Page 102 - Constructing Craft

Storm and Pointon worked in different ways and pursued different goals. Graeme

Storm disciplined himself to work regular hours based on a three month cycle of
making followed by a form of ‘open day’ of selling to friends and associates. The left

over pots were sold to craft shops. Occasionally he would contribute work to
exhibitions. In this way between 250 and 300 pots would be made and sold. Debbie

Pointon was motivated by exhibitions working more frantically as the exhibition
deadline approached. She rarely worked regular hours and following the opening of

the exhibition she would allow herself a period of reflection. Storm and Pointon’s

work could be classified as both craft and art but one characteristic that Pattrick
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noticed the two craftspeople shared was ‘single mindedness’.

Craft, Art and the Critics

The Artists

From the earliest days of the movement craftspeople found they were the subjects

of reviews by non-craftspeople. The following two exhibition reviews illustrate how
commentators adopted significantly different positions on this topic. Janet Paul, a

painter and critic, wrote a review of the first exhibition held at the Helen Hitchings
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Gallery in Wellington in 1949. As noted in the Introduction the exhibition was
distinctive for the way it displayed both art (paintings and sculpture) and craft

(pottery, furniture and textiles) as if set within a modern New Zealand home. This
form of compatibility appeared to deny that an art/craft debate existed. In fact, in a

catalogue produced to accompany a 2008 exhibition about the gallery, Helen
Hitchings was quoted as stating that “all forms of art [were] sources for interior

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decoration.” Paul’s review however, did not mention painting or sculpture ‒
although the gallery featured the paintings of Rita Angus and Colin McCahon
alongside the pottery of O. C. Stephens and Len Castle – concentrating rather on
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craft. This appeared to confirm that craft and art could not be discussed in the
same terms. In the review Janet Paul, in an apparent effort to further separate craft

from art, could not resist at least one cautionary warning to craftspeople to
remember their place: ‘Generally the shapes were good but some of the pottery

Constructing Craft