Ellen Adams

My material practice explores themes of participation and materiality; investigating how adults engage in play.

“Whilst children move forward in their play, adults move sideways” (Sutton-Smith, 1997).

Is it that when a person is presented with a creative task, they then test an element of themselves that they would not experience in their day to day? My work invites people to select from a range of material units and ‘stack’ them in whichever combination they like. Through the use of a verb as an instruction, I now imagine my designs to encourage spontaneous and creative play in adults.

Made out of glass, my objects investigate how people respond to; surface, colour, weight and fragility whilst playing with objects. Is it that when we know of glass to be a fragile material, are we less likely to push its capabilities and add risk to its use? Or do these objects become more ‘adult’ due to the precious nature of glass?