Grounded, Lisa Atkin

5 Jan-3 Apr 2022

Overview

Grounded: Meditations on Ancestors and Connection are a collection of works exploring our relationship to the Earth, our ancestors and the process of making, through the hands of Lisa Atkin, a contemporary basketmaker.

Finding inspiration and foraging materials in the forest bordering her home, Lisa works within the mud and trees to create visceral pieces, integrating historical methods whilst also imbuing them with the wisdom of nature. The artist’s choice of materials, specifically their texture and fragrance create an additional sensory experience and through weaving, one of the earliest technologies, Lisa constructs contemporary pieces in a variety of historically significant techniques, some of which are featured on the Heritage Craft Association’s ‘List of Endangered Crafts’. Through this process, she is able to keep the practice alive for generations to come.

“By repeating the same hand movements and meditative processes that our Neolithic ancestors used over 7,000 years ago, our sense of time ceases to be linear in the moment of ‘flow’.” Lisa Atkin