Craft at Kilkenny Arts Festival

About the Curator

Angela O’Kelly studied Jewellery and Silversmithing at Edinburgh College of Art (1992-1998) and completed a Masters of Arts Management and Cultural Policy at UCD in 2004. She is a designer-maker who crosses boundaries of jewellery, textiles and sculpture and has exhibited extensively in international exhibitions and galleries. Her work can be seen in the National Museum of Ireland, the British Crafts Council, London; the Museum of Scotland, Edinburgh; the Museum of Art and Design, New York; the Cleveland Arts Centre International Jewellery Collection, UK; and the Office of Public Works, Dublin. For the past decade Angela has lectured in textile and jewellery at the National College of Art and Design and Edinburgh College of Art. She has curated three contemporary craft exhibitions in Ireland and the UK: Texture for the Hub Gallery, UK in 2004; Playthings and Wearable UnWearable for the Crafts Council of Ireland in 2005.

Craft Programme

Tear, fold, cut, read, write, print, and colour: Modified Expression, this year’s CRAFT strand exhibition, is all about books.

I invited an exciting mix of emerging and established artists whose work is inspired by the written word, or by the binding and recycling of books and paper, to respond to the work of the authors participating in the LITERATURE strand of the festival.

The artists have responded with a breathtaking range of techniques, manipulating and experimenting with all aspects of the authors’ recent works, from the text itself to the structure and binding, the paper, the print and the illustrations. Featuring calligraphic text, deconstructed books, intricately hand-cut paper, and recycled and re-sculptured works, Modified Expression is a fascinating collection of artworks that demonstrates each artist’s personal interpretation of the texts, transforming literary works into visual ones and creating powerful new forms of expression.

View the 2011 Craft Programme