Gill Crawshaw

Gill Crawshaw
(she/her)

I am a curator and draw on my experience of disability activism to organise art exhibitions and events which highlight issues affecting disabled people.  

I’ve organised exhibitions which have addressed representation of disabled artists (Possible All Along, 2020), charity (Piss on Pity, 2019), cuts to welfare and public spending (Shoddy, 2016) and access (The Reality of Small Differences, 2014).

I am interested in the intersection of disabled people’s lives with textile heritage in the north of England, as well as with contemporary textile arts. 

I gained an MA in Curation Practices from Leeds Arts University in 2018. 

Instagram: @gillcrawshaw
Twitter: @shoddyarts 
Disability Arts Online: disabilityarts.online/blog/author/gill-crawshaw/

Image descriptions:

Shoddy
Gill, wearing a voluminous black pinafore dress, plus stripey sleeves and tights, addresses the crowd at the opening night of the Shoddy exhibition. She is in the middle of the photo, people arranged in a rough circle around her. On her right is a sign language interpreter. Behind her is a bar made of reclaimed wood, the sign above has the name of the venue: Live Art Bistro. [Photo: Mat Dale]

Shoddy
A view of the Shoddy exhibition, from the back of the room.
Clockwise from the left: 
Of the Soft Kind by Katie White. Knitted panels plus headphones mounted on large display board. A wooden bench to the right.
Storytelling Coat by Lesley Illingworth. A floor-length flowing purple gown embroidered with messages inside and out, displayed on a tailor’s dummy.
Large wall hanging by Bradford Textiles Group. Colourful square panels on a grey shoddy blanket which is hanging from a pole and wires from the ceiling.
Maze of Life by Vickie Orton. A tapestry made of two panels showing felted maze patterns on cream blankets. Hung on a large display board.
Tatterdemalion by Kirsty Hall. A pile of stones on the floor, each is tightly sewn into cotton fabric. Each stone fits into an open hand.
A hanging sensory sculpture by Pyramid High Rise Group. Strips of multi-coloured and -textured fabric hang from two rough wood branches, one about 6 feet high, the other overlapping from about 9 feet high.
Interactive piece by Specialist Autism Services Wednesday Textiles Group. A mannequin wearing an open back-pack and a small table/stand for people to look at the labels within.
Deadly but Beautiful by Natalia Sauvignon (aka Judit Wilson). A felted sculpture, the approximate size and shape of a rugby ball, on a white plinth, is in the centre foreground. Plastic seaweed, shells and other objects are embedded in the multi-coloured surface. [Photo: Mat Dale]

Piss On Pity
View of the Piss on Pity exhibition. Several people are looking at the art, two taking photos with smartphones. The venue is an empty unit in a shopping centre, the walls still covered with the white shop display system, with a serving counter at the back.  Above the counter is a horizontal banner for Disabled People Against Cuts. There are several framed artworks on the wall. At the back of the unit are three of Vince Laws’ shrouds, stencilled bedsheets which hang from the ceiling, a few inches proud of the wall. They are part of the series DWP Deaths Make Me Sick.

Piss On Pity
A person wearing a backpack standing in front of artworks in the Piss on Pity exhibition.  Just in front of them are six small frames collages by Sasha Callaghan. To the right of that, hanging from the ceiling, a few inches in front of the wall, is one of Vince Laws’ shrouds, a stencilled bedsheet. It is part of the series DWP Deaths Make Me Sick. The venue is an empty unit in a shopping centre, the walls still covered with the white shop display system. High on the wall on the left, two yellow charity collecting boxes stand in a box-type shelf. [Photo courtesy: Artwalk Wakefield.]

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