Waddesdon Manor – Michael Eden Form & Transform Exhibition May 2018


Michael Eden‘s work sits at the intersection of craft, design and art. For this solo exhibition Eden, formerly a potter, explores contemporary themes through the reinterpretation of historical objects using digital means.

For this ambitious exhibition Michael Eden has created new pieces responding to objects from Waddesdon’s collections, displaying them in a theatrical setting in the Coach House Gallery at the Stables. These unique pieces are the result of technical innovation combined with extraordinary levels of skill using revolutionary tools and pushing materials and digital technology to their extremes. He describes how he has appropriated digital manufacturing processes: ‘Three-dimensional printing has given me the freedom to create works of art impossible with the wheel and clay’.

The new work makes connections that span time and cultures and explores the relationship between different periods of design and architectural style. Eden draws inspiration from the long tradition of materials being used to imitate other materials, and the abundance of ornamentation characteristic of Waddesdon’s 18th-century collections and 19th-century architecture.

Eden also uses imagery derived from modern scanners and microscopy in a contemporary take on pattern and surface treatment, for example the vermiculé or worm-like design applied to Sèvres porcelain. In the Form & Transform exhibition Eden presents his pieces amongst the objects and furniture from the Manor and its stores, reflecting different periods and styles that have inspired them.

The exhibition presented in association with, Adrian Sassoon, London.

Michael Eden has worked in collaboration with Scan the World, digitally scanning objects from Waddesdon’s collections. Scan the World is a social platform with a mission to archive objects of cultural significance using 3D technologies.

More Info on the Waddesdon Manor Website Here