Rachel Ducker wire sculpture

Artists Statement

With an incredibly visual, active mind Rachel has an insatiable desire to create and make. Well practiced in life drawing and with an appreciation of the human form and the emotional dynamics of human nature, combined with being originally trained as a jeweller, lead her to experiment with wire as a medium for sculpting the human form, capturing something ephemeral, either emotive or active. Her pieces are untitled due to her belief that everyone sees something different in the sculptures and her lack of suggestion leads them to live that moment she portrays in their own particular way, therefore expanding the piece of work further with every viewer. The translucency and form of her work allows rather dramatic shadows to be cast and with the right lighting, can show the three dimensional form on a two dimensional level creating an effect resembling a pencil sketch on the wall.

Rachel uses no model and she doesn't form the shape around anything. The posture is first designed and then the pieces are carefully molded by hand and then gradually added to, wrapping wire, layer by layer. Her satisfaction with the posture can be instantaneous or take days and every angle important right to the tip of the finger and to a millimetre of adjustment until just right. She discovered that the slightest movement in the angle of the hand or fingers, or the tilting of the head changes everything the figure is portraying. Her sculptures being featureless leaves the posture to say all, expressing the feeling. The hair creating the scene, making all more turbulent, dramatic, adding latent movement and tenacity. She is very focused on people watching and body language and how people express themselves physically and all goes along side her keen interest in psychology.  

Her inspiration may come from the human form, but she is also greatly inspired by different materials, found objects and new techniques and is keen to combine mediums, finding it often leading to new ideas, which Rachel is never short of!

The wire work keeps her more than busy, supplying over twenty galleries in the UK alone, various exhibitions and numerous private commissions globally. But Rachel tries to keep her active mind diverse in it's creativity. She still makes her silver cast  jewellery to commission and enjoys experimenting with painting, life drawing monoprints, photography and is keen to try animation with the wire figures, as well as constantly moving on with the sculpture.

CV

Originally trained as a jeweler, Rachel Ducker's fascination and love for working with metal, led to her experiment with wire as a medium for sculpting the human form.

Accomplished in life drawing, her sculptured wire figures concentrate on the expressive & emotional dynamics of human nature.

EXHIBITIONS: (galleries marked * are permanently selling my work)

2013
Chelsea Flower Show, London, UK
Gallery Up Stairs, Henley-in-Arden, Warwickshire, UK
Junction Gallery, Woodstock, UK
St Peters College, Oxford, UK
Oxfordshire Artweeks, UK
Jam Factory, Oxford, UK
In House Gallery, Mere, UK
Balon Rouge, Thame, UK
Walford Mill Crafts, Dorset, UK
The Gallery at Ice, Windsor, UK*
Oxford Sculpture Society, North Wall, Oxford. UK

2012
'Freeze' exhibition at the O3 Gallery Oxford with printmaker Rachel Owen.
The Savoy Hotel London with painter Joanna May
Burford Garden Company Christmas Show.
The Framers Gallery, London, UK
Art in Action, Waterperry, Oxfordshire. UK.
Galerie Francois Giraudeau, Ile de Re, La Rochelle, France*
Henley Festival, UK
Oxfordshire Artweeks, UK
Kingham Lodge, Group sculpture show. Kingham, UK
Brewery Arts, Cirencester, UK *  'Physicality' Show. UK
Junction Gallery, Woodstock, UK*
The Craft Centre and Design Gallery, Leeds, UK*

2011
AAF, London. UK.
Oxfordshire Artweeks.
The Gallery at Bevere, Worcester. UK*

2010
Joanna May Gallery, Marlborough, UK*
O3 Gallery, Oxford, UK (Metamorphosis Show)
Henley Festival, Henley-on-Thames, UK
Art for Youth, Oxford, UK
Woodstock Arts Festival, UK
AAF, London,UK
Obsidian Art, Bucks, UK*
Cuadros Gallery, Nottingham, UK*

2009
Liscious Interiors/Gallery, Oxford, UK
Public Art commission, London, UK
Joanna Jones Gallery, Bottesford, UK
Azure Gallery, Sidmouth, UK*
Artist in residence, Wheatley Park Art school, UK

2008
The White Gallery, Cheshire, UK*
Oxford Open, MAO, Oxford, UK
O3 Gallery, Oxford, UK
Gallery Top, Derbyshire, UK
The Studio Gallery, Henley-on-Thames, UK*

2007
Morgan Lovell, Soho, London, UK
Harding House Gallery, Lincoln, UK*
The Blue Door Gallery, London, UK 
The Portmellon Gallery, Cornwall, UK
Opera Holland Park, London, UK
Oxford Artweeks, Oxford, UK
Oxford Art Society Members Exhibition, Oxford, UK
Gallery 49, Kent, UK
Ferrers Gallery, Ashby de la Zouch, UK 

2006
Member of OAS (Oxford Art Society, Est. 1891)
The Craft Centre & Design Gallery, Leeds, UK 
Apple Gallery, Surrey, UK 
The D'art Gallery, Dartmouth, UK *
Agora Gallery, Soho and Chelsea, New York, USA 
Old Chapel Gallery, Leominster, UK *
Oxford Artweeks, Oxford, UK
Morgan-Boyce Contemporary Fine Art, Marlborough, UK 
Fisherton Mill Galleries, Salisbury, UK *
Modern Artist Gallery, Berkshire, UK *

