Frances Pinnock is an artist living and working in London. Her practice is an exploration of junctures, understood both temporally and materially. She uses found objects and organic media – variously, leather, vellum, wax and hair – to create works that possess something of the uncanny in their materiality and configuration. Combining meticulous hand processing, gestural mark making and assemblage, her works layer influences from Surrealism, puppetry, dance, and garment making with elements of personal narrative.
Central to Pinnock’s work are the processes of pattern cutting and hand stitching, enabling ideas to shift between two and three-dimensions. These formulaic and often repetitive actions are contrasted by gesture and intuition – as assembled components are playfully arranged and rearranged until they rest in a final composition. Through the making of her work Pinnock experiences points of tension and rest in movement, while the works themselves engender tensions between motion and stasis, body and object.
Frances Pinnock (b. 1990, Bristol, UK) holds a BA in Modelmaking from the Arts University Bournemouth and an MA in Sculpture from the Royal College of Art. Her works have been exhibited internationally - recent exhibitions include TEFAF Maastricht, NL (2024), ‘Cut and Fold’, Make Hauser & Wirth, Somerset, UK (2023), ‘Material Beings’, Cromwell Place, London, UK (2023), ‘Hung, Drawn and Quartered’, Standpoint Gallery, London, UK (2023) and FOG Design + Art, San Francisco, USA (2022).
Upcoming exhibitions
THIS COUNTRY : 13 - 18 May, 2024
Crafts Council Gallery, London, UK
Education
2023 MA Fine Art Sculpture - Royal College of Art
2014 BA (Hons) Modelmaking - Arts University Bournemouth
2010 Foundation Art & Design - Arts University Plymouth
Selected group exhibitions
2024 Sculpted Matter - Sarah Myerscough Gallery online
2024 TEFAF Online
2024 TEFAF Maastricht, NL. Sarah Myerscough Gallery
2023 RCA Degree Show - Royal College of Art, London, UK
2023 Cut and Fold - Make Hauser & Wirth, Somerset, UK
2023 Material Beings - Cromwell Place, London, UK
2023 Hung, Drawn and Quartered - Standpoint Gallery, London, UK
2022 Formed with Future Heritage - Design Centre Chelsea Harbour, London, UK
2022 Collect - Somerset House, London, UK. QEST
2022 FOG Design + Art - San Fransisco, USA. Sarah Myerscough Gallery
2021 Future Heritage - Decorex International, London, UK
2021 Welding Cultures - SoShiro Gallery, London, UK
2021 Artefact - Design Centre Chelsea Harbour, London, UK
2019 Messums - Messums, London & Wiltshire, UK
2014 Arts University Bournemouth Degree Show - London, UK
2013 World of Wearable Art - Wellington, New Zealand
Awards
2023 Gilbert Bayes Charitable Trust Award - Royal College of Art
2022 Leverhulme Arts Scholarship - Royal College of Art
2022 Leathersellers’ Academic Grant - The Leathersellers’ Company
2021 Developing Your Creative Practice - Arts Council England
2019 The Leathersellers’ Company Award - Cockpit Arts
2017 QEST Scholarship - Garfield Weston Foundation
2017 The Arts Society Scholarship - Heritage Crafts Association
2013 Design in Excellence Award Finalist - World of Wearable Art, New Zealand
Public Collections
Museum of Leathercraft, UK