
Queer Crafts
Material Practices and the Making of Identity
Daniel Fountain(Author)
Bloomsbury Visual Arts (Publisher)
Published on 8. January 2026
Book
Paperback/Softback
224 pages
978-1-350-35935-2 (ISBN)
Description
Through a focused analysis of work made from textiles, ceramics, wood, paper, metal, and glass, this book explores how contemporary artists, designers, and practitioners identifying as LGBTQ+ use a range of craft materials and processes to explore their identity and queerness.
Queer Crafts provides a nuanced and timely study of the dynamic intersection of queerness and craft, examining a wide range of media - textiles, ceramics, wood, paper, metal, and glass. Daniel Fountain demonstrates how LGBTQ+ practitioners - including LJ Roberts, Paul Yore, Rose Schmits, Nicki Green, Hansel Tai, Affect Metals, Troy Montes-Michie, Antonius Tin-Bui, Raul De Lara, Nifemi Ogunro, Tim Tate, and Hamad Butt - use these materials as powerful vehicles for self-expression, community building, and social critique. Reframing craft through a queer and trans theoretical lens, the book analyzes how these practitioners reclaim histories, rewrite narratives, disrupt hierarchies, and craft their own worlds. A significant contribution to the field, Queer Crafts is an invaluable resource for scholars and practitioners across a range of disciplines.
Queer Crafts provides a nuanced and timely study of the dynamic intersection of queerness and craft, examining a wide range of media - textiles, ceramics, wood, paper, metal, and glass. Daniel Fountain demonstrates how LGBTQ+ practitioners - including LJ Roberts, Paul Yore, Rose Schmits, Nicki Green, Hansel Tai, Affect Metals, Troy Montes-Michie, Antonius Tin-Bui, Raul De Lara, Nifemi Ogunro, Tim Tate, and Hamad Butt - use these materials as powerful vehicles for self-expression, community building, and social critique. Reframing craft through a queer and trans theoretical lens, the book analyzes how these practitioners reclaim histories, rewrite narratives, disrupt hierarchies, and craft their own worlds. A significant contribution to the field, Queer Crafts is an invaluable resource for scholars and practitioners across a range of disciplines.
Reviews / Votes
This is a beautifully written, brilliantly original and thought-provoking monograph that gives full focus to the collision of queer and craft as conceptual tools in the contemporary art world. * Joseph McBrinn, Reader in Irish Art and Design History, Belfast School of Art, Ulster University, Ireland * This book playfully highlights various craft techniques that illustrate the fluidity of queer aesthetics. It explores how artists embody histories and personal narratives, manipulating forms through limp wrists, firm fists, and askew perspectives within intricate and disorienting queer worlds. * Jade Yumang, Associate Professor in the Department of Fiber and Material Studies, School of the Art Institute of Chicago, USA *More details
Series
Language
English
Place of publication
London
United Kingdom
Publishing group
Bloomsbury Publishing PLC
Target group
College/higher education
Professional and scholarly
Illustrations
34 colour illus
Dimensions
Height: 239 mm
Width: 164 mm
Thickness: 15 mm
Weight
494 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-350-35935-2 (9781350359352)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Person
Daniel Fountain is Senior Lecturer in Art History and Visual Culture at the University of Exeter, UK. They have published widely on gender, sexuality, contemporary art, and craft, including the edited collection Crafted with Pride: Queer Craft and Activism in Contemporary Britain (2023). Daniel is also a practitioner and curator with international experience
Content
List of Figures
Preface: Creatively Bent
Acknowledgments
Introduction: Unraveling 'Queer' and 'Craft'
TEXTILE
Chapter 1.Threads of Kinship: Queer Worldmaking and Crafting Community
CERAMIC
Chapter 2. Ceramics in Transition: Centering the Transgender Experience
WOOD
Chapter 3. Against the Grain: Queer Furniture and The Politics of Discomfort
PAPER
Chapter 4. Paper Trails: (De)Constructing Identity Through Papercutting and Collage
METAL
Chapter 5. Shimmering Selves and Erotic Expressions in Armour and Adornment
GLASS
Chapter 6. Handle with Care: Fragility and Viral Containment
Notes
Bibliography
Index
Glossary
I: Key LGBTQ+ Terms
II: Key Technical Terms
Preface: Creatively Bent
Acknowledgments
Introduction: Unraveling 'Queer' and 'Craft'
TEXTILE
Chapter 1.Threads of Kinship: Queer Worldmaking and Crafting Community
CERAMIC
Chapter 2. Ceramics in Transition: Centering the Transgender Experience
WOOD
Chapter 3. Against the Grain: Queer Furniture and The Politics of Discomfort
PAPER
Chapter 4. Paper Trails: (De)Constructing Identity Through Papercutting and Collage
METAL
Chapter 5. Shimmering Selves and Erotic Expressions in Armour and Adornment
GLASS
Chapter 6. Handle with Care: Fragility and Viral Containment
Notes
Bibliography
Index
Glossary
I: Key LGBTQ+ Terms
II: Key Technical Terms