London designer Dominic Wilcox has spent 75 hours wrapping multi-coloured cotton thread around five walking sticks, which are on show at the YCN gallery in London.
The threads are transferred from spools and wound tightly round the sticks by hand to produce a fabric-like covering.
The canes are on show as part of a Christmas shop at the gallery called My Two Front Teeth, which continues until 23 December.
Here's some text from Dominic Wilcox:
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Cotton thread is wound onto a wooden walking cane, one spool at a time. The thread is methodically wound tightly together to give the strength and finish of a fine material.Each cane is completely random from the others due to the making process of choosing each new colour one at a time. The process takes approximately fifteen hours in total. Each stick is signed and dated by Dominic Wilcox.
I always have enjoyed the concept of giving an object a second skin. The process of wrapping using a string, rope or thread in order to create a 3 dimensional shape was in my mind for a couple of months. I chose a walking cane partly because it is an object much overlooked by designers, perhaps it is seen as unfashionable or having negative connotations by some. I wanted to change that in this cane and make something that was confident and not embarrassed of its own existence.
I love the simple shape and curve of the bent wood which I think is highlighted by the thread. I do find that a great deal of my work requires some sort of obsessional behaviour. The process of wrapping the cane takes concentration and patience and I found it cleared my mind of all the stresses of everyday thoughts, which is a very good thing!
My Two Front Teeth - A Christmas Shop from YCN at 72 Rivington Street
From the 1st to the 23rd December YCN will be presenting a very special Christmas shop in the ground floor at 72 Rivington Street.
Billed as My Two Front Teeth, and produced in partnership with Jiggery Pokery, the festive store will present a plethora of specially commissioned gift items contributed by a host of creative collaborators.
Contributions include Dominic Wilcox’s cotton styled walking canes, Saskia Pomeroy’s glow in the dark lunar calendars, Henrietta Swift’s ‘lighten the mood’ sticker sets and a family of wreaths by Hattie Newman. Personally curated stockings will also be on offer; hand-made by the likes of Fred Butler, Donna Wilson, SHOWstudio and Mother among others.
Hundreds of christmas cards have been personally illustrated by artists internationally and newly screenprinted wrapping paper will also be on offer. London based illustrator Valero Doval has been commissioned to create a pack of ‘Christmas Pets’ cards to extend his brilliant Circus Pets family of embellished found postcards produced earlier in the year.