Anne Deeming

Artist statement

The objects I am designing and making look familiar and usable in some way – and yet are not. Their features can trigger an association, a memory; of something you have used or seen before. My reference points are usually photographs – taken of things I see on the street - litter, recycling, abandoned furniture; or items in buildings connected to larger systems – switches, handles, thermostats.

Alongside this, I research existing domestic or industrial objects, such as soap dishes or shelving. All these references are then pulled together in a new prototype, hybrid object, using casting as the technique to reproduce large quantities of each item. The process of making is vital, as is excessive repetition. Although they appear identical, small differences in thickness or surface marks indicate each object as handcrafted, and not machine made – and this is essential to the work.

By working with minimal means – the objects made from one material ie plaster or resin, supported or carried by another different material ie fabric or rubber – many different meanings can exist within the work; a psychoanalytical reading alongside a comment on commercialisation. But fundamentally, it's about myself, being a maker, striving for perfection that is never satisfied.

Useless, beautiful objects of desire; neither functional nor purely ornament, they encompass much about craft, about time, and the ambiguity of things. They take their place in the world, relating to everyday life and the experiences of living today, in this time and place.