Michelle McKinney
I like to explore themes of strength and fragility and the constant cycle of life, and more recently the human form and its connection with the natural world.
Michelle McKinney was born in Leicestershire. In 1998 she achieved a first class BA (Hons) in Silversmithing and Jewellery Design at the University of Central England. She currently lives and works in rural Leicestershire.
Michelle creates elegantly simple artworks in ultra-fine woven metal. The beautiful translucent quality of the material brings an ethereal quality to each piece. Every element of her work is hand cut, formed and coloured using only heat, forging a personal connection between the artist and the viewer. While at first the viewer is drawn to the balance of the overall composition of her artworks they are then drawn into the detail and beauty of each individual element.
In her “Elemental” series, inspired by the scientific drawings of German zoologist and naturalist, Ernst Haeckel, she is celebrating the fragility and power of nature. The individual parts of these wall sculptures are created in the ultra-fine woven metals of stainless steel, copper and brass. Suspended slightly on their brass stems at different heights above their circular bases, each individual ‘bloom’ casts a delicate shadow adding further depth and beauty to the artworks.
In Michelle’s garden studio she is constantly inspired by the natural world around her, with her attention drawn to the fragility and ephemerality of nature captured in the strength and permanence of man made materials: stainless steel, copper and brass.
Michelle hopes that, “…as you spend time looking at my art it will lighten your spirits and gently remind you to look around you and enjoy the fleeting beauty of the natural world season after season; that quiet voice whispering its consent for the leaves to fall, flowers to bloom and birds to migrate year after year. My work is inspired by this never-ending cycle of life”.
Michelle has had a number of high profile commissions with clients including the British Council, the Royal Albert Memorial Museum in Exeter, Dorchester Hotel Group, Dior and Issey Miyake.
Click here to read 'An interview with Michelle McKinney'
