Art – Max's World

Posted on November 27, 2015November 27, 2015 by Max

Knitted Moths on Display

You can currently see my knitted moths at two exhibitions in the UK.

I was very pleased to be invited to return to Prick Your Finger with a new series of moths after my first show there last year.

The moths will be on display until Saturday the 19th December.
They are already starting to fly out the door so don’t delay!
Prick Your Finger, 260 Globe Road, London, E2 0JD
Open Tuesday – Saturday, 11am – 6.30pm.

I also have six moths in an annual group exhibition called Winter Warmth at The Park Gallery in Scotland. I had some work in the 2009 show and was delighted to be asked to participate in their 15th anniversary celebrations.

The show features over 35 artists and they have chosen wildlife as the theme this year. It looks well worth a visit if you’re in the area.

The Park Gallery, Callendar House, Callendar Park, Falkirk, FK1 1YR
Open every day from 10-5 (2-5 on Sundays).

Posted on June 16, 2015 by Max

Knitting Strange Creatures at The Grant Museum of Zoology

The Grant Museum of Zoology currently has an exhibition on called ‘Strange Creatures’ and on the 19th May I took part in The Great Grant Knit-a-thon. Inspired by artist Ruth Marshall’s knitted skin of a Tasmanian Tiger on display, The Museum teamed up with Prick Your Finger to get people knitting strange creatures of their own.

We armed ourselves with piles of carpet yarn in animal colours and spent 12 hours knitting and crocheting specimens from the museum’s extensive collection. We also had Ruth Marshalls pattern for a possum skin.

I took some of my moths along and was very excited to meet their real life counterparts. Here’s the Garden Tiger Moth alongside the Tiger Moth tray. I was going to knit another moth from their collection but with over 60,00 specimens to choose from I went for a Flying Fish. I loved it’s wings and the fact they can glide for up to 200 metres out of water!

Rachael crocheted a very accurate gorilla femur. There was also an excellent squid, a spider monkey skull and many possum skins.

I helped people to knit specimens with Rachael of Prick Your Finger and Larissa of Travel Knitter. You can read their accounts of the day and see more pictures from them here: Rachael – Larissa

It was an excellent day and I’m really grateful to The Grant Museum for the opportunity to spend so much time sitting and knitting specimens. It’s a great way to study and learn about strange creatures. The current exhibition is only on until the 27th June but it’s an excellent place to visit any time if you like cabinets full of bones, creatures and unusual specimens.

Posted on May 15, 2015May 15, 2015 by Max

I Knit Fandango

It’s a little late but I thought I’d better let you know… I have a stall at the I Knit Fandango which is on today and tomorrow. Look for the Max’s World stall for all my moths and lots of jewellery.

The brand new Tatargina Moth, finished this week, has been delighting visitors!
The fair is jammed full of incredible yarn and all sorts of wooly goodness.

Click here for more details:
I Knit Fandango
15-16 May 2015 Royal Horticultural Halls, Lindley Hall, Westmister, London

Posted on November 23, 2014November 23, 2014 by Max

The Moths

My exhibition of knitted moths opened on Friday and I wanted to share some pictures of the moths that are on show. If you want to take a closer look they will be on display until the 20th December. There is also a 2 metre moth but he deserves his own post…!

Six of the moths are available to buy as greeting cards.

Like a Moth in a Wool Shop
22nd November – 20th December 2014
Open Tuesday – Saturday 11am – 6.30pm
Prick Your Finger, 260 Globe Road, London, E2 0JD

Posted on September 10, 2014September 10, 2014 by Max

Like a Moth in a Wool Shop

I am excited to announce an exhibition of new work coming this November. I will be showing a variety of knitted moths & other creatures at Prick Your Finger, the fantastic yarn store in London.

Like a bull in a china shop, a moth in a wool shop is a pretty terrifying prospect. These moths, although a bit creepy, are soft and cuddly and will hopefully show that not all moths are evil wool-eaters.

The idea stems from a spot of moth trouble I had in 2008. I was going to have a show of large knitted creatures in Prick Your Finger but as I was installing it I noticed a suspicious hole in the back of Benoit the Bee. I looked closer and was horrified to find a nest of moth eggs and creepy larvae. I had to take it all away and was so embarrassed I didn’t return to the shop for 3 years. Luckily I was forgiven for bringing nasty moths into the shop and it feels pretty funny to be bringing new safe moths back 6 years later.

