ANDREA WALSH
ANDREA WALSH TH E SCOTTISH G ALLERY 2 MAY – 2 J U N E 2 018
16 Dundas Street · Edinburgh EH3 6HZ www.scottish-gallery.co.uk
Gold Box in the artist’s hand
FO R E W O R D
Andrea Walsh began making her contained box forms in 2015. In each piece, a delicate lidded bone china box – sometimes stained black, or gilded – is cradled within an open glass vessel, the walls of which are high enough to enclose the box within a defined volume. The sense of containment and protection this affords creates a powerful charge, and lends the box element an intense presence within the composition, imbuing it with the feeling of being something incredibly special, of great value or importance. An artist of focus and quiet dedication, Walsh developed this exquisite, ongoing series of works following a research trip to Japan. At once straightforward and extraordinary, they speak of preciousness and care, and reflect a deep consideration of formal values. The experience of Japan – and specifically the art museums of the island of Naoshima – provoked less a reinvention and rather an intensification of Walsh’s practice. Lidded boxes, combining ceramic and glass elements of equal presence, have been the focus of her work for a decade. Her contained boxes are an evolutionary step, but one that places greater emphasis on the interrelation of components, and the idea of presentation. While remaining gorgeously tactile, Walsh’s recent work has become increasingly meditative. Her mastery of materials has allowed subtle, new qualities to emerge, the glass of her containers for example now often being opaque, with only the softest sheen, or bearing the sparkling inclusions of aventurine. As a consequence, the
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Detail of Contained Box – Soft Oblong, Black and Black with Gold Interior, 2018
materials become more ambiguous, and the works themselves more abstract. The enclosed volume of the vessel becomes not simply a space for physical containment, but an arena for diffuse and reflected light, an immersive installation in miniature. These transcendent works become luminous explorations of our perception, meditations on colour and light. A LU N G R AV E S
Senior Curator, Ceramics and Glass
Victoria and Albert Museum
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Installation at COLLECT Open: The International Art Fair for Contemporary Objects Saatchi Gallery, London, 2015
A N E M OT I O N A L R E S P O N S E
In 2007 I was fortunate enough to be included in a group of people who were invited to Cove Park, on the west coast of Scotland, which runs year-round residencies in art forms for national and internationÂal artists and organisations. Andrea Walsh was spending three months on a Scottish Arts Council funded residency and we were given the opportunity to hear her talk about her experience and view the work she had made, beautiful white fine bone china vessels of various sizes containing pools of coloured glass giving the impression that liquid had been poured into them. Until this point I had not really been aware of Walsh’s work but have followed her progress since this encounter and it is no surprise that she has gained an established national and international reputation, with work included in the collections of the Victoria and Albert Museum, London and National Museums Scotland, Edinburgh. On a recent visit to her immaculate studio Walsh told me that the process of making is of the upmost importance to her and her practice is highly influenced by the residency she was awarded as part of the inaugural British Ceramics Biennial in 2009. Jointly hosted by Staffordshire University and Minton at Waterford, Wedgwood, Royal Doulton the six months spent there gave her an opportunity to learn from the skilled staff at the factory, and the experience led to the development of new work, including the complex box forms which act as containers for other box forms or, in the case of some of the glass boxes, as containers for light.
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Her current work, shown in this exhibition her first solo show at The Scottish Gallery, follows on from the installation of the box forms she created for COLLECT Open at the Saatchi Gallery, London in 2015. Walsh is constantly refining her art experimenting with innovative ways of combining the ceramic, glass and metal elements and the opaque and translucent qualities of the material she employs. She does not start with firm ideas or designs but rather allows the making process to inform the finished piece. The only constraint is on the size and weight, not too large and not too heavy, as she is adamant that she wants people to physically engage with the work. It is also important to her that the work produces an emotional response in the viewer in the same way that she experiences an emotional response through the process of making. Walsh has introduced platinum in this series of work, each layer being fired and polished until she achieves the best possible finish to this precious metal in the same way she does with the 22-carat gold she continues to use. Captivated by the aesthetic of museum and gallery displays on a research trip to Japan in 2014 the contained box forms are displayed singly or in precisely curated collections and when looking at a Âfinished series Walsh instinctively knows which works will be shown in which order. Whether stand alone or grouped, juxtaposing colour and texture, these tactile objects have an exquisite jewel like quality and are testament to her technical and artistic abilities. R O S E WAT B A N
Independent Curator
WORKS
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L I ST O F W O R K S
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p.14 Contained Box – Soft Oblong Nude and White 9 × 16.5 × 10cm
