Lucy Sparrow’s favorite item in her new 13,000-piece felt pop-up shop is the spiny lobster.
During one of about 20 road trips to Florida, the British artist fell head-over-claws in love with Betsy the Lobster, a 30-foot-tall sculpture in Islamorada.
At Sparrow’s latest installation, “Lucy Sparrow’s Quick Shop” in St. Petersburg’s FloridaRAMA, shoppers will find the spiny shellfish in the meat and fish section of her felt store, alongside pork chops and whole fabric chickens. It’s one of many Florida-inspired pieces throughout the roughly 1,000-square-foot pop-up.
Like Sparrow’s 2022 “Tampa Fresh Foods” project at Water Street (a 50,000-item grocery store), the delight is in the details. Shoppers will find fabric replicas of Pop-Tarts, tampons, diapers and orange juice. Anything that was once “alive,” from sausage patties to bell peppers, has been hand-decorated with beady eyes and a shy smile. Sparrow and her team of five assistants crafted each item by hand in England.
Sparrow paid special attention to making local fruits, vegetables and seafood, plus fruit crates and citrus labels inspired by Florida nostalgia.
Sparrow will be at FloridaRAMA this week to greet customers before she heads off to her next installation: a felt candy store with thousands of sweet treats at Art Miami. Her St. Pete shop will be up for a couple of months, or however long supplies last.
