Photograph by Jon Cardwell. Grid Drape 648. (Detail)

Industrial Offcuts: Freed of London

Industrial Offcuts: Freed of London is led by the sourcing of production offcuts from the ballet and theatrical shoe manufacturer Freed of London. On visiting the workshop, Isabel was struck by the contrast between the well-worn nature of the workshop and the gleaming beauty of the finished dance shoes. Each craftsperson has perfected their role, their bodies adapting to the rhythm of repetitive processes. The offcuts themselves hold traces of this craftsmanship, each scrap forming a silhouette of the making process.

Isabel transforms these remnants into sculptural forms, each highlighting a different offcut type. She employs cutting, layering, piecing, stitching, draping, and gathering to manipulate and enhance their inherent shapes and textures. Stitch serves as both construction and mark-making, joining fragmented materials while highlighting negative space. The expanded forms which emerge from the suspended pieces are intended to encourage questioning of materials and processes and a reassessment of consumption.

With special thanks to the whole team at Freed of London.

Materials

Variety of offcuts (leather, suede, calico, satin, insole material) and thread.

Date of Production

March-June 2023

Industrial Offcuts: Freed of London. (Install shot)


 
Satin Overlap. – Suspended ballet shoe offcuts with hand stitch.


Satin Overlap. (Detail shot) – Suspended ballet shoe offcuts with hand stitch.


Grid Drape 648. – Pieced together ballet shoe offcuts, machine and hand stitch. Suspended within the Freed of London workshop. Photograph by Jon Cardwell.

Grid Drape 648. (Detail) – Pieced together ballet shoe offcuts, machine and hand stitch. Left photograph by Jon Cardwell.


Stamped, Multiple. – Leather and suede sculptural form. Suspended within the Freed of London workshop. Photograph by Jon Cardwell.

Photograph by Jon Cardwell.


Stamped, Multiple. (Detail) – Photograph by Jon Cardwell.