Clare Sams - Making Spaces: Lace, language, and belonging

New works using lace techniques including tatting, Irish crochet lace and filet crochet. Sams’ works examine the history of lace in the UK and the Republic of Ireland, both as signifier of wealth and status, and as a vital source of income for everyday people.

Lace crafts are highly skilled activities which can be overlooked and undervalued as frivolous and domestic items. Sams’ work places lace in the realm of fine arts, utilising these complex techniques to develop social narratives critiquing class and culture.