Makers & Curators
MakerJeni Allison
Jeni Allison is an Edinburgh-based textile designer who enjoys combining technology and traditional techniques to make something new.
She began working in the textile industry in the Scottish Borders, developing knitwear for luxury brands including Chanel and Sonia Rykiel. She then set up her own studio, where she often works directly with clients to design one-off textile pieces and garments.
Works ‘How are you going to manage the stairs with a pram?’ and 'Don’t you think Vaila needs a garden?’ were specially commissioned for If only we had the space.
Photography by Laura Prieto Martin
MakerJack Brindley
Edinburgh-based glass artist Jack Brindley works almost exclusively in ‘architectural-glass’ (or, stained-glass) under the alias Pavilion Pavilion. He creates art to live with, rather than to look at. ‘Tokonoma (a proposal)’ is inspired by an alcove in a traditional Japanese reception room.
It houses a small selection of aesthetic objects, such as a painted scroll, a flower arrangement or a ceramic vessel. As the rest of the walls in the house are often left bare, the importance of this alcove is heightened as it becomes an ever-changing curation of specific objects.
Each object has its own artistic importance, yet it is their restrained combination and arrangement that is particularly interesting. For If only we had the space, Jack has produced a low-level plinth akin to a coffee table and populated it with three elements from his practice. He sees this work as an invitation for us to treat spaces in our homes as a site of contemplation.
Photography by Laura Prieto Martin
MakerFionn Duffy
Fionn Duffy is a maker and artist from Glasgow. Her work focuses on historically neglected practices of creation and disposal, and addresses the transformation of social and ecological environments.
‘ev'ryday, a little cataclysm’ and ‘rooting delightfully’ are made from wild clay that was gathered in Lewis and Aberdeenshire. On Lewis, Fionn researched pottery fired in a hearth from unprocessed clay, otherwise known as Barvas Ware.
In Aberdeenshire, she investigated milk cultures, which she has used as a glaze. The ceramics have a porous quality, which absorbs the water each time the plants are fed. Slip is washed away and cracks open during this process. Both works have been exhibited, however never with plants before.
MakerDeirdre Nelson
Known for her ability to translate social commentary into textile art, artist and designer Deirdre Nelson grew up in Northern Ireland and is now based in Glasgow.
Through experimentation, she combines traditional techniques with contemporary processes to create works that cross the terrains of art, design and craft. ‘SURPLUS’ was made for Modern Languages, an exhibition dedicated to Irish vernacular interpretations, curated by Katy West.
This bright red knitted money box depicts a new-build house. It was created in response to Irish ghost estates that exist as a result of the 2008 property crash. In 2023, it was reported that 75 ghost estates still haunt Ireland, either unoccupied or in varying states of disrepair or dereliction. ‘Surplus’ also takes inspiration from thatched-cottage souvenirs and the Monopoly houses.
Photography by Laura Prieto Martin
Curator Rachel Ashenden
Rachel Ashenden is a freelance arts writer and researcher, specialising in the feminist avant-garde. Her exhibition reviews and artist interviews can be read in Scottish magazines, including The List, The Skinny and Scottish Art News. Alongside writing, Rachel hosts events and interviews for galleries and bookshops on a freelance basis. She has led art history seminars for the University of Chicago and the University of Berlin.
Rachel co-founded The Debutante, a magazine dedicated to illuminating the lives and legacies of women surrealists with an international readership. With Cinetopia, she co-curates a film exhibition UK tour called Electric Muses. Funded by the British Film Institute, Electric Muses sets surrealist films to a live score.
Curator Soizig Carey
Soizig Carey is an artist, maker, curator and cultural producer. Her making practice is rooted in slow design and making, feminism and anti-capitalist consumer culture. She is especially drawn towards creating modernist and long-lasting pieces, and committed to ethical and sustainable sourcing of materials.
Soizig regularly works to commission, and recycles/ re-makes heirlooms, modernising symbolic pieces. In 2024, Soizig was awarded the Inches Carr Craft Bursaries: Established Maker award. Soizig has previously lectured at Edinburgh College of Art, Glasgow School of Art, the National Museum of Scotland, Dovecot Studios and New York Jewellery Week.
With over 15 years of experience as a cultural producer, Soizig’s curatorial interests include where arts, performance and craft intersect, innovative engagement, collaboration, social equity, and creating access to culture, heritage and social histories.
Working across arts, cultural activism, human rights and civic sectors, Soizig has led collaborative projects between grassroots communities and culture organisations, particularly in recognition of the importance of bridging gaps in cultural and social capital in the culture and heritage sectors, creating opportunities for connection, and knowledge exchange.
Photography by Gabriela Silveira
Curator Jemima Dansey-Wright
Jemima Dansey-Wright is a maker-curator, interested in making, processes and people. She specialises in textiles and has developed a personal practice that blends traditional craft methods with digital and screen print techniques, this work is concerned with ephemera and functional craft objects.
Her practice developed a curatorial element when she began looking for interesting locations and contexts to exhibit. She is a curious and enthusiastic collaborator, learner and skill sharer, her focus is on finding accessible ways to share craft with audiences.
In 2021 Jemima co-founded ESTD an independent space with Morven Mulgrew and Saskia Pomeroy. Together they produced a program of events with the aim to expand the opportunities for local craft makers and present craft to new audiences.
The weekly market stall in The Barras in Glasgow’s East End was a space for the group to experiment with their own making practices as well as collaborate with other artists to create a playful and accessible series of shows and events, including a micro residency, radio shows and performances. Moving forward Jemima hopes to make connections and build relationships with makers and audiences.
Photography by Ruth Esme Mitchell
Curator Murray Morrant
Murray Morrant is a designer, maker and curator with a background in architecture. Having worked in architecture studios in Copenhagen and Glasgow, Murray's creative practice now has an interest in materials, anthropology, and landscape explored through hands-on making and his Studio LandscapeSoup.
