CAT GRAFTERS
A photo and video series aiming to inspire the younger generation whilst taking CAT Footwear back to their roots in heritage workwear
Grafters explores and spotlights creatives from printers, furniture makers to artists. Over the last few months these six individuals gave us a glimpse into their studios, the places they have drawn inspiration from and the way they work.
The Grafters campaign naturally reflects the ethos found within CAT Footwear’s partnership with the Centrepoint Charity which began in August ‘21. Cat Footwear has provided young adults starting industrial apprenticeships with safety footwear and apparel in order to mitigate the pressures of being able to afford equipment, arming them with confidence starting a new role and career. CAT Grafters continues the initiative of supporting hard work showcasing the potential of industrious careers.
The six Grafters each represent a different perspective on an assiduous approach to their respective fields.
Corbin Shaw is a multidisciplinary artist whose work explores British culture, his own Northern identity and the enforcement of gender roles. Shaw’s work looks at the weight of expectations placed on young men: be those passed from father to son, or those faced by young people in suburbs and villages ravaged by Thatcherism, as well as expectations of gender and ‘manliness’ that he encountered growing up in South Yorkshire.
Graham Sayle, a Merseyside born Artist living and working in London. Working in the margins between Art and Design, his work explores the elevation of traditionally crude materials. Transforming them into painterly constructed surfaces and objects.
Using traditional saddlery tools, Kingsley Walters creates small capsule collections as well as leading workshops on leather craftsmanship. As a craftsman he makes practical and durable pieces by hand, utilising traditional methods: each product is hand cut and stitched with his own beeswax coated thread. He used locally sourced material, from London, and traceable to source. The Kingsley Walters kite logo is a direct reference to the simple things he misses most about his early life in Jamaica. During the school holidays, he would make homemade kites with his friends. The Kingsley Walters brand merges his Jamaican heritage and his current life in London.
Favour Jonathan, a metal sculpture artist and academic from South London. Her craft is about the continuation of cultural progress through history, stories and representation from the past for the future. Favour uses her craftsmanship to make history digestible for her own generation, displaying academia in a more aesthetic form, beyond pen and paper.
Jazmine Joye creates limited edition, hand pressed linocut prints form her studio in London. Through Lino printing Jazmine found a place to just focus on exactly what she’s doing and not think about anything else. Citing her love for the fact it’s a process and not a quick fix. Jazmine’s work is inspired by feminine power, nature and spirituality. Jazmine often creates typographic reduction prints too as she says she’s very experimental in herpractice whilst always remaining bold and simple in style.
Jonquil Lawrence is an Art Director and Set Designer based in South East London. She has worked with titles such as Bricks Magazine, Dazed, Schön! and musicians and bands such Wolf Alice, Raye, AJ Tracey and Biig Piig. To Jonquil, set design is about creating a narrative around a subject, it’s about adapting, overcoming obstacles and thinking of creative solutions quickly. Jonquil is extremely passionate about visual story-telling, inclusivity and diversity within the industry.
