2022 Robert Foster F!NK National Metal Prize

Alison Jackson | Two Vessels Converse | 2022
The vessel as a concept can be viewed with
many perspectives both in a literal practical
sense and as an imagined form of containment.
I like to use the idea of the vessel to
explore form, function, anthropism but primarily
the craft of silversmithing.
Raising is the process of forming vessels
from a single sheet of copper, an age old
traditional silversmithing technique where the
sheet metal is skilfully hammered in rounds on
specialised steel forms. What can seem like
a simple process with rudimentary tools is in
fact a nuanced and skilled technique that is
a dying craft. Each vessel has had thousands
of hammer strikes applied to manipulate what
was once a uniform flat sheet into a three-dimensional
vessel form.
My process is a conversation between materials,
ideas and forms. It is often one of repetition,
heat, hammer, heat, hammer. Heated
to soften and hammered to form. It is both
rhythmic and mediative, my technique is
about allowing the vessel to emerge rather
than having a rigid idea of the final form. I
think of it as the vessel emerging out of the
material and out my thoughts, emotions and
instinct. Each hammer blow moves it closer
to a resolved form but also an individuality, it
asserts itself and I start to think of them as
characters. I often make pieces in pairs; this
is because once the vessel leaves my hands
the conversation between maker and vessel
stops and a new dialog between the two
vessels can begin.
Photo: Tim Bean Photography