The Bag Lady

What is the appropriate response to being told that the Victoria and Albert Museum would like to purchase your work for their permanent collection? For textile artist Laura Marsden her response was one of overwhelming excitement that she simply could not contain.

Marsden is a sort of guerrilla lace-maker. Instead of demurely contemplating each pull of the needle, she stitches with great speed using thread recycled from strips of plastic bags and sculpts the ‘lace’ panels into what seem like delicate and ephemeral pieces. Up close however, the intricate lace transforms into tiny uneven and energetic knots. I imagine an expert would snootily call her work ‘unaccomplished’, but being a slave to tradition does not interest Marsden. After completing her degree at Chelsea School of Art she purchased a book called The Encyclopaedia of Stitch that she used as research into traditional techniques. Pairing this knowledge with a desire to recycle existing material, such as plastic bags, Marsden has invented a new method which she is currently patenting.

The V&A Museum have recognised in Laura an innovator. Sitting along side their historical lace in the textile storage room are two of her ‘Ruffs’. These necklaces are based on lace ruffs of the 17th century and made with plastic V&A gift shop bags that Marsden has been collecting for years when visiting exhibitions. As you can imagine she is quite a collector of bags, the green and white Marks and Spencer’s being her favourite!

The limited edition collection has been created exclusively for The Shop Floor Project and includes The Ruff, The Diamond Necklace and The Flower Corsage. The pieces from the collection are designed to be worn as well as collected.

View the Collection here