Caroline Walker Artists Buttons

Caroline Walker Artists Buttons

Caroline Walker
Buttons, 2023
Porcelain and oil paint, individually hand-painted by the artist
Button diameter 31mm
Set of Six in an edition of 30

The buttons have been hand sewn onto an A5 cards. Each card is numbered, dated and signed by the artist and presented in a bespoke box designed by A Practice for Everyday Life.

Porcelain button forms have become tiny canvases for Caroline Walker, who has individually painted each one to give the illusion of classic tortoiseshell buttons. Working in oil paint, she has created six variations that simulate the mottled appearance of horn. The four holes on each button are painted, with shadows suggesting the effect of light on the surface of these trompe l’oeil objects.

Walker is renowned for her paintings which illuminate the experience of women, revealing the diverse social, cultural and economic conditions which shape society. She focuses in on spaces and activities, both in the workplace and the home, which are rarely depicted in contemporary art. The painterly skill of her compositions places her in an art historical lineage stretching from the Dutch Golden Age to Manet and Degas and beyond.

Please note due to the handmade nature of this item, please expect some variation in colour, size and/or finish to those pictured.

About the Artists Buttons project

Ten leading artists, Ai Weiwei, Jonathan Anderson, Rana Begum, Edmund de Waal, Antony Gormley, Callum Innes, Jennifer Lee, Cornelia Parker, Vicken Parsons & Caroline Walker, have been creating limited edition sets of buttons in support of Kettle’s Yard.

The project draws inspiration from the exhibition, ‘Lucie Rie: The Adventure of Pottery’, recently at Kettle’s Yard and from 14 July 2023 – 7 January 2024 at the Holburne Museum in Bath. In 1938, Lucie Rie fled her home in Vienna for London to escape the Nazi persecution of Jewish people. During the war, unable to get a licence to make pots, Rie turned to making ceramic buttons for the fashion industry, experimenting on a miniature scale with new forms and coloured glazes.

Read more about the Artist Buttons project on the Kettle’s Yard blog

Please note purchases of Artists Buttons per customer must not exceed £8,500. Any order exceeding £8,500 will not be processed.