Although
rooted in traditional basketry, Lizzie Farey's woven pieces are sculptural
rather than functional. Her secret is to guide the wood into fluid shapes,
rather than twist or force it, as she tells Elaine Abbott.
Lizzie
Farey's baskets have evolved from functional shapes into sculptural forms
which are displayed in art galleries, homes and gardens - looked at and
admired but far too beautiful to use. Although rooted in the discipline
of traditional basketry, which has long been & strong rural skill in Scotland
where she is based, this direction reflects Lizzie's fascination with
the materials she uses, which include willow, hazel, dogwood, rowan, larch
and ash.
"I'm
inspired by the natural beauty of the wood that I use and want people
to really look at the materials, not just see a merely functional object."
The decorative globes she makes by weaving in apparently random directions
reinforce this: "The technique becomes lost - people can't see how they're
made, there's no beginning, middle or end. You have to look at the piece
as a whole." But she has other reasons for creating them: "I'm obsessed
with spheres, I can't stop making them. I love the challenge of making
something round out of something so straight - it seems to be a way of
encapsulating everything, of achieving order from chaos."
Lizzie
admits, however, that this is not an order entirely imposed by her control.
Her random weaving is partly the result of letting the materials move
as they wish to. "I feel sorry for the wood in a way, because when you
make traditional pieces you have to twist and force it into regular patterns.
I prefer to let it express itself."
The
materials are collected for Lizzie by local gardeners. She relishes the
process of getting to know each different wood and how best to work with
it. Larch, for example, is much harder to manipulate than the more commonly
used willow - "there's a lot of trial and error to begin with". But the
hours spent practising and experimenting are relished. Lizzie Farey literally
lives and breathes her baskets: "Willow smells amazing, the scent can
fill a room, it's intoxicating."