Clemence Joly at the Merchant & Found Vintage Supermarket with her knitted butchery behind

The Wool Butchery created for Merchant & Found part of London Craft Week

Artist Clemence Joly recently adorned the Merchant & Found vintage supermarket pop up in Soho with strings of crochet sausages a giant knitted T Bone and plush pigs heads - all knitted by hand during London Craft Week. The knitted butchers counter took over a year to create. We ask the Parisian based creative and Central St Martin’s alumni who has created windows for Bon Marche and LVMH dreams of exhibiting at Deyrolles or the Muséum de la Chasse et de la Nature where it all started…

Clemence Joly at the Merchant & Found Vintage Supermarket in Soho during London Craft Week with her knitted beef

“As far as I can remember, I have always been drawing. I studied graphic design, both in Paris and London. But it is mainly 2D, and computer based and I had the need to create objects in 3D, and use my hands. I asked my mother to teach me how to crochet, because I had a vision of this weird hybrid object between the meat and fashion industries (my chosen topic for my Graphic Design Master diploma) : a wool roast beef!

Clemence Joly’s ‘Giant T-bone’ commissioned by Merchant & Found and her ‘Wool Butchery’ .. the perfect foil for vintage furniture and expertly curated displays by Betsy Smith

“I also asked my Grandmother, because she used to be very good at it, but it turns out she wasn't a very patient teacher …So my mother showed me the basic stitches of crochet, and then I started crocheting a lot, trying new stitches. I never really followed patterns, I am a very intuitive person, I like the experiment in my work, so I just shape an idea in my mind, and try to make it tangible through this medium. And the wool roast beef soon became a full wool butchery!”

Vintage butchers block from Merchant & Found with knitted ‘beef joints’ by Clemence Joly part of London Craft Week 2024

Soon after I learned crochet, I realised I loved this technique, I loved the oddness about the objects I was creating, the fact that it allowed me to turn crazy ideas into real objects. Also, I really enjoy the fact that when you reproduce an object in wool, it completely changes your perception of it. At the Vintage Supermarket, it was fresh meat, and the vegetarians were enjoying it.

The Vintage Supermarket by Merchant & Found - even the vintage signs and butchers tools were for sale.

Recently, I created a vivarium in wool, so the snakes become harmless, soft and warm.

I also like the fact that it is a work of patience, even though I am not a patient person, but it is part of the process, if I want my idea to exist, I need to focus and spend the time necessary on my piece. And last but not least, working a lot in front of computers, you lose the sense of touch. And with the crochet, you can feel the yarn, soft or rough, thick or thin. It is tangible.”

What would be your ultimate commission?

“In 2016, I was commissioned by Le Bon Marché in Paris to create the characters for the Christmas window displays. Working with the set designers, the engineers who created the mechanism to give life to the characters, it was magical! I would love to work again for window displays, but even more for the theatre/opera sets. And to do an exhibition at Deyrolles or the Muséum de la Chasse et de la Nature.

I have mainly worked life size, but the change of scale (BIG!) is definitely something I want to explore more in my practice. This Giant T-bone made for the Vintage Supermarket was quite a challenge and opened me to a whole new field of exploration.”