2005
EWACC Group exhibition, Light Gallery, London UK
Cirencester Brewery Arts, Glos, UK*
Islington Art and Design Fair, London, UK
Marmalade Gallery, Oxford, UK
Paddon and Paddon, Eastbourne, UK 
Affordable Art Fair, Battersea, London, UK
Dorchester-on-Thames, Festival, Oxfordshire, UK
Artifex, Mitchell Centre for Art and Craft, Birmingham, UK *
Ubergallery, Melbourne, Australia
Opera Holland Park, London, UK
Sculptastic Gallery, London, UK  
Liscious Interiors, Oxford, UK
Oxford Artweeks, Oxford, UK
Urban Gardens 2005, Olympia, London, UK
Gallery Nomansland, Scotland, UK 

2004
Wolfson College, Oxford University, UK
The Shire Hall Gallery, Stafford, UK
Art in Action Gallery, Waterperry, UK
Affordable Art Fair, Battersea, London, UK
Twist Art & Design launch exhibition, London, UK
Oxford Artweeks, Oxford. UK.

2003
Lee Chapman Gallery, Lake District, UK*
European Makers Gallery, Amsterdam. The Netherlands*
Blue Wing Gallery, Richmond, London. UK.
The Contemporary Craft Movement, Hampstead, London UK
Affordable Art Fair, Battersea, London, UK.
Rivers Gallery, Glos. UK 
Larks Gallery, Aberdeenshire, Scotland, UK*
Oxford Artweeks, Oxford, UK.

2002
Affordable Art Fair, Battersea, London UK
The Contemporary Craft Movement, Hampstead, London UK
Magic Fingers Gallery, Somerset UK*
Woodstock Arts Ltd. Gallery, Oxon UK 
The Craft Movement, Bowood House, Calne UK
Oxford Art Weeks, Oxford UK
Pebbles Yard Gallery, Pembrokeshire UK*
The Craft Movement, Chelsea, London, UK

2001
Graves Gallery, Millennium Galleries, Sheffield, UK
Affordable Arts Fair, Battersea, London, UK
Bell Fine Art Gallery, Winchester, UK
Art In Action Gallery, Waterperry, UK*
Oxford Art Weeks, Oxford, UK. This included a window display in Bordersbookshop, city center Oxford

2000
Twist Art & Design, 20th Century Theatre, London
The Chalk House, St Ives, Cornwall, UK
Liscious Interiors, Oxford, UK
We Three Kings Contemporary Arts, Witney, UK
Veranda Gallery, Oxford, UK*
Taurus Gallery, Oxford, UK
Oxford Art Weeks, UK

1996-1999
Jericho Café, Oxford, UK
Freud Art Café, Oxford, UK
Café Something, Oxford, UK
Dust Bar, London, UK.

PRIVATE COMMISSIONS:

Rachel's work has enhanced the décor of hotels, restaurants, clubs & private homes throughout the UK, Europe & the USA.

These include:

• Public Art Commission, London, UK
• Andaz Hotel, Liverpool St, London, UK
• A prominent display of four figures in the leisure room of a villa in Saudi Arabia.
• The 'focal piece' for the foyer of the Hilton Hotel, Milan, Italy. commissioned through Project Arts Ltd, London, UK.
• A working exhibition for Levi-Strauss & co, as part of their conference in Brussels, Belgium. Arranged by Out of the Blue Productions & management Ltd.
• An alternative mannequin, for New York stylist, Nike Booth.
• Life-size dynamic figure for a penthouse apartment for Joannah Trading Interiors, London.
• Piece for the K+K Hotel Cayre, Paris
• Private commission in Hong Kong

REVIEWS:

Featured in 'Sculpting in Wire' by Cathy Miles
The Times Newspaper magazine 2005 (by Rob Cassy)
Appearance on 'Our Home' Interior Design Program shown on UK Style, Cable & BBC America. 2004. 
Feature in Andrew Martin Interior Design Review vol.6 2002. London. UK.
Appearances on Channel 6, Oxford. UK. 2001-2002-2003.
Oxford Times Newspaper.
Subject for various art students final thesis.

ART IN THE COMMUNITY

One of the participants of The Big Arts Week (supported by the BBC and the Art Council of England) voluntarily working at a local school with children with behavioral problems introducing them to the fascinating artistic world.

Reviews:

"Ducker hardly needs to tell us that she feels constantly urged to make and create. Her figures, in the unlikely medium of twined wire, are full of movement, seeming on the verge of flying, with their streaming hair and spread limbs. Even those shown sitting, in meditative poses with relaxed hands, retain a latent energy - and of course that electric wiry hair.

Some are life-size, some tiny, most about a metre high. There are no children. Some are female. One is pregnant. the rest are androgynous, though the Suspended Couple and Chest to Chest pieces might imply another scenario. And that is a tribute to Ducker's skill, in conveying emotion and character through tiny variations in angles of head, hand or fingers within the constricting limits of coiled wire. In contrast stability is provided by solid lead feet, which often look endearingly like Renaissance Florentine shoes."

Jeannine Alton - Oxford Times, May 2005