Lucy Harvey's Page

Objects hang before the eyes of the imagination, continuously re-presenting
ourselves to ourselves, and telling the story of our lives in ways which would
be impossible otherwise

– Susan Pearce


We reflect ourselves in objects for reassurance and protection, escapism and discovery. The terrifying and fearful narratives we invent allow us to feel some sort of control over the world around us and the three dimensional form acts as palpable evidence of these real and imagined tales. My work explores the psychological necessity for narrative structure and how anxieties are sublimated through the mundane and extraordinary.


The absent human is an inherent narrative element of craft objects, I use craft processes as a vehicle to speak of the unknown, the uncanny and the melancholy. Assuming the role of a fraudulent anthropologist, I manipulate the pre-existing to create enigmatic artefacts which toy with our longing to believe in the fantastic. Subverting the authority of environment and the associative power of collection allow me to confuse and construct, evoking a conflict of animistic fears and desires.





Lucy Harvey is a metalsmith artist from Manchester, UK. Since graduating from her MA in Jewellery, Silversmithing & Related Products at Birmingham City University she has been conducting a ceramics residency at Blessed Thomas Holford College, Altrincham, exploring the narrative capacity of craft processes and the uncanny. In late 2009 she will be undertaking a three month artist residency at Aberystwyth Arts Centre, Wales, exploring rural legend and outdoor site-specific installation.


I spend too much time on the internet, I can also be found here for my art practice and musings:
http://lucyharvey.blogspot.com

And here for my more commercial jewellery endeavour:
http://www.elsieowladornment.blogspot.com

I would love to hear from other makers with warped senses of humour and a preference for the strange. Actually, I'd be quite pleased to hear from anyone.