Light Bucket Challenge (2010)

Severija Inčirauskaitė-Kriaunevičienė’s technique involves the application of modified cross stitch onto dense metal objects. Through this process the material qualities become exaggerated and their contrasting characteristics more distinguished. The resulting effect of this manipulation of the everyday is both unexpected and beautiful.

Light Bucket Challenge (2010) is a definitive example of Inčirauskaitė-Kriaunevičienė’s practice and makes a strong addition to New Walk Museum and Art Gallery’s craft collection. The work resonates with many areas of their permanent collection and creates an interesting dialogue with Leicester’s Arts and Crafts tradition. It also engages with Leicester’s newer immigrant communities from Eastern Europe, whose cultural milieu is signposted almost subliminally by the piece. The artist’s work, although sympathetic to the Arts and Crafts movement’s dedication to traditional craftsmanship, fundamentally diverges from their values because it is born from the products of industry. She embraces the mundane symbols of Lithuanian life – the metal bucket, the radiator, the car – and turns them into objects of beauty, rather than shunning them and the industrial processes they represent.

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