Inner Voice

‘Inner Voice’ curated by Dorothy Hogg

I have selected the makers for this exhibition because I felt a connection between their approach and my own. Each maker pursues a strongly individual line where the art of what they do leads the mastery they have of materials and techniques, imbuing their work with a feeling of effortless quality. The exhibition shows the work of well-established artist jewellers and metalworkers with that of emerging makers.
The range and ambition of the work is wide; from the painterly work of Australian Sally Marsland to the large sculptural hammered forms of Mizuko Yamada of Japan; from the poetic jewels of Zoe Arnold to the compositional jewellery installations of Helen Carnac.
Angela O’Kelly shows paper forms of vibrant colour while Birgit Laken of Holland explores colour and pattern in mixed materials.
Jessica Turrell is fascinated by the rhythm and gesture of writing while Maria Militsi breathes new life into lost objects using the gestural language of ballet. Beth Legg is inspired by landscape while Susan May and Alistair McCallum demonstrate their consummate understanding of metal in wire and sheet form. The youngest exhibitor Matthew Brady investigates function within industrial objects and presents this to us in a fresh way.

It has been an enormous privilege to be invited to ask this talented group of makers to show their collections of work. I am reminded of a concert programme description of a very senior Japanese musician where he was described as a ‘Holder of Important Intangible Cultural Properties’. I think the word ‘intangible’ perfectly describes the mysterious nature of the creative process, which is evident at its most intriguing in this exhibition.