About the artists
Anne Marie Laureys (b. 1962) thinks of her ceramics as metaphors for feelings. She starts the process by throwing a classic, symmetrical pot. While the clay is still soft and wet, she pulls, folds, pinches and punctures it. The tension of the clay underneath her fingers dictates the way the folds take shape. Her pieces have a spontaneous, unplanned quality but in reality, she takes her time to find the shape of a vessel, remoulding and refolding the clay over and over again until it speaks in her unique voice. No two works are ever the same. Her ceramics are renowned for their sense of excitement, freshness and tactility.
Anne Marie studied at LUCA School of Arts, Ghent. Her work can be found in private collections internationally and are included in the official collections of the Province of Hainaut, Belgium, The Taipei county Yingge Ceramics Museum, Taiwan, The Arts and Crafts Museum of Shanghai, China, the Keramikmuseum, Westerwald, Germany and most recently, the Boca Raton Museum of Art, Florida, USA.
She lives and works in Belgium.
Michael Brennand-Wood (b. 1952) has an international reputation as one of the most innovative and inspiring artists working in textiles today. Drawing in fabrics, his work is both sculptural and tactile. He is particularly interested in embroidery, lace‐making and traditions in floral textiles. He uses his knowledge in these ancient crafts and combines them with modern day techniques, such as digital printing and computerized machine embroidery, to create sculptural, wall‐hung, textile and multimedia pieces. Although his work is first and foremost decorative, it can be read on more than one level. He uses titles to allude to the source of inspiration for each one of his works. Recent flag‐based pieces, for example, reveal their reference to conflict and war when seen up close.
Born in Bury, Lancashire, Michael Brennand-Wood has over 40 years’ experience as a practicing artist. He has lectured at Goldsmiths College, London and has taught and held residencies at universities in Japan, Australia, New Zealand, Canada and Belgium. He was appointed Professor of Art-Politics in Ornament at Wolverhampton University in 2013.
Michael Brennand-Wood’s work has been commissioned by numerous organisations and is represented in private and public collections worldwide including the Victoria & Albert Museum, the National Gallery of Australia and the National Museum of Modern Art in Kyoto, Japan.
