Helmshore Mills Textile Museum
Taxidermy jackdaw, strawberries, bluebottles, fruit flies, lead, nylon, acrylic
Dimensions variable. The layer of strawberries grew from 2.5 x 2.5 m to around 2.5 x 5 m over the course of the 2-month exhibition at La Casa Encendida.
The inspiration for the fourth Contemporary Heritage project is Helmshore Mills Textile Museum in the stunning Rossendale Valley. Helmshore Mills is made up of two Lancashire textile mills, Higher Mill and Whitaker’s Mill.
Contemporary Heritage: A new way of seeing is an ambitious contemporary art programme created by Mid Pennine Arts (MPA) in partnership with historic venues across Lancashire. The artist residencies are commissioned by MPA in collaboration with Helmshore Mills Textile Museum and Turton Tower.
Claire Morgan is a London based sculptor who makes suspended sculptures from thousands of individual elements. She creates works which hover between movement and stillness, fragility and solidity. Claire sees similarities in the intensive processes involved in making her work and the techniques employed by mill workers. Claire will spend her residency learning some of these skills, meeting people who once worked in Lancashire mills and creating drawings to reflect her experiences and research.
Do you have a story to share? Perhaps you or your family worked at Helmshore Mills Textile Museum or in a mill in the area? Claire invites you to drop in between Monday 17 and Saturday 22 October to chat to her about your experiences and share your insight of working in this fascinating industry.
Artist Talk Claire will give a visual presentation and talk about her work and her experience of being artist in residence. Thursday 20 October, 5.30pm - 6.30pm FREE, no need to book
"Exhilarating and fascinating to see" (In response to seeing images of Claire's work in her Artist Talk)
"Element of seduction to your work"
"Almost theatrical"