted and picked out the hundreds of fibre optic plants laid out in a maze around the room. Impossible to get a picture to do the work justice, but it was a much better version of this:

For more, see here for Haunch of Venison's write up. Tomorrow I'm off to see the Freud at the National Portrait Gallery. So glad I got my act together and booked in time.

Taxidermy

This morning I wondered around 'The Last Tuesday Society' on Mare Street, Hackney. The most bizarre place, full of taxidermy amongst a lot of other weird stuff that you stare at for about 5 minutes before having any idea what it is... Viktor Wynd (above) is the guy behind the shop, and I'll leave it to their website to explain exactly what it aims to be. Spending time at James's flat at the moment is like being an extra in Doctor Dolittle - a cat called Boris and an extremely friendly dog, Snoopy, seem to want to make sure that you are never alone. Felt a bit weird to suddenly be amongst so many stuffed furry friends. Click here and here for more animal related posts.

Sweet Tooth

 

This honey from Damas Gate on Uxbridge Road looks like it means business. It reminded me of a book I've just finished 'The Secret Life of Bees' by Sue Monk Kidd - an easy but enjoyable read. It actually made me look forward to tube journeys. Also in Damas Gate:

I have no idea why I didn't buy them, even just for the packet. I could have even tried to play with my food and make one of these guys:

 

Good old Google.

For more rabbit related musings, check out an earlier post on their lucky claws.

Screen Print

This evening I randomly came across this picture of a silk screen print I made a few years ago in Manchester. After having withdrawal symptoms from printing regularly at school, I did an afternoon's worth of it with Daisy, one day in our second year... Really not my greatest effort, but I do enjoy using the tote bag I printed with there assorted animals.