Craftspace

New Growth was an exhibition arising from work made by women who attend the Community Integration Partnership (CIP) in Birmingham. They have worked with professional artists to create work exploring the themes of growth and new beginnings. 

The women learnt textile collage techniques with artist Laura McCafferty and used these to create self portraits and images of seeds and plants. They used their new skills to decorate second hand furniture with patterns and images of plants giving the furniture new life. 

The exhibition also shows furniture made by artist Natalie Cole commissioned by the group, a series of wooden stools which fit together have decoration and plant-like patterns growing over them. The women used embroidery, transfers and woodworking techniques to decorate their surfaces. 

The exhibition follows on from an earlier project with the CIP called Seeds of Change where the women made colourful ceramic and metal seeds and flowers. The new work continues to use the motifs of seeds, flowers and fruit. 

The work was shown at St Martin in the Bullring in Birmingham in June 2007 and also at the BBC Public Space in the Mailbox, Birmingham in July.

Artists

Melanie Tomlinson (lead artist), metalworker/automata maker based in Birmingham. 
Laura McCafferty textile designer based in Nottingham. 
Natalie Cole and Wayne Pottinger furniture designers based in Wolverhampton. 

Curation And Partners

Aspire

CIP

St Martin in the Bullring