Our Distant Relatives

Location

Country: UK
City: London
Place: Government Art Collection

Cast in rubber, a group of found china vases sit on a shelf in Jane Simpson's three-dimensional still life. Just as a family photograph captures the different ages of its sitters, different ceramic styles represent several generations in one elegant sculptural group. Despite their durable material, they appear as fragile ceramics, vulnerable to touch and movement. This is a physical state that Simpson equates with human emotion. She likes the fact that her sculptures are sensitive to crowds, and can physically react to their surroundings, an aspect that is central to her practice.

Jane Simpson was born in London where she lives and works. She studied at Chelsea School of Art, and later at the Royal Academy Schools. Early in her career, the casting process became central to her working practice, allowing her to explore and use different materials. Many of her sculptures use rubber casting techniques, others have connected sewing machines to refrigeration units which have then become covered with a layer of frost. Simpson has exhibited her work widely in the UK and overseas, including solo shows in Madrid, New York and London. Her work featured in Sensation at the Royal Academy in 1997. Her exhibition 'A three-way conversation with myself' was held at the New Art Centre in Salisbury in 2005.

Places

Subjects

vase (as Subject), still life, family

Materials & Techniques

polyester lacquer, silicone rubber, glass (glass as material), wood, sculpture (as object name)

Artist

Jane Simpson (1965 - )

Title

Our Distant Relatives

Date

2004

Medium

Silicone rubber, glass, wood and polyester lacquer

Dimensions

width: 80.00 cm, height: 45.00 cm, depth: 26.00 cm

Acquisition

Purchased from the New Art Centre Sculpture Park & Gallery, September 2005

Inscription

none

Provenance

The artist; purchased from the New Art Centre Sculpture Park & Gallery, Roche Court, Salisbury, September 2005

GAC number

18050/1