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Magazine ISSUE 4
C US TO M N EO N
DESIGN. MANUFACTURE . INSTALL ATION
WORLDWIDE SERVICE
CONTENTS
7 30 54
Steve Edge and Soo Young Chung Game Plan
The Carefree We introduce the deli- Game shoots and food
Living Compendium cate drawings of this HIX banks may seem unlikely
James Hopkin previews Award runner-up. bedfellows. Not so, argues
the latest book of sound- Chris Horne from The
bites from design 32 Country Food Trust.
guru Steve Edge. Talk it Out
Chris Barez-Brown cele- 59
10 brates the art of listening Tales from the
Beyond The Veil and the benefits of Kitchen Library
Charlie Mills speaks to walking and talking for Mark Hix invites us to
Victoria Grant about her improved mental health. his backstage kitchen,
glittering millinery career with its vast library of art
and a new exhibition at 35 and cookbooks, for culi-
HIX ART in collaboration A Tale of Two Winners nary lessons, convivial
with Yurim Gough. HIX Award judge Nicky conversation and some
Carter looks at the inex- exclusive fine dining.
16 orable rise of the HIX
The Art of Bar Award for fine art and 60
Join us on a journey into profiles its two most Skin in the Game
the depths of Soho night- recent winners. Mitch Tonks salutes
life with Dustin MacMillan: the King of Fish, the
a place of secrets, 42 spectacular Turbot.
dreams and fleeting after- The Call of the Wild
hours liaisons. Miles Irving guides us 63
ligne-roset.com
through the many benefits Still on the Line
20 of foraging for food. Dylan Jones’s latest
The Recycle of Life book is a hymn to Glen
With climate change 46 Campbell’s sublime
posing an ever greater Food Rocks ‘Wichita Lineman’.
Togo. Michel Ducaroy threat to our planet, Mark Drawing a bigger crowd
Made in France every year, Lyme Regis’s 64
Hix questions hard-wired
attitudes toward sustaina- Food Rocks is now HIX Inside
bility and proposes some established as one of An insight into the
ideas to make a posi- the hottest tickets on creative lives of HIX’s
tive difference. the festival circuit. Jo versatile staff.
Harris explains why.
26
A Madgestic Revolution 50
R E N D E Z - V O U S W I T H Y O U Ready Player One
Jeweller to the stars
Stephen Webster recalls Steve Dineen charts the
the creation of his evolution of computer
game-changing Crystal game visuals as they
Haze collection. cross into the realm of
contemporary art.
Editor
Mark Hix
Executive Editor
Sophie Harriott
Sub Editors
Gemma de Cruz, David Sheppard
Design
Alfonso Iacurci
Advertising Sales
Deirdre McGinnis
Facebook @hixartgallery
Instagram @hixartgallery
HIX Magazine is published by
Art & Music Publications
123 South Lambeth Road
London SW8 1XA
Photo © Matt Austin
e: info@artandmusicpublications.com
www.artandmusicpublications.com
Printed in the UK by Walstead Roche
To request a Media Pack please email
advertising@artandmusicpublications.com
We welcome your letters and emails about EDITOR’S LETTER
the magazine. Please write to the editor
by post to the above address, or send an
email to info@artandmusicpublications.com
Another year passes and a new decade begins. Hopefully 2020 will
be more prosperous than last year. As you know, HIX Restaurants is
The contents of this magazine are fully now a little lighter with the closure of HIX Soho after almost a decade.
protected by copyright and may not be Sentimentally, it hurts to lose what was regarded as our flagship, but
reproduced without permission. The views if greedy landlords continue to double rents there will be plenty of
of the writers in HIX Magazine are not
necessarily shared by the publishers.
other London restaurants doing exactly what I have had to do: shut
up shop rather than pass these hikes on to the customer by inflat-
Photographic credits: ing our prices.
