Steel and Gold
Steel and Gold detail
Of Youth and Buried Time
Of Youth and Buried Time detail
Relative Density
Relative Density detail
Penny Burnfield
Artist statement
My work is wide-ranging, both in subject and materials. The common thread that ties it all together is a passion for history - a sense of the past.
Themes include personal and social histories - museums and archives, marks and traces left on the environment - layers of meaning and memories. A former doctor, I also have an interest in the history of medicine and science.
With degrees in both Art and Science, my approach to my work is experimental, often working directly with materials to find the approach that will best realise my ideas. I like to extend and combine media and techniques - exciting things happen at the edges. What if . . .? Ideas at the back of my mind inform this creative play. Experiments are developed further, often by writing down my thoughts to achieve a focus.
Real inspiration comes when several elements combine in a revelatory moment - when the various circles overlap - current interests - past work - practical ways of making visible the ideas that are forming - the connections between things.
Work may be two or three-dimensional or take the form of an installation, often as multiples, collections or repeated units. Formal qualities - abstract composition, surface, colour mass and line - are distilled down to simplicity and clarity.
I taught Embroidery and Textiles for several years in Adult Education, and I am now a freelance artist. I have exhibited widely, including Art Textiles 2, art of the Stitch and with The Crafts Council and the 62 Group of Textile Artists.