Artwork description: Entwined with folklore and superstition, a magpie encounters its reflection, a hollow impression of itself mirrored in silver within a crystal jar, a vessel associated with containment and distillation.
Artwork description long: Distilled Portrait I (Series II) brings folklore, reflection and self-awareness together. A familiar presence within the British landscape, the magpie has long been entwined with superstition, magic and fortune, while its attraction to shiny objects has established the bird as a collector. Famed for its intelligence, the magpie is one of a few animals capable of recognising itself within a mirror. Here, the magpie appears to contemplate its reflection inside a solid crystal mason jar, a vessel associated with containment and preservation. A hollow, hand-sculpted impression of the bird is mirrored internally with silver, embodying the idea of the ‘collector’ as a reflective magpie held within the jar. The work revisits Distilled Portrait I (2012), bringing its original concept into reflective form following over a decade of research into three-dimensional cast glass mirrors. Culminating in PhD research that uncovered a palette of over 100 reflective and unreflective mirroring effects, this investigation enables detailed cast forms to become mirrors themselves. In Series II, the magpie becomes both subject and looking glass, drawing the viewer into an exchange between the bird, its reflection and their own reflected image.
Artwork description long: Distilled Portrait I (Series II) brings folklore, reflection and self-awareness together. A familiar presence within the British landscape, the magpie has long been entwined with superstition, magic and fortune, while its attraction to shiny objects has established the bird as a collector. Famed for its intelligence, the magpie is one of a few animals capable of recognising itself within a mirror. Here, the magpie appears to contemplate its reflection inside a solid crystal mason jar, a vessel associated with containment and preservation. A hollow, hand-sculpted impression of the bird is mirrored internally with silver, embodying the idea of the ‘collector’ as a reflective magpie held within the jar. The work revisits Distilled Portrait I (2012), bringing its original concept into reflective form following over a decade of research into three-dimensional cast glass mirrors. Culminating in PhD research that uncovered a palette of over 100 reflective and unreflective mirroring effects, this investigation enables detailed cast forms to become mirrors themselves. In Series II, the magpie becomes both subject and looking glass, drawing the viewer into an exchange between the bird, its reflection and their own reflected image.