Tabith Moses showcases materials which bear the weight of memory and carry the mark of time.

From a distance, the objects showcased in her new exhibition are to be admired, but up close they shock - especially since she uses stained cloth, teeth, bone and human hair to compile her collection.

Art? Maybe.

Art - as defined by the Oxford dictionary - means the expression of creative skill through a visual medium such as painting, sculpture, music and drama.

So then, can a headless doll and a child's silk frock, as featured in Tabitha's The Lost and Found exhibition at Bolton Museum, Aquarium and Archive, be labelled as art?

After all, people asked the same question of Damien Hirst and his notorious preservation of sheep, cows and sharks in formaldehyde.

Alan Buckingham, fine arts and MA public art programme leader at The University of Bolton, said: "Art is forever changing, because art is made by people whose own cultures change generation by generation.

"There are many artists who have spent their lives in the pursuit of creating art'. You could say - as in the now infamous quote from Duchamp - If I say it is art, then it is art'."

Tabitha, an artist for more than five years, agrees with Alan, and says: "Art is in the eye of the beholder. If the artist wants to say that this is art and expose people to it in a certain context, then it is art."

Alan believes that art is created by millions of people everyday, but not all of it is necessarily good'.

"You can train people to draw and paint, but it is hard to learn how to add that special quality that raises the artwork to a higher plane.

"A good artwork will make you look and spark something inside you, and will hopefully make you think about your experience of this world in some way."

Tabitha's work does exactly that. With her mummified china dolls, gothic hairpurse and antique silks, she has provoked reactions ranging from awe to repulsion.

The broken dolls' legs, South Asian printed packaging and Bangladeshi fabrics trigger thoughts that would otherwise remain in the subconscious, she says. And with the strong mixture of delicate silks and jet black plastics, the audience has the opportunity to let their minds wander.

Take, for example, the mummified dolls from the Bolton Collection.

"They weren't originally made to be seen in a museum or display case but I just saw the beauty and the fact that they are headless dolls and they make you feel something. Placing them in that case has turned them into works of art," she says.

When asked about the inspiration behind The Lost and the Found exhibition, Liverpudlian Tabitha said: "Sometimes I'm inspired by stories that I hear - not fictional but true stories with real people - and sometimes I am inspired by the materials that I find. But here, I was really inspired by the things that I found in the Bolton collection."

The Bolton collection of art, sculpture and ceramics, due to a lack of space at the museum, is largely kept behind closed doors but is in the process of being moved.

Alan says someone can be an excellent craftsperson, but if your artwork is just about how well it is made, it will not really relate to people in the same way as art that is emotionally charged or thought provoking.

Also, a piece of art that you might like today may be seen as very poor art in the future.

"There are so many different people creating art in so many different circumstances that it would be impossible to define a particular type of art that is current today.

"It normally takes years for art historians and art critics to sort out what is actually going on at any given period," he says.

Tabitha adds: "Art has fashions just like any other creative endeavour, and the crafts, making things and objects, are coming back into fashion now after a long time out."

Art is all around us. But when, as individuals, do we ever take a minute to take it all in?

Rather than criticise, how about embracing the desk you are working on, the cup you are drinking from and the plate you are eating from?

After all, it is art. Or is it?

  • The Lost and the Found is showing until April 28.

Art-e-facts

  • Did you know that Pablo Picasso's full name was Pablo Diego José Francisco de Paula Juan Nepomuceno María de los Remedios Crispín Crispiniano de la Santísima Trinidad Ruiz y Picasso?
  • If you look closely, the Mona Lisa has no visible facial hair - including eyebrows or eyelashes
  • Leonardo da Vinci also had an encyclopaedic knowledge of science, math, engineering, inventing, sculpting, architecture, music and writing