p.15 Contained Box – Soft Oblong White and Gold 9 × 16.5 × 10cm
p.16–17 Collection of Contained Boxes White and Platinum, Warm White and White, Clear and Gold 9 × 100 × 15cm (inclusive of shelf)
p.19 Pair of Contained Boxes –Soft Oval White and Platinum, Warm White and White (detail of p.16) 7 × 11.5 × 10cm (each)
p.21 Contained Box – Soft Oblong Black and Black with Gold Interior 9 × 16.5 × 10cm
p.23 Pair of Contained Boxes Pale Copper and Gold, Nude and Platinum 7 × 10.25 × 7.5cm (each)
p.25 Contained Box – Square Clear and Gold 11.5 × 11.5 × 11.5cm
p.26 Contained Box – Rounded Oval Pale Yellow and Gold 9 × 14 × 10cm
p.27 Contained Box – Rounded Oval Clear Frit and White 9 × 14 × 10cm All works are dated 2018. All works are lost wax cast glass, fine bone china, 22ct burnished gold and burnished platinum. Dimensions are in centimetres and are height × width × depth
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A N D R E A WA L S H
Born 1974, Stockport, UK Lives and works in Edinburgh, UK Education 2000–2001 Edinburgh College of Art – Master of Design: Glass 1999–2000 International Glass Centre, West Midlands – Glass Techniques and Technology 1995–1998 Staffordshire University – BA (Hons) Fine Art Selected Exhibitions 2018 Andrea Walsh, Solo Exhibition, The Scottish Gallery, Edinburgh Contained|Contenu, Musée Ariana in association with Taste Contemporary, Geneva, Switzerland COLLECT represented by Oxford Ceramics Gallery, Saatchi Gallery, London 2017–2019 Woman’s Hour Craft Prize, Victoria and Albert Museum, London and UK Touring 2017 Tresor represented by Taste Contemporary, Messe Basel, Switzerland Modern Masters, International Handwerksmesse, Munich, Germany COLLECT, represented by Officine Saffi, Saatchi Gallery, London Art Geneve, represented by Taste Contemporary, Switzerland 2016 Visual Arts Scotland Annual Exhibition, Royal Scottish Academy, Edinburgh Makers House, The New Craftsmen and Burberry Partnership, London Masterpiece, represented by Adrian Sassoon, London Art Monte-Carlo, represented by Taste Contemporary, Monaco TEFAF, represented by Adrian Sassoon, Maastricht Art Geneve, represented by Taste Contemporary, Switzerland
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2015 Sara Flynn and Andrea Walsh, Mouvements Modernes, Paris, France Future Heritage, Decorex, Syon Park, London Fine Lines, The Scottish Gallery, Edinburgh COLLECT Open – Solo Presentation, Saatchi Gallery, London Invited Artist – Visual Arts Scotland, Royal Scottish Academy, Edinburgh TEFAF, represented by Adrian Sassoon, Maastricht Art Geneve, represented by Taste Contemporary 2014 Vase, Vessel, Void, Oliver Sears Gallery, Dublin, Ireland UK Glass, Glazenhuis, Belgium Spectrum, The Scottish Gallery, Edinburgh 2013 SOFA, represented by Craft Scotland, Chicago, USA COLLECT, represented by Joanna Bird, Saatchi Gallery, London New Glass, Blackwell Arts and Crafts House, Cumbria 2012 RED, London Design Festival, The Conran Shop, London Made in Scotland, The Fleming Collection, London TEFAF, represented by Adrian Sassoon, Maastricht 2011 SOFA, represented by Bullseye Gallery, Chicago, USA Craft In Dialogue, Inches Carr Trust Exhibition, Dovecot Studios, Edinburgh Masterpiece, represented by Adrian Sassoon, London COLLECT, represented by The Scottish Gallery, London TEFAF, represented by Adrian Sassoon, Maastricht
2011 | 13 | 15
British Ceramics Biennial – AWARD, Stoke-on-Trent
2010 Anniversary Exhibition, Galerie Sofie Lachaert, Belgium 20:10, Ruthin Craft Centre, Denbighshire Showcase at IC: Innovative Craft, Dovecot Studios, Edinburgh 2009 Artist into Industry, British Ceramics Biennial, Wedgwood Museum Of Dust, British Ceramics Biennial, Etruria Industrial Museum 2008 New Members Showcase, Contemporary Applied Arts, London COLLECT, represented by Craft Scotland, Victoria and Albert Museum, London
2008 | 12 | 17
British Glass Biennale, Ruskin Glass Centre, Stourbridge
Awards
2017 Woman’s Hour Craft Prize, Victoria and Albert Museum, London (finalist) Open To Art International Ceramics Prize, Officine Saffi, Milan, Italy (winner) 2016 Craft Scotland Prize, Visual Arts Scotland Annual Exhibition (winner)
2011 | 13 | 15 British Ceramics Biennial – AWARD, Stoke-on-Trent (shortlisted)
2011 Arts Foundation Prize – Ceramics (nominated) Residencies 2013–2014 Artist in Residence, Edinburgh College of Art 2010 AA2A Residency, Ceramics and Glass Department, University of Sunderland 2009–2010 Artist Into Industry Residency, British Ceramics Biennial, Stoke-on-Trent (Jointly hosted by Staffordshire University and Minton at WWRD) 2007 International Crafts Residency, Cove Park, Argyll and Bute, Scotland Public Collections 2014 National Museums Scotland, Edinburgh 2012 and 2015
Victoria and Albert Museum, London
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Special thanks to Anna Dickinson, Alun Graves, Dorothy Hogg, Nye Hughes, Christina Jansen, Graham Richardson, Kirsty Sumerling, Shannon Tofts and Rose Watban. Published by The Scottish Gallery on the occasion of the exhibition, Andrea Walsh, 2 May to 2 June 2018. The exhibition can be viewed online at www.scottish-gallery.co.uk/andreawalsh
THE
SCOTTISH
GALLERY
16 Dundas Street · Edinburgh EH3 6HZ +44 (0) 131 558 1200 mail@scottish-gallery.co.uk www.scottish-gallery.co.uk
CONTEMPORARY ART SINCE 1842
ISBN 978-1-910267-77-6 © All rights reserved. No part of this catalogue may be reproduced in any form by print, photocopy or by any other means, without the permission of the copyright holders and of the publishers All photography by Shannon Tofts, except page 8 Sylvain Deleu Printed by J Thomson Colour Printers, Glasgow Designed and typeset in MVB Solitaire by Nye Hughes, Dalrymple
THE
SCOTTISH
GALLERY
CONTEMPORARY ART SINCE 1842