ANOTHER KOUNTRY
INSTALLATION BY THE ARTIST ROY McMAKIN
4 FEBRUARY - 31 MARCH 2009
This series of work emphasises McMakin’s effortless ability as an artist to cross over into architecture and furniture design. The collection features patch woodwork loyal to McMakin’s established and recognisable technique. McMakin’s works are especially compelling because they are not simply divided into categories of functional and non-functional or design and art, but rather exist in a continuum between these simple dichotomies, exploring the physical and emotional space that objects occupy in our lives.
‘My interest isn’t really in me, materials or new forms. I am interested in memory, how subtle manipulations can trigger both familiarity and dissonance. I think it is relevant that I don’t think of myself as a designer, even though design is involved in the process of what I make. I am more interested in meaning and how it is contained within objects. I think one of the greatest shifts/focus of meaning occurs around functionality. When an object slips from being purely contemplative into service of a need (such as to be sat on) things get complicated,’ states Roy McMakin.
Roy McMakin is an artist and architect. His pieces, whether upholstered, painted to a meticulous finish, or left in their natural wood, are all produced by hand in his studio with a craftsmanship that is rarely seen today. McMakin’s ability to incorporate both art and design into his work allows his pieces to be fully functional, whilst at the same time his designs contain character and emotion.