Mary Crabb

@crabbbaskets

About

Statement

I am an maker, teacher and maths tutor. I am a STEM Ambassador for maths.

My initial career was in primary education, class teaching, then specialising in maths, art and music for enrichment and support. For some years, I worked in museum education, developing opportunities for schools and families to interpret, interact and learn within an informal setting through the people, places and objects.

Later I developed my creative practice, beginning with traditional willow basketry skills. This evolved into an experimental working style with a mix of traditional and contemporary materials using adapted basketry and textile techniques. Work is often inspired by mathematical thinking, objects, stories of people and making, supported by research and investigation.

Alongside sharing my creative work through workshops, talks and exhibiting, I tutor maths.

Mary and Tedi

CV

Solo Exhibitions

2018
Significant Figures: remembrance through making. Oxmarket Gallery, Chichester.

2012
Willow to Wire, Horsham Museum & Art Gallery

Selected Group Exhibitions

2023 Midlands Model Engineering Exhibition – copper pod exhibited on the Society of Model & Experimental Engineering stand.

2022 Winter Exhibition. New Ashgate Gallery.

2021 Forces in Translation installation. Ruthin Craft Centre.

2021 Basketry – Rhythm, Renewal & Reinvention. Ruthin Craft Centre.

2021 Warp, weft, stitch, thread. Gallery 57, Arundel, West Sussex.

2020 Elements: wood metal. Gallery57, Arundel, West Sussex.

Publications

2022 The Textile Museum Journal Volume 49 2022. Basketry and Mathematics: Reflections on Curves and Surfaces.
Stephanie Bunn and Ricardo Nemiroksky with the Forces in Translation Research Group, including Mary Crabb, Geraldine Jones, Hilary Burns and Charlotte Megroureche.

2021 Weaving Windmill Loops to Create Surfaces with Varying Curvature. Stephanie Bunn, Mary Crabb, Hilary Burns, Geraldine Jones, Charlotte Megroureche, Ricardo Nemirovsky. The Bridges Organisation 2021.

2020 The Material Culture of Basketry co-edited by S. Bunn and V. Mitchell.

I am a contributing basketmaker writing a chapter in Part Two: Basketry as maths, pattern and engineering – Counting, number, loops and lines…

2020 Making Histories, Sharing Histories: Putting University – Community Collaboration into Practice 

I have contributed ‘Studying Objects’ as a community researcher for the Basketry & Beyond heritage group.