Temporal Artefacts

Pennie Jagiello, Katie West, Nora Thamthanakorn, Makiko Ryujin and Joungmee Do

Featuring the work of five female artists at the forefront of contemporary craft practice, Temporal Artefacts examined the transformation of materials. Central to the exhibition were themes of the reinterpretation of ancient traditions, the learning of skills passed down through generations and the enduring impacts of human actions.

Working across disciplines collectively framed as craft, each artist brought a distinct material intelligence to her practice, reimagining traditional craft techniques in response to urgent contemporary concerns such as environmental degradation, consumerism and the value of traditional practices. Skilled in centuries-old practices, their approaches combined conceptual vision, physical rigour and technical virtuosity.

Each artist’s practice is grounded in one core material - fibre, clay, metal, wood or plastic –transforming it through intensely physical processes, extraordinary skill and the embodied knowledge that comes from years of work and experimentation. The resulting works, both sculptural and installation-based, reflected a sustained negotiation between tradition and innovation, permanence and change.

Temporal Artefacts invited viewers to consider how handmade objects might serve as vessels of memory, resistance and care. Through the reinvigoration of craft as a critical and contemporary art form, the exhibition foregrounded new modes of material thinking, where process is inseparable from meaning, and the object is imbued with temporal and cultural resonance.