Michelle McKinney's elegant contemporary sculptural wallpieces explore a complex network of tensions. The work is bedded in the clear space between opposites; movement captured in stillness; the fragility and ephemerality of nature captured in the strength and permanence of industrial, man-made materials; inexorable freedom within the clinically defined limitations of space. It is the dialogue that takes place between these polarities that engages the beholder so forcefully.

 

Michelle juxtaposes symbols found in nature that have a timeless constancy (leaves, feathers, trees and delicate foliage) with methods and media that are decidedly contemporary and industrial. Innovative applications of contemporary industrial materials are so subtly handled that even the closest scrutiny gives almost no indication of their origins. This interplay between the timeless and the immediate is at the heart of Michelle’s work. However tranquil the order and structure of the immediate and the modern may seem, it cannot entirely segregate itself from the underlying chaos of nature.

 

Michelle’s sculptures are hand-crafted in ultra-fine woven metal, stainless steel, copper and brass. Each element Is hand-cut, formed and coloured by the artist.  All of the artworks are presented in Perspex box frames and larger installations can be made up of multiple frames with a composition flowing from frame to frame. She also frequently has her work installed directly onto a wall space.

 

Michelle received a 1st Class Honours degree in Silversmithing & Jewellery Design from the University of Central England, before going on to use her practical experience in using metals to pursue a career as an artist. She has produced commissions for Coworth Park Hotel (part of the Dorchester Group), Cliveden Park Hotel, the Corinthia Hotel and the Safiro Hotel in Montenegro. Public commissions have included the Royal Albert Museum in Exeter and the British Council. Michelle's work has been exhibited in the Northcote Gallery in London, Galerie Artmundi in Paris and a large number of international art fairs.