I was a student during the late 1970’s and early 1980’s, graduating initially from Birmingham Polytechnic with a BFA in Sculpture and then four years later from Royal College of Art with a Masters in Painting.
My work draws from a long-held interest in European, English and American Modernism and Surrealism. In this I interweave my allegiance to the Arts and Crafts tradition, and the long-standing debate about the definition and role of the decorative in the fine arts. Combined together, these forces open the door to a varied dialogue which contains figuration of and symbolic references to the landscape and the body as well as the transformation of materials and the extension of functions.
As a student in London at the RCA I was studying next door to the V&A where I spent a great deal of time. The V&A collection is famous for its attention to the Arts and Crafts. The textiles department of the museum still remains one of my favourite areas of their vast and wonderful collection.
Keith Critchlowwas one of my MA supervisors during the three years I was a student there. He was also the Head of the Tapestry Design Department at the Royal College. I never had the chance to work in that area but I wish that I had.
Simon Ogden, Kaitareti Rose, 2009, wool rug 4 panels: 250 x 720 cm, handcrafted by Dilana Rugs, Christchurch. Installation view at the Floor wall Foor wall exhibition at Peloton Gallery, Sydney, Australia
I met Hugh in the early 1980s when we both used to go to the Dux De Lux in the Arts Centre. I soon became familiar with the early Dilana rugs workshop, and my desire to work with wool came back. I decided to approach Hugh about a project I had in mind but it took several decades before I actually got around to making that proposal and collaborating with the team at the Disraeli street workshop. In 2009 we produced the first 7200 x 2400 rug, Kaitareti Rose. I was entirely hooked. What a great experience to work with exceptional artisans and to be looked after in such a generous manner!
Simon Ogden / Sam Maloney / dilana workshop christchurch 2009
Since 2015 we have made eight hand tufted rugs concentrating on pushing the process and its boundaries wherever possible. So I am once more delighted and excited to be part of a group of designers/artists working with Dilana in their current venture, exploring the global possibilities of the new digital and ink dye process.
Why do I want to make rugs ?
Scale and size transformation from small works. A linoleum pattern has a fixed size so if I make a larger linoleum work the work is larger but the patterns within the work stay the same size and look smaller and smaller the larger the work becomes.When I scale up a work through the rug making process a small flower detail scales up with the size of the rug. The shift in scale is only possible when there is a change of medium, and with a new medium new possibilities and new aesthetic challenges become visible.
Dialogue between the arts and the crafts , can ‘craft’ be art ?
Linoleum is made to cover the floor and be walked on. To take it off the floor and elevate its status by making it a work of art hanging onto a wall is somewhat ironic. To then translate this linoleum artwork into a rug and altering its status once again by placing it back onto the floor to be walked on once again adds further irony. It gives me pleasure to help reignite the conversations about the relationship between the arts and the crafts, the shift of functions and placing, and to help renegotiate the hierarchy there in.
