Mother and Child

Part of the Melbourne Design Week program, 17 – 27 March 2022, an initiative of the Victorian Government in collaboration with the National Gallery of Victoria.

A&A is industrial designer and Rigg Prize-winner Adam Goodrum and straw marquetry artisan Arthur Seigneur. Their latest collaboration is the Mother and Child cabinet, exploring the dual definitions of emergence – as processes that make something visible after being concealed, or to bring something into existence.

The former finds expression in the opening of the cabinet, in the disruption of the undulating form to reveal the recognisable figures of a mother and child. The latter through the symbolism of the lines in the closed form representing a continuum of energy, which is transferred to the mother and child making their existence possible. The space in between, the opening of the cabinet by the viewer, enacts the mystery of this process, evoking palpable surprise and wonder.

This piece is a departure from the riot of colour usually present in their work, as seen in their debut exhibition Exquisite Corpse at MDW 2020. The concentric lines are amplified, accentuating form, while the properties of straw direction create a spectrum of tone and texture within the confines of black and white. The use of graphic, vivid contrast and emergence processes echoes the sensibilities and metamorphosis theme in the work of M.C. Escher and a shared love of visual puzzles.

Image: A&A Mother and Child cabinet 2021-22. Photography by Andrew Curtis.