Murmur VI
Murmur VI
2023 (designed and made)
2023 (designed and made)
Artist/Maker | |
Place of origin |
Francisca Onumah is a Sheffield-based Ghanian-born silversmith and jeweller who has received significant recognition for her extraordinary work in metal. Onumah trained at Birmingham City University gaining a BA and MA in Jewellery and Silversmithing in 2015. In 2020 she was part of the Crafts Council Hothouse Talent Programme and was awarded a Jerwood Makers Open commission in 2022 with Helena Russell. Her work has been exhibited in a range of important exhibitions including ‘Mastery: Women In Silver’ at the Ruthin Crafts Centre in 2021, the ‘Maker’s Eye: Stories of Craft’ and ‘We Gather’ exhibitions at the Crafts Council in 2021 and 2022, and ‘Radical Acts’ at Harewood House in 2022. She is represented by Flow Gallery and Galerie Revel and her work is in the permanent collections of the Sheffield Assay Office, Cannon Hall Museum in Barnsley and the Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool.
Onumah is drawn to finding character and human-like semblance in inanimate objects and creates ambiguous vessels and jewellery that reflect vulnerabilities and strengths through their tactile anthropomorphic forms. Working from sheet metal, she obsessively layers different mark making techniques through repetitive hammering, folding and impressing patterns onto the surface of the metal. She has a particular interest in African textiles, such as batik work or the marbled tie-dye of Kenyan kitenge an interest which she developed during her childhood in Ghana, and is drawn to fabrics with rich pattern, a visible weave or textiles which show evidence of their handmaking. This interest and her love of carved woods inspires her approach to mark making on the surface of the metal, through which she has developed a distinct tactile language. Moreover, seams and expressive marks, features which tend to be polished away, are exposed and exaggerated. Through these so called ‘imperfections’ she aims to challenge the hierarchical nature of silversmithing by seeing beauty in these marks and bear honest witness to the heat and force of making. The figurative objects are finished with dark oxidisation and subdued silver finishes and are grouped together as if in quiet conversation.
Murmur IV and Murmur VI were shown at Collect 2023 by Galerie Revel and both pieces were made by hand raising sheet metal and decorating the surface with a textured hammer and fold forming. Murmur IV is made from silver plated copper that has been oxidised and Murmur VI is made from Britannia silver. Together these two anthropomorphic vessels demonstrate Onumah’s sophisticated language and manipulation of material across both metals.
Onumah is drawn to finding character and human-like semblance in inanimate objects and creates ambiguous vessels and jewellery that reflect vulnerabilities and strengths through their tactile anthropomorphic forms. Working from sheet metal, she obsessively layers different mark making techniques through repetitive hammering, folding and impressing patterns onto the surface of the metal. She has a particular interest in African textiles, such as batik work or the marbled tie-dye of Kenyan kitenge an interest which she developed during her childhood in Ghana, and is drawn to fabrics with rich pattern, a visible weave or textiles which show evidence of their handmaking. This interest and her love of carved woods inspires her approach to mark making on the surface of the metal, through which she has developed a distinct tactile language. Moreover, seams and expressive marks, features which tend to be polished away, are exposed and exaggerated. Through these so called ‘imperfections’ she aims to challenge the hierarchical nature of silversmithing by seeing beauty in these marks and bear honest witness to the heat and force of making. The figurative objects are finished with dark oxidisation and subdued silver finishes and are grouped together as if in quiet conversation.
Murmur IV and Murmur VI were shown at Collect 2023 by Galerie Revel and both pieces were made by hand raising sheet metal and decorating the surface with a textured hammer and fold forming. Murmur IV is made from silver plated copper that has been oxidised and Murmur VI is made from Britannia silver. Together these two anthropomorphic vessels demonstrate Onumah’s sophisticated language and manipulation of material across both metals.
Object details
Category | |
Object type | |
Title | Murmur VI (assigned by artist) |
Materials and techniques | Britannia silver, hand raised and decorated with a textured hammer. |
Brief description | 'Murmur VI', by Francisca Onumah, 2023, Britannia silver |
Physical description | Vessel, hand raised Britannia silver sheet metal and the surface is decorated using a textured hammer. |
Dimensions |
|
Marks and inscriptions | Marked with Francisca Onumah's makers mark. |
Gallery label | Francisca Onumah is drawn to finding character and human qualities in lifeless objects. Her vessels are grouped together as if in quiet conversation. She applies a diverse array of marks to the surfaces of her pieces inspired by her love of African textiles with rich patterns or visible woven structures. Seams and expressive marks on the surface of the metal become exposed and exaggerated to bear honest witness to the heat and force of making.(03.07.2023) |
Summary | Francisca Onumah is a Sheffield-based Ghanian-born silversmith and jeweller who has received significant recognition for her extraordinary work in metal. Onumah trained at Birmingham City University gaining a BA and MA in Jewellery and Silversmithing in 2015. In 2020 she was part of the Crafts Council Hothouse Talent Programme and was awarded a Jerwood Makers Open commission in 2022 with Helena Russell. Her work has been exhibited in a range of important exhibitions including ‘Mastery: Women In Silver’ at the Ruthin Crafts Centre in 2021, the ‘Maker’s Eye: Stories of Craft’ and ‘We Gather’ exhibitions at the Crafts Council in 2021 and 2022, and ‘Radical Acts’ at Harewood House in 2022. She is represented by Flow Gallery and Galerie Revel and her work is in the permanent collections of the Sheffield Assay Office, Cannon Hall Museum in Barnsley and the Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool. Onumah is drawn to finding character and human-like semblance in inanimate objects and creates ambiguous vessels and jewellery that reflect vulnerabilities and strengths through their tactile anthropomorphic forms. Working from sheet metal, she obsessively layers different mark making techniques through repetitive hammering, folding and impressing patterns onto the surface of the metal. She has a particular interest in African textiles, such as batik work or the marbled tie-dye of Kenyan kitenge an interest which she developed during her childhood in Ghana, and is drawn to fabrics with rich pattern, a visible weave or textiles which show evidence of their handmaking. This interest and her love of carved woods inspires her approach to mark making on the surface of the metal, through which she has developed a distinct tactile language. Moreover, seams and expressive marks, features which tend to be polished away, are exposed and exaggerated. Through these so called ‘imperfections’ she aims to challenge the hierarchical nature of silversmithing by seeing beauty in these marks and bear honest witness to the heat and force of making. The figurative objects are finished with dark oxidisation and subdued silver finishes and are grouped together as if in quiet conversation. Murmur IV and Murmur VI were shown at Collect 2023 by Galerie Revel and both pieces were made by hand raising sheet metal and decorating the surface with a textured hammer and fold forming. Murmur IV is made from silver plated copper that has been oxidised and Murmur VI is made from Britannia silver. Together these two anthropomorphic vessels demonstrate Onumah’s sophisticated language and manipulation of material across both metals. |
Associated object | |
Collection | |
Accession number | M.56-2023 |
About this object record
Explore the Collections contains over a million catalogue records, and over half a million images. It is a working database that includes information compiled over the life of the museum. Some of our records may contain offensive and discriminatory language, or reflect outdated ideas, practice and analysis. We are committed to addressing these issues, and to review and update our records accordingly.
You can write to us to suggest improvements to the record.
Suggest feedback
You can write to us to suggest improvements to the record.
Suggest feedback
Record created | March 20, 2023 |
Record URL |
Download as: JSONIIIF Manifest