We live in Ilkley, West Yorkshire, and have been making mobiles from our studio at home for around twenty years.
We make mobiles for exhibition and commission.
Through our mobiles we explore a sculptural language of balance.
Balance is precarious, yet the tiny points of equilibrium, once found, are resilient and can hold great weight.
Practice and process
Our projects begin with drawn observation of patterns and forms from the natural world. The sculptural shapes are created by laminating individual, fragile layers of sustainably sourced veneer. This concept of the whole being greater than the sum of parts underpins not only the form but also the content of the work in that each part of every mobile is integral to the balance of the whole.
The wooden mobiles are feather-light and responsive to human presence. This is central to our practice as every time anyone interacts with one or more of the mobiles there is a unique performance which can never be repeated.
Recent work
Recent series include: Dovetailing, a journey of sound from tree to audience using the crafting of musical instruments as the starting point; Breath Water Marks, using the shapes in wake on water to explore the traces and patterns we leave behind us (currently exhibited at the Wordsworth Museum); and the Sphagnum Moss series with which we hoped to explore the gesture of ‘holding’ which this moss makes.
We are currently working towards an exhibition with artist Alice Fox on an exhibition called ‘Still’.
Background
We were introduced some years ago by a mutual friend as we both made mobiles. Jamie now works as a Deputy Head at our local comprehensive school and Juliet develops the art projects (full curriculum vitae). In 2012 we were commissioned to make four large-scale mobiles for the three floor atrium space at John Lewis in Stratford, East London and this had a significant influence on determining our practice and the process of our work.
Gallery representation
We are elected members of the Royal Society of Sculptors, represented by the gallery jaggedart in London and exhibit there regularly and at art fairs, in particular COLLECT and London Art Fair, whilst also exhibiting in the north of England in a number of galleries. As well as our smaller-scale work in wood, we have completed a number of larger-scale commissions in metal for public and private organisations such as John Lewis, Olleco, and a number of hospitals (The Northumbria Specialist Emergency Care Hospital, West Middlesex Hospital, St. George’s Hospital and Milton Keynes Hospital). More information can be found on the commissions section of the Portfolio page. We have also created a small number of outdoor mobiles for commission and exhibition and this is an area which we are keen to develop further.
Collaboration
Our creative practice often involves processes of co-design with individuals and groups, particularly with those from different disciplines.
Four short videos below show a variety of work, some of which has emerged out of collaboration. The first, by Clare Dearnaley, is the trailer for the Dovetailing project. The second, by Adam Gutch, shows the maquettes for a permanent large-scale commission we did for John Lewis. The third, by Clare Dearnaley, is a study of A Murmuration of Starlings, a permanent large-scale commission for the Northumbria Specialist Emergency Healthcare Hospital. Both the John Lewis and the Northumberland sculptures were fabricated by ArtFabs. The fourth is a short film by Clare Dearnaley of a mobile, ‘Untethered’, which we made with James Wilkinson as an experiment for a smaller-scale outdoor piece.
“Your mobiles seem to me like musical instruments playing in the frequencies of light.”
“The work uses the curves and patina of wood to create silent meditative shapes which have their own gentle momentum.”
“The mobile twists in the air, in ever-changing shapes and shadows, much as the ever-present sound of music fills my small flat. Earlier today, for example, I held my breath as I listened to the Adagio from Schubert’s String Quintet: violins, viola, cello, and double bass play the most moving of music, intertwining lines of intensity. Sometimes, I feel I have to move my hands, air conducting the melody and harmony; now I have these pieces of sculpted wood to make the movement for me. I can sit in silence to watch and listen and wait on what emerges.”
“The exhibition was a delight for the senses. A serene experience of light, music and movement. As you walk under and around the mobiles your movement in turn creates their movement, changing the shapes and shadows as they turn and dance. Wandering under and around felt like being in the boughs of the most exquisite and delicate of trees.”
“Beautifully-poised constructions floating in the centres of rooms, gently moving in response to soundwaves of musicians, air waves of human presence.”
“My mobiles give me such joy. I’ve hung mine in the dining area of my kitchen, and the altering light and air currents of the room reflect on the mobiles under which I sit watching them change and move.”
“It was an intimate, multisensory experience, where three dimensional objects made of natural materials responded to the flow of air and movement of viewers. The sculptures looked like notes or thoughts emerging from the air. I was totally fascinated by the way mobiles interacted with the people around them and couldn’t stop taking photos.”
“The mobile seems to float and I can imagine sounds coming from it when I watch it turning.”
“I thought the mobiles seemed to be suspended in space and made me think of thoughts inside the mind.”
“We became completely immersed in a world of wood and the sounds it can make. We found our shadows moving through the woods on the screen along with those of the mobiles, each of which was creating its own living calligraphy.”.
“The essence of the work is not in isolated curves, beautiful though they may be, but in their interaction and mutual dependence – where the complexity goes through the roof.”