I’m currently working hard on knitting enough creatures to fill the shop. There will be replicas of fantastically colourful moths such as the squeaking silk moth (below), the elegant Luna moth and the neon Rosy Maple moth. There will also be swarms of little moths and even a giant mega moth…

If you want to see more sneak peeks as I go along please follow me on Instagram or Facebook. I’ll also be accepting suggestions for other beautiful moths to knit.

Like a Moth in a Wool Shop
22nd November – 20th December 2014
Opening Night: Friday 21st November 6 – 9pm

Open Tuesday – Saturday 11am – 6.30pm
Prick Your Finger
260 Globe Road
London
E2 0JD

Posted on May 16, 2014May 16, 2014 by Max

Yan Tan Tethera

Last night I took part in the Yan Tan Tethera event at the English Folk Song and Dance Society in Cecil Sharp House. It’s an exhibition exploring the connections between textiles and song. Read more here.

I was a part of the Prick Your Finger section of the event. We were creating a knitted mandala featuring charms based on traditional English folk songs. People came and knitted and crocheted chickens, flowers, ducks, sheep, windows, doors and tiny socks whilst two choirs sang folk songs related to textiles. There were also knot dances where people created knots by dancing with colourful ribbons on bobbins, similar to a maypole dance.

I loved listening to the song Tarry Wool as it has a lot of lyrics about carding wool. I’ve been doing a lot of carding recently and have fallen in love with the process of combing and combining different fibres.

The folk mandala was the work of Rachael Matthews (who runs Prick Your Finger). I did a lot of the knitting to create the background. That big circle of green took a little while…! We made a booklet to go alongside the project which contains patterns for the charms and words to the songs. It’s called Yan Tan Tethera’s guide to knitted meditation through folk song and it’s a beautiful object by itself. I was very excited to contribute patterns for tiny socks and naughty sheep.

The exhibition will be at Cecil Sharp House until September 25th 2014. So you can go and investigate all the different works. There’s also pieces by Freddie Robins, Stewart Easton and the Mcgrath Maker’s Group.

Also, in case you were wondering, Yan Tan Tethera is an ancient method for counting sheep and also stitches in knitting. Here’s the wikipedia page if you want to learn all the numbers. 15 is bumfitt which I think is a great reason to start using it to count everything…!

Posted on March 19, 2013March 19, 2013 by Max

Wool House

The Entrance Room Today I went to see the Wool House exhibition at Somerset House. First I have to say that it’s a-mazing and if you can get to see it, do! It’s only on until next Sunday 24th March. Also, you can sit in that chair, it is the cosiest thing ever.

The main exhibition is 7 rooms furnished in wool by 7 different designers and then there are more rooms showcasing wool in fashion and a bit of art. There were also spinning and weaving demonstrations today which I got a bit hypnotised by.

The first thing I came across were these sheep hats. They reminded me of the character of the Sheep Man in Haruki Murakami’s novel A Wild Sheep Chase who I was coincidentally thinking about yesterday even though I read the book a year or so ago.

Sheep Hats at Wool House

See more photos from my visit: Continue reading Wool House

Posted on January 2, 2013 by Max

Octo-Tatt

I received a very exciting e-mail at the end of last year from Becca of the Stitchy Wicket. She wanted to let me know that my little Knitting Octopus had been the inspiration for her new tattoo! I’m really impressed by how my bit of knitting was translated into ink and as Becca says it makes a change from the usual wool and needles knitting tattoos. The artist was Loki at Sacred Heart Tattoo in Atlanta, GA (USA).

If my knitted creatures have inspired anyone else’s artworks I’d love to see them! Happy new year folks!

Knitting octopus tattoo

Posted on May 21, 2011July 22, 2011 by Max

Bortusk Leer

I went to this exhibition today after a phone call saying there’s a giant blue knitted man in this gallery and you need to see it. It’s really fun, there is indeed a knitted man and downstairs is an aladdin’s cave of crazy creatures and spray paint. I think my favourite sprayed slogan had to be ‘UV he he he’. It’s at Tony’s Gallery off Brick Lane until the 26th June. Go and see it if you can or there’s lots of good flickr pictures here.

Posted on April 14, 2011July 22, 2011 by Max

Art Smart

I’m going to be taking part in the University of the Arts London Art Smart Fair this July. I’ll have my knitters jewellery there and I’ll be bringing along some of my knitted characters. It’s also an ideal opportunity to make some new work that I’ve been thinking about lately. The plan is that it will be tiny, knitted and horrible. Probably a series of curious little boxes and cauldrons filled with bizarre knitted things. I thought I’d share this photo of todays research materials… and I’m planning to post regular pictures of my creations!