Output details

Meniscus.

Tableware

26 x 49 x 6 cm Circular joined silver forms

Questioning the making process normally associated with silversmithing, where the production of work is usually carefully defined before an object is created, this research interrogated the design of a silver artefact through its construction. How could the generation and assembly of a series of similar objects (half spheres in this instance) join together without defining a predetermined form? Meniscus is the outcome of applied research, which began with the manipulation of sterling silver using an hydraulic press to create a series of half spheres. By carefully considering the placement of each sphere and how it would connect to the next (in this instance by silver soldering so the object is rigid) it was also investigated how a rigid object can imply a visual movement.

Meniscus was one of a series of works created for Collect: The International Art Fair for Contemporary Art at the Saatchi Gallery, London 2009, where Cara Murphy was represented by the National Craft Gallery (Crafts Council of Ireland) as one of five applied artists from Ireland.

Subsequently Meniscus has been exhibited in numerous high profile exhibitions including:

‘Object’, a curated exhibition, National Craft Gallery, Kilkenny, August 2010.

‘Material Poetry’, a curated exhibition, American Irish Historical Society, New York, October 2010. Cara Murphy gave a public lecture at the Cooper Hewitt Museum, October 2010 in conjunction with the exhibition.

‘Material Poetry’, Galway Arts Festival, July 2011

‘My Place’, a curated exhibition, Bluecoat Gallery, Liverpool, summer 2012.

When not on exhibition ‘Meniscus’ has been on loan to Stormont House, Belfast, the offices of the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, the First Minister and Deputy First Minister.