Anna McNay
18/11/12
Anna Dickinson: Art, not Craft
Von Bartha Quarterly Report, 4/12
Before I went to meet Anna Dickinson in her spacious Dulwich
studio the other week, I have to confess to having little knowledge of the
intricate processes involved in glass artistry. I also had a fairly fixed image
of what the works must look like: perhaps something a little chintzy, or
kitsch, or exaggeratedly flamboyant like Dale Chihuly’s Rotunda chandelier at
the V&A. But this is not Dickinson’s style at all. Firmly rooted in the
ethos of art, not craft, her largely monotone vessels may be devoid of function,
but certainly not of feeling. She described her methods and inspirations to me
with a contagious enthusiasm, explaining at the outset: “I just love making
things, and I’ve always really liked vessels, right from the beginning. I think
it’s because they are very approachable. There’s nothing scary about a vessel.
Everyone understands a vessel, and yet they’re quite intriguing as well.”
Image © the artist
To read the rest of this feature, please go to pp.10-11 of Von Bartha Quarterly Review 4/12