Kim Sutherland MA RCA

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Unearthed 2023

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Kim is a London based maker who combines metalwork with material research in the creation of inscribed works - wall-based meditations - inspired by historic and sacred artefacts. 

Her practice spans the disciplines of metalwork, drawing and printmaking through an ongoing exploration of the ancient technique of intaglio etching - the ‘bite’ of line into metal – which allows her to create the symbolically charged surfaces that sit at the heart of her practice.

Exploring the notion of ‘temenos’, or sacred and circumscribed space, the point of departure for the work is to be found in objects and imagery that attempt to understand an ‘other’ territory. It references mathematical and scientific treatise as well as sacred geometry, space exploration, alchemic diagrams, temple architecture and the mandala. 

 

Everything starts with drawing, it is central to how she works, acting as reference, content and archive to the objects created. Intricate, detailed drawing is combined with fragments and imagery pulled from a personal, collected archive of photographs, objects, and mark-making – things gathered on travels to ancient sacred sites.  Work is developed intuitively through a combination of drawing and making, assemblage and collage, carving and fabrication, working and reworking.  It’s a meticulous and precise way of making, full of intent. She values the transformational process of the making of each work, the conversations that arise between maker and metal, and the way these marks and traces are embodied in the finished piece. For her this is the heart and soul of the work.