Ainsley Francis
Artist and Designer
Geology Plates
Inspired by geology and natural process, these pieces take advantage of the chemical and physical properties of glass to create line and motion.
Secret Languages
Each profession has a language: words they use that outsiders don't understand (or don't understand fully) acronyms, or ways of speaking that can be unintelligible to the untrained listener. These professional languages are interesting in that they serve to enhance...
The Wall is Part of Yourself
I use engraved glass, woodworking and optics to explore the mutability of individual identity by making camera obscura sculptures that are enchanting and playful. In an effort to disrupt common metaphors in English that equate the self with permanence and truth and...
Scottish Book Trust Trophies
The Scottish Book Trust commissioned me to make the trophies for the 2016 Scottish Children's Book Awards. Inspirededby the open pages of a book, these are made with layers of fused and raked sheet glass, taking advantage of the chemically reactive properties of some...
Focal Distance
These objects aim to upset this common association, having a stable exterior and an ever-changing interior, positioning change and transition in the place of authenticity. These objects integrate cameo engraved glass and camera obscura, through them I have aimed to...
Swans Mosaic
"Fighting Swans" (2011) porcelain and glass mosaic. Private collection.
Reflecting Projecting Engravings
A series of cameo engravings based on photographs that taken in museums of the reflections of visitors in the glass cases that hold the displays. This reflection represents the museum system itself, with our personal and cultural self-perceptions interceding with the...
(Re)vision
A series of images I've been taking in the National Museum of Scotland, each of one object pictured 54 or 108 times. The images are layered so that the viewer sees all of them at once.
Reflecting/Projecting
A series of images taken in museums (below is the Louvre in Paris, France). I find it interesting to watch the reflections of people in the glass cases that hold objects in a museum, it seems to me to represent the museum system itself, with our personal and cultural...
“Hands have a history of their own, they have, indeed, their own civilisation, their special beauty; we concede to them the right to have their own development, their own wishes, feelings, moods and favourite occupations”
– Rainer Maria Rilke –
Contact
+44 (0) 7583 087 105
info@ainsleyfrancis.com