Celia Smith makes wire sculptures of birds. She combines great technical skill with carefully observed naturalistic details to create deceptively simple pieces full of life and energy. Her sculptures are like three dimensional sketches, where the lines are created by manipulating wire rather than by drawing: they have the same spontaneity and dynamism as a sketch with the added bonus of being in the round.
Taiwanese artist Chien-Wei Chang makes unusual and beautifully restrained silver objects – including vessels, sculptures and utensils such as ladles – all with a great sense of calm and poetry. Some fuse his Eastern culture with that of the West, while others are more hard to categorise and, as he says, ‘just show who I am’. He adds, ‘My work really depends on where I am as an individual as I just want to be honest and true to myself’.
Helen Carnac works as lecturer, writer, curator, conference organizer and teacher, but her primary interest is her work as a craftsperson. Although she originally trained as a silversmith, Carnac says ‘I don’t think I would call myself a silversmith, in fact I would define myself as a maker as my practice is very material-based.’
Midland-based artist Cathy Miles makes quirky, three-dimensional drawings depicting birds and everyday objects out of wire and found objects. Often witty and sometimes eccentric, her pieces burst with vitality and capture the essence of her subjects – be they teacups or rooks – in a deceptively simple manner.
Sculptor and jeweller Benjamin Storch combines his skill in metalworking with an in-depth knowledge of mathematical plotting and CAD applications. He hand-forges beautifully curving abstract forms often created from mathematical formula or exploring the principles of anticlastic form. ‘For the past ten years my work has been focused on the creation of sheet metal forms based on dynamic “orbital” curves inspired by imagery from dynamical systems in physics and nature,’ he says.
Multi-talented Andy Hazell can turn his hand to anything from shooting films to designing public artworks or making automata. But what unites Hazell’s highly varied output is the sheer enjoyment he gets out of the actual process of making. ‘The whole point of my life is that I make things,’ he says.
William Pye is best-known for his dramatic water sculptures. Pye sees water as a material in its own right that can be manipulated and moulded in the same way as any other material and he uses it to create sculptures of great originality and force. He has worked on a range of private and public commissions, but perhaps the most famous was his Water Wall, created for the British Pavilion at Expo '92 in Seville
William Pye will be speaking at our Inspired By Nature seminar on Saturday 30 June at West Dean College.
Japanese-born metalwork artist Junko Mori was shortlisted for the prestigious Jerwood Applied Arts Prize: Metalwork in 2005 and since then has been working non-stop on a series of exhibitions and commissions. She makes striking, beautifully detailed sculptures built up out of hundreds of hand-forged individual components. Although abstract in form, the pieces are reminiscent of natural forms like sea anemones or root systems and the natural world is an important source of information for Mori. She says, ‘I love plants, I collect, take pictures and get inspiration from them.’
Junko lead workshops and gave an inspiring presentation about her practice and theory at The Making's Inspired by Nature seminar at West Dean in June 2007
Visit Junko's website http://www.junkomori.com
Winchester-based jeweller Lindsey Mann makes lively, colourful pieces using printed aluminium, plastics, silver and found domestic objects. She calls them wearable sculptures rather than jewellery as many of her pieces can both be worn and used as an ornament to decorate the home. Her work references domestic crafts, home interiors and household gadgetry and she says, ‘I am interested in the significance and beauty of everyday objects and the way in which they can so easily be overlooked.’
www.lindseymann.co.uk
Manchester-born silversmith Ndidi Ekubia is absorbed in every stage of her work, from the design to patterning the finished piece. She creates innovative, yet functional silverware by raising sheets of silver to form vessels shapes which she then manipulates using hammers and stakes to create organic patterns giving the vessels a sense of fluidity and movement. She says, ‘My method of making is based on the idea of pushing the metal to its limits, yet allowing it to retain its natural fluidity.’