It will be a celebration of the resilience and solidarity found in the forest. The idea is that it will reflect the heritage of the landscape and the people of the forest
Kristina Veasey
Visual artist Kristina Veasey invites you to an online launch of new work
Tuesday 14th September 6pm
Join Kristina live in conversation with Cathy Mager curator/producer, to discover more about her Basketcase R&D and her new sculptural works that celebrate the vibrancy found in the heritage, landscapes, and people of the Forest of Dean.
(BSL interpreted event).
Booking for this free event is essential – follow the link here
This event will see the launch of Kristina’s new website, and the online launch of her new work:
Vibrancy in the Forest, a giant basket woven from charred branches with a confetti canon secreted inside, that will erupt in a joyous explosion of gathered testimonies. Accompanied by an audio-visual video (captioned).
Basketcase in Lockdown, playful images and videos of the artist interacting with baskets created in lockdown, woven from materials such as phone-charging cables and custom-printed FRAGILE tape, which draw on the dis/connection arising from pandemic.
Baskets are synonymous with disabled people and their history: amputee war veterans reportedly carried in baskets, basket weaving as a form of rehabilitation and employment, very early wicker wheelchairs, and the pejorative term ‘basketcase’ referring to someone experiencing mental health issues. The artist’s use of baskets stemmed from the discrimination she faced as a career-hungry graduate leaving university in 1995 with both a degree in Social Policy , and a disability. Instead of a graduate career she was written-off by a lack of accessible buildings and work-practices and directed instead towards day-centre activities and basket weaving.
Over 25 years of weaving round barriers, forging her own career paths, and successfully avoiding all baskets, Kristina is now reclaiming basket weaving, weaving baskets on her own terms, in her own way. In Basketcase, Kristina uses baskets as a visual metaphor to illustrate the navigating of obstacles and finding new paths forward.
Basketcase R&D was commissioned by Unlimited in partnership with the Forest of Dean Sculpture Trust with funding from Arts Council England. Further development of Basketcase was made possible with funding from the Paul Hamlyn Foundation and the Esmee Fairbairn Foundation.
