@alexmerryart
MAGIC & MISCHIEF
INSIDE THE WORLD OF ALEX MERRY
For Alex Merry - artist, folklorist and founding member of female Morris dance group, Boss Morris - magic is a part of everyday life. It might be found in the ancient rituals of a Gloucestershire village, a creature glimpsed at the woodland’s edge, or the wonderful imperfections of something made by hand. Rooted in the landscape she calls home, her world is one where folklore is still alive.
As the artist behind the House of Hackney x Alex Merry cushion collection, Alex has a talent for finding the extraordinary in the often overlooked. Here, we step inside her home to talk about how interiors tell our stories, our instinctive connection to Nature, and why human creativity is something worth protecting.
From William Morris curtains and carpet to woodland creatures and medieval music, step inside the world of Alex Merry.
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ON THE COLLABORATION
I’ve always loved House of Hackney’s designs, your use of pattern and colour, and your commitment to protecting nature. There’s something dreamy and theatrical about your work, which really appeals to me. I love how you create whole worlds through your designs, so it felt like a really natural collaboration.
I love that the boar, beaver and bat are creatures you don’t often get to see. There’s something quite mysterious about each of them. They all play an important part in the places they inhabit. I wanted it to feel like you’d wandered deep into the woods and stumbled across them, catching a little glimpse into their world.
I like the idea of introducing a bit of unexpected strangeness into someone’s home. Almost as though the cushion is a little window into the deepest part of the woods. I hope there’s a bit of humour in them too.
The Boar, The Beaver, The Bat; which one are you?
The Boar, The Beaver, The Bat; which one are you?
"Ooh I think probably the bat. I love a dusky walk around our local graveyard with my partner and our two black cats. That feels quite bat-like. And with my Morris hankies fluttering around, I probably look a bit like one too!"
ALEX MERRY
ON BRITISH FOLKLORE
From ancient rituals to curious creatures, British folklore is full of stories that blur the lines between the everyday and the extraordinary. For Alex, it’s a living thread, connecting people, place and the natural world. And an invitation to look a little closer at the magic that’s all around us.
I think it’s the connection to people and place that I love the most. All the songs, dances, rituals and peculiar traditions, some of them generations old, others being invented as I type! I love the strangeness of it all and the nerdiness too, people getting up crazily early to dance up the sun on May morning, whether anyone’s watching or not. I find it gobsmacking how a tradition can be so specific to one tiny village, but then you’ll find something similar happening on the other side of the world.
I love that folklore isn’t just something from the past. It’s alive, constantly changing and we’re all part of it… making it up as we go along.
A lot of folklore seems to have grown out of people paying really close attention to the world around them, the different seasons, the landscape, plants and animals. I love how people have made up stories and customs to try to make sense of it all, sometimes in the most surreal ways. I don’t think folklore and science have to be at odds either. They’re just different ways of trying to understand the same world.
I’ve always been really drawn to this magical layer of life that seems to exist just below the surface of the everyday.
I think I connect with it by tuning in, a bit like finding a different radio frequency that’s always there but you don’t always pick up on it. I find a lot of that magic when I’m out walking. Sometimes I’ll find myself drawn to a particular plant without really knowing why, then later discover some strange bit of folklore or medicinal property associated with it that feels oddly relevant.
So much of our old knowledge of nature has been lost, and I love the idea of re-enchantment, of finding our way back to some of that mystery and magic.
ON WHAT MAKES A HOUSE A HOME
Every home has its own lore: the objects we collect, the patterns we grew up with, the things we carry through life. In Alex’s Gloucestershire home, art, Nature and nostalgia intertwine through curated collections, handmade works and a touch of House of Hackney.
I think the things we surround ourselves with tell all sorts of stories about us. Our homes are full of things we’ve collected, inherited, made or found. I particularly love objects that have a history, even if you don’t necessarily know what that history is.
My home is full of things I’ve collected over the years, old books, paintings, bits and pieces I’ve found. I suppose all of that feeds into my work in some way, and then the things I make become a part of that environment too.
I grew up with quite a bit of William Morris wallpaper and fabrics in the house. I remember lying in bed at night, zoning out at all the details in the wallpaper. His patterns are so familiar to me now that whenever I see one, it takes me straight back to childhood, which is such a soother.
William Morris is a total hero of mine. His championing of traditional crafts, making things by hand and love of medieval art all chime with me so much.
His life and work have always been a massive source of inspiration, so it means a lot to have his designs in my own home too.
My partner and I are lucky enough to live on one of the hills above Stroud, right next to Rodborough Common. I spend a lot of time walking up there, it’s a place I feel totally connected to. We can see the River Severn from our house too (which I’m obsessed with!). So many of my memories are tied up with the local landscape, particularly through Boss Morris and the dances and rituals we do throughout the year. I think being surrounded by all of that and having such a close connection to the place I live has a huge influence on my work.
If your home had a soundtrack, what would it be?
If your home had a soundtrack, what would it be?
"It would be wildly eclectic. Music is a huge part of my life and I can’t really imagine the house without it. I listen to a lot of medieval music (pretty much every day) but you’re just as likely to hear something completely opposite to that too. Aron, my partner, is a brilliant musician, so there’s usually music being made somewhere in the house."
ALEX MERRY
ON THE ART OF HUMAN CREATIVITY
In a world increasingly filled with AI technology, we believe the real magic lies in the human touch.The visible brush strokes, the imperfections, the intuition and instinct that imbue life into the things we create. For Alex (and our House), creativity is an innately human experience. And it can’t be generated.
I think creativity is humans at their best.
We’ve got this cosmic, inbuilt capacity to imagine things and bring them into being.
I’ve always loved outsider artists, people tinkering away in sheds, making extraordinary things whether anyone sees them or not. I think there’s something so human about that. I don’t think it’s something that could ever really be replicated.
I think we lose something really important. I love old paintings and handmade objects where you can see all the little mistakes, the wonky bits, the fingerprints in the clay. I love imagining the person who made them (sometimes thousands of years ago!), sitting there getting to grips with exactly the same materials we use today. There’s something really magical about that connection and we risk losing that when the human element is taken away.