The image copyright holders have been
credited wherever possible, but should On a more cheery note, I hope you enjoy this new issue of HIX
any have been unintentionally omitted
the publishers will ensure this is rectified
magazine, in which we welcome some new writers to the mix. The
appropriately at the earliest opportunity. underlying theme is sustainability; it’s there in Miles Irving’s article
on foraging for wild food (page 42), Chris Horne’s feature on the
Cover: Biographical object No 39, 2018 unlikely relationship between wild game hunting and food banks
Soo Young Chung (page 58), and in my own piece, on page 20, about the provenance
of the food we eat and the pressing need for increased education in
all things ecological. There’s much more besides, from jewellery to
video games and an update on this year’s fantastic HIX Award and
Food Rocks festival.
So while we are sad to close the doors of Brewer Street, we are
pleased to say that everything else is flourishing.
STEVE EDGE AND
we try to do everything ourselves,
THE CA R EFR EE LI V ING
Like chipping the wood from fallen
COMPENDIUM
trees and using it to heat our stills,
or using our estate honey to create Life. It’s a simple thing. Something to embrace, enjoy, savour, discover. Something to throw
yourself into without hesitation or delay. But every now and then, we seem to lose sight of this. We
our signature serve "hive mind". get so swept up in things, so caught up in the minutiae of everyday life, that we forget the basics.
We forget what made us love life in the first place.
So reads the opening passage of No Need to Die, the satisfying things you can do,” says Steve. “And you don’t
latest book from branding guru, renowned fisherman have to be out in the woods. Make a little fire in your
and lifelong Shoreditch resident, Steve Edge. The book garden if you can. It’ll be the best sausage you’ll ever
spans 30, bite-sized lessons for life. Some are funny, have!” Though he has a refined taste when it comes
others contemplative, each of them offering up little to art, design and fashion, Steve understands the
nuggets of wisdom on how to live life to its fullest. And, importance of going back to basics. “It really is the
of course, every page is immaculately designed, type- simple things in life,” he adds. “It’s a cliché, but it’s a
set and illustrated – as you’d expect from a man who’s cliché for a reason.”
09
been at the helm of the leading creative agency, Steve IF YOU
Edge Design, for the past 35 years. DON’T LIKE
YOUR JOB,
GIVE IT
02 “Lesson No. 2: THE ELBOW.
“Lesson No. 9: If you
WHEN YOUR
BOAT COMES When your boat comes in, make sure don’t like your job, give it
IN, MAKE SURE
YOU’RE NOT AT you’re not at the airport.” the elbow.”
Part of being professional
THE AIRPORT.
is being happy.
Having worked with clients as diverse as Cartier,
Skanska, House of Garrard and Purdey Guns, Steve
Life presents us all with chances and
opportunities. Be ready to take them.
knows what it means to be professional. And, as he
Steve talks opportunities, telling us how it’s not just says, a big part of being professional is being happy
about taking them when they arise; it’s about actively in what you do.
making them yourself. “Opportunities are everywhere,”
he says. “We all need to have our eyes peeled, all the “If you don’t like what you do, you’re in the wrong
time.” And he isn’t just talking about networking and job,” says Steve. “As I always say, when you find your
organised opportunities. “Your next creative partner passion, you become good at it. When you’re good at
or business connection or whoever you’re looking for it, you work hard at it. And the harder you work, the
is probably living next door. Get out there and talk to better you become. Then you become unstoppable.”
people,” he adds. “Be interesting and interested!”
Words by James Hopkin
26
MAKE A FIRE
AND COOK A No Need to Die is out now and available to
SAUSAGE ON buy at steve-edgeshop.com.
A STICK.
“Lesson No. 26: Make
a fire and cook a sausage
on a stick.”
It’ll be the best sausage
you’ve ever eaten.
