Title: Malachite (2006)
Medium: crocheted nylon yarn
Dimensions: variable
Photo: Michal Kluvanek

Exhibiting under the auspices of Inside SAM's Place , the on-going collaboration between Craftsouth and the South Australian Museum , Claire Thompson-Richards recently presented the latest body of work yielded by her diverse and eclectic art practice. Now in its fifth year, Inside SAM's Place is based on the premise of artists and craftspeople responding to aspects of the museum's collection, as well as the associated methodologies of archiving and scientific inquiry. After a period of research, during which they have access to the Museum's archives and resources, artists generate new work which is displayed within the Museum itself.

Thompson-Richards responds to the Museum's mineral collection with a series of soft sculptures, drawing elegant parallels between geological processes and textile processes such as crochet. As is usually the case with Inside SAM's Place exhibits, the work is located alongside the material which inspired it; specifically, the malachite, gypsum crystal and fossil shells that Thompson-Richards has reinterpreted in her textile works. By situating these works in the Museum's Mineral Gallery, the artist's practice is given an equal footing with the subjects of natural history. Thompson-Richards' propositions become included in the body of knowledge that the Museum's collection represents.

In 'Fossil Shell Cosies', the interior moulds left by fossilised shells undergo a rather neat transposition into the medium of crocheted nylon yarn. What makes this material translation so elegant is the sympathy between the spiral forms of the shells and the circular nature of the crochet process. The typical and commonly understood usage of this craft is to provide ornament for a functional item; a toilet roll, coat-hanger or tea-pot, for example. In Thompson-Richards' work we are treated to the ornament, seemingly without any trace of functionality; in the artist's words, "the icing without the cake." This is equally true of the 'Malachite' series. Though not named as such, these forms are unmistakeably akin to cosies for actual pieces of malachite. Upon encountering the work alongside its mineral counterparts, one immediately begins to scan the display for appropriate malachite positives to fit snugly into the crocheted negatives. In 'Crystal Pom Poms' the prickly, quilled forms of gypsum crystal are transposed into pale green Chux cleaning wipes. Again, by situating the work with the crystal itself a peculiar conversation takes place. There is almost a sense of pathos in the limp pom poms and their attempt to mimic the bristling forms of the crystal.

One is first struck by the wit and gentle humour of these works, however more profound concerns reveal themselves over time. In fact, it is a concern with time itself that seems to be at the core of these works. In 'Malachite' in particular, the labour-intensive and time-consuming nature of crochet becomes a beautifully apt analogue of the process that forms the mineral. While the time taken to create a crocheted form is modest when measured against the lengthy formation of malachite, there is nonetheless a poetic correlation between human endeavour and geological processes.

The process-based nature of the work is complimented by Thompson-Richards' strict material rigour. The artist is altogether committed to achieving form and structure purely within the materials' own terms, a mode of working she likens to origami. The result is an ostensibly delicate aesthetic underpinned by a tough material sensibility.

The artists' work is also characterised by a playful attitude toward the functionality of craft objects, which has been present in her practice for some time. Works like 'Malachite' and 'Fossil Shell Cosies' speak to an earlier series of cosies designed for taps, power boards, television antennae and table corners. "Put the cosie on the corner of the table to prevent injuries," declared the text that accompanied the work, perhaps offering a wry comment on occupational health and safety policies gone wild.

Title: Crystal Pom Poms(2006)
Medium: 53 pom-poms made from absorbent cleaning cloth
Dimensions: variable
Photo: Michal Kluvanek

As well as evoking the discipline of origami, Thompson-Richards' work is equally reminiscent of another, much younger Japanese tradition, namely chin-dogu , the curious art of the 'un-useless' invention. This movement boasts countless innovations, such as the Hydrophobe's Bath Body Suit, which allows the wearer to have a bath without getting wet. Like the practitioners of chin-dogu , Thompson-Richards operates in an intermediary state between useful and useless. However, while chin-dogu aspires to an absurd kind of functionality ('un-uselessness'), Thompson-Richards' work seems to demand another category again.perhaps one might describe her textile objects as cheerfully 'un-useful'.

It is important to note that these textile sculptures and installations only represent one facet of Thompson-Richards' practice. She is active as both a photographer and a cartoonist/illustrator, in the tradition of Michael Leunig and Charles Schulz. She is also the author of eccentric text and image works such as 'Definition of paint' (which combines diagrams and instructional language with elements of anecdote and autobiography). Throughout these many and varied endeavours, one can detect a subtle but distinct thread: a cheeky, inquisitive and unpretentious intelligence that becomes ever more evident in the artist's work.