Artists Announced for Jerwood Art Fund Makers Open 2021

The artists were selected from over 500 applications by an independent panel comprising: Yinka Ilori, artist and designer; Junko Mori, artist maker in metal; Dame Magdalene Odundo, potter; Christine Rew, Aberdeen Art Gallery and Museums Manager; and Harriet Cooper, Head of Visual Arts at Jerwood Arts.

The award, now in its eighth edition, recognises and promotes the significance of making practice and process within contemporary visual arts. It gives exceptional artists and makers the opportunity to develop their creative ideas independently, enabling them to experiment, learn and take risks at a pivotal moment in their careers. In recognition of the restrictions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, for this edition the awardees receive an increased award of £10,000 each plus curatorial and production support from the Jerwood Arts team to enable the making of new work over an extended twelve-month period.

Showcasing a broad range of material disciplines, including glass, textiles, digital modelling, silversmithing and sculptural installation, the five 2021 commissions provide a snapshot of some of the most exciting new work being produced by UK-based artists and makers.

•             Anna Berry’s practice stretches across a variety of mediums, including immersive, site-specific and kinetic installations. She is based in Milton Keynes. With the award she will be experimenting with materials and techniques she has not yet explored to develop a new sculptural installation focused on organic, minimal, repetitive craft-based processes.  annaberry.co.uk

•             Cecilia Charlton is a London-based American artist who has worked across a number of disciplines before arriving at her current focus – textiles and embroidery. For Jerwood Art Fund Makers Open she is creating a triptych of human-sized embroideries which will reference the three Fates from Greek mythology and contemplate our current global situation using the metaphor of thread for life/time. ceciliacharlton.com

•             Jahday Ford’s work combines traditional material application with technologically advanced production, such as digital modelling and mould making. Jahday is currently based in Manchester. His commission will extend his current digital-glass investigations using computerised sculpting and mould shaping to create a collection of illuminated glass vessels that feature interactive lighting phenomena using LED sensors. jahdayfordglass.co.uk

•             Based in Edinburgh, Vicky Higginson’s practice combines hot glass and cold-working, with glass forms handblown and worked into using cutting, carving and engraving techniques to create vessels and sculptural forms. Her new work will look at the meeting point of folklore and fairy tales with science fiction through crafted objects with an imagined purpose. Constructed from mirrored and neon-lit glass, carved and decorated with personal motifs, and assembled with vernacular materials, these are 'folk-futurist' devices to heal the mind. vickyhigginson.com

•             Working in collaboration, Francisca Onumah and Helena Russell are silversmiths based in Yorkshire Artspace, famous for its silversmithing tradition and rich industrial heritage. For Jerwood Art Fund Makers Open they are developing a new collaborative installation of tableware pieces made using traditional silversmithing tools that they have restored. Their research includes documenting stories of ‘Little Mesters’ and capturing the living histories of a once-thriving silverware industry in Sheffield, to inform their practice today. franciscaonumah.co.uk helenarussell.co.uk

Harriet Cooper, Head of Visual Arts at Jerwood Arts said:

“I am hugely excited to announce the five 2021 awardees and look forward to working with them on their thought-provoking commissions over the coming year. Jerwood Art Fund Makers Open creates a vital space for artists and makers to experiment, learn and take risks with their work and throughout the selection process it was clear that all of these artists hold this spirit at the heart of their practice. The awardees commitment to exploring the possibility of materials and the bounds of imagination remind us of the importance of making and skill within the visual arts.”

Jerwood Art Fund Makers Open 2021 is a collaboration between Jerwood Arts and Art Fund in partnership with Aberdeen Art Gallery. The prestigious biennial artist development, commissioning and national touring award champions artists and makers across the UK at a pivotal point in their practice, encouraging critical debate, visibility and dialogue around contemporary craft and applied arts within UK public collections. It is committed to strengthening the profile and importance of making, craft and applied arts presented within a visual arts context. The exhibition will tour to Newlyn Art Gallery & The Exchange in Cornwall in summer 2022 before travelling to Aberdeen Art Gallery in the North East of Scotland in autumn 2022.