Louise Hibbert

Louise Hibbert is a designer-maker who graduated from University of Brighton in 1994 with a BA (Hons) in 3D design -specialising in Wood and Plastics. She makes a range of practical items (salt and pepper mills, bottle stoppers) but recently has been focusing much more on creating her whimsical one-off pieces – boxes and vessels.

Her ideas derive from an exploration of form, texture, colour and symmetry. Inspiration has always been dominated by a fascination with the natural world, particularly marine life, and Louise uses wood to reproduce and emphasise certain decorative aspects that these creatures possess and combine them into single pieces. After careful planning on paper each piece originates on the lathe and then carving, airbrushed inks, and applied resins are used to create the required effects.

The majority of her work is made from native kiln-dried timbers. Sycamore is a favourite as it has a pale, even grain to act as a blank canvas for her designs and a wonderful translucent quality that makes the colours glow in a similar way to those of the creatures which inspire her work.

Selected Exhibitions
2001-2003 Challenge VI, touring various Museums in the USA
2003 Plankton, Model House Gallery, Llantrisant, Wales
2003 Plankton, The Scottish Gallery, Edinburgh
2002-2003 Featured Artist (del Mano), SOFA, New York, USA
1998-2003 Small Treasures, del Mano Gallery, LA, USA
2003 Plankton, Craftwest, Perth, Australia

1999-2002 SOFA (del Mano), Chicago, USA
1999-2002 Chelsea Craft Fair, Chelsea Old Town Hall, London
2002 Plankton (Crafts Council), V&A, London
2002 Colors; Materials-Contemporary Illusions, Brookfield Craft Center, Connecticut, USA
2002 Designing Futures, Craftwest, Perth, Australia
2002 Turned Wood, del Mano Gallery, LA, USA
2002 Hot Tea 2002, del Mano Gallery, LA, USA
2002 Plankton, Conference on Phytoplankton Productivity, Bangor

2001 allTURNatives, Wood Turning Center, Philadelphia, USA
2001 Craft Focus, Mission Gallery, Swansea
2001 Fiveways Open Houses, Brighton Festival, Brighton

2000 Horizons 2000, Brookfield Craft Center, Connecticut, USA
2000 Hot Tea 2000, Del Mano Gallery, LA, USA

1999 National Eisteddfod of Wales, Arts and Crafts Exhibition
1999 Art in Action, Oxford
1999 LIGNA, Hanover, Germany
1999 SOFA (del Mano), New York, USA

1998 Artisan, Edinburgh Festival of Contemporary Craft, Edinburgh I.C.C.
1996-98 Fiveways Open Houses, Brighton Festival, Brighton
1997 Chelsea Craft Fair, Chelsea Old Town Hall, London
1997 Turned for Use (AAW), San Antonio Museum of Art, USA &
North Carolina State University Craft Center, Raleigh, USA
1996 Decorative Arts Today, Bonhams, London
1996 Wood and Clay, European Ceramics, Knaresborough, Yorks
1995 Chelsea Craft Fair, Chelsea Old Town Hall, London
1995 San Francisco Int. Gift Fair, Moscone Center, San Francisco
1995 New York International Gift Fair, Jacob K. Javits Center, New York

Bibliography

·Resin Jewellery, Kathy Murphy, A&C Black, 2002
·Crafts, ‘Fruits de Mer’, p.38-41, no. 178, Sept/Oct 2002
·Nature, ‘Science in Culture’, p.920, Vol. 418 29 August 2002
·Craft Arts International, ‘Manifesting the Invisible’ by Kevin Wallace, issue 55, 2002
·Scratching the Surface: Art and Content in Contemporary Wood, Michael Hosaluk, 2002
·Ideales Heim, ‘Aus dem Nixenreich’, p.22, June 2002
·Woodturning Magazine, Front Cover & ‘Fair Exchange’, p.49-52, January 2002
·Turning Points, ‘ITE Experience 2001 – Part Two’, p.18 – 29, fall 2001
·Turning Points, ‘ITE 2001’, p.18-21, summer 2001
·Challenge VI – Roots, M.Holtzapfel, R.Rice, C.D.Tyler, Wood Turning Center, 2001
·Crefft (Arts Council of Wales newsletter), Front Cover, Issue 98, March 2001
·BBC Homes & Antiques, ‘Crafts Today’, p.72-73, March 2001
·Crefft (Arts Council of Wales newsletter), Issue 97, ‘Breaking Barriers’, Dec. 2000
·The Fine Art of Wood – The Bohlen Collection, Bonita Fike,
·Detroit Institute of Arts, 2000
·Woodturning Magazine, ‘Scott and Hibbert’, p.72-76, April 2000,
·Crefft (Arts Council of Wales newsletter), Issue 93, ‘Profile’, p.4, December 1999
·Bowl Turning Techniques Masterclass, Tony Boase, GMC Publications 1999
·Contemporary Turned Wood – New Designs in a Rich Tradition, Del Mano Gallery, Los Angeles, 1999
·The Visit (National Eisteddfod of Wales), HTV programme, 8th August 1999

Awards/Grants
Grant from the Worshipful Company of Turners for Plankton Project, 2002
Arts Council of Wales bursary for Plankton Project with Sarah Parker-Eaton, 2002
Arts Council of Wales grant to attend ‘Breaking Barriers’ Conference, Canada, 2000
Award at the National Eisteddfod of Wales 1999, Arts and Crafts Exhibition

Public/Private Collections
Detroit Institute of Arts, USA
The Aldrich Collection, University of Brighton
Various private collections

Residencies
Designing Futures International Residency Programme 2003, one month residency in Perth, Western Australia organised by the Craftwest Gallery
International Woodturning Exchange 2001, two month programme in Philadelphia, organised by the Wood Turning Center, Philadelphia, USA