A Ramsbury Estate of Mind A lifelong outdoorsman, Steve is a firm believer in doing
what comes naturally. Especially in the hectic, fast-
paced, hyper-connected world we live in. “Cooking a
sausage on an open fire is one of the simplest, most
7
illustration © Josh Daniels
BEYOND THE VEIL
Head, shoulders and hats above the rest - or so they will never say. Alas, if there were ever a designer
worthy of such a mantle, London-based milliner Victoria Grant is most certainly it. Widely respected as
contributing to the global prestige of British hat design, Victoria’s creations marry haute couture with a
moxie love for heritage and all things British. Charlie Mills caught up with Victoria to get the story behind
it all, and what to expect from her forthcoming collaboration with Yurim Gough at HIX ART this March.
First launching her Notting Hill atelier back in 2007, traditional Korean porcelains, overlaid with images that
Victoria Grant has since been christened the ‘celebrity explored the intersection of themes such as migra-
hatter’, with an exclusive client list including the likes tion, queer identity and social media and recognised
of Madonna, Anna Dello Russo, Rihanna, Lady Gaga, a kinship in the celebration of femininity, form and self-
Beyoncé and Cara Delevingne. Her Kiss beret - adorned expression that was impossible to ignore.
with goose pointers and a crystal veil - was voted ‘best The resulting collaboration promises to be a unique
hat’ at the wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle. crossover of fashion and art, and will continue HIX’s
Victoria’s enthusiasm for hats was instilled by a child- commitment to creating a platform for established and
hood visit to the Honourable Artillery Company with emerging artists to collaborate in a unique and experi-
her father - a Pikeman with the ceremonial Company mental setting. Ahead of the exhibition, I caught up with
of Pikemen & Musketeers who dress in 17th century Victoria to find out more about her practice, inspiration
uniform. Suitably inspired by this, and her father’s own and what to expect from the upcoming show.
predisposition for eccentric collecting, it’s perhaps no
surprise that military hats and ceremonial dress were What first drove you to enter the millinery
one of the first leitmotivs to infuse Victoria’s work, help- scene - why hats?
ing to foster her signature military-Ritz style. Would you believe it was an accident? But a happy one
That style has since evolved to bring together vari- at that. From as far back as I can remember I was always
ous regal forms contrasted with a tongue-in-cheek, making and creating; I lived in my imagination and spent
iconoclastic party spirit. That means anti-establish- all my time deconstructing, reconstructing and bring-
ment tropes such as punk, anarchy and pacifism ing things to life. That could mean building sculptures
manifesting in leopard-print fur, neon cocktail colours, with disused light bulbs, painting my bedroom walls in
taxi and motel signs à la the Costa del Sol, or, in the Keith Haring-style murals or customising clothes to
case of a particular showcase at Philip Mould & Co express myself. I was always making something.
in 2017, hats adorned with antique portrait miniatures The hat epiphany came when I was a fashion stylist.
from the gallery’s Old Masters collection. I was shooting a ‘Pearly Kings and Queens’ story, and
This March, Victoria Grant will present a new exhi- it was missing the final touch. Unable to find anything,
bition at HIX ART, Beyond The Veil, showcasing new I decided to embroider some pearl buttons on a flat
works made in collaboration with South Korean ceram- cap - et voila! From that moment on, all I could see was
icist Yurim Gough. First encountering her work at an endless rainbow of possible hat designs. I had inad-
a London Art Fair, Victoria was inspired by Gough’s vertently discovered my perfect canvas.
10 HI X M AGA ZINE Photographs © Anthony Lycett 11
You began your business in 2007 - a tough much as I love the rebellious, expressive alternative
time for the economy. How were your first few of punk culture and all its playful twists. London is a
years and how were you first received by the melting pot of culture and creativity and that is a big
fashion world? part of my brand.
I did not sleep for the first few years. It wasn’t easy
but I’m a grafter. I was addicted to creating and so Your hats are often distinguished by the use of
utterly determined to make it work as a viable living class symbolism. To what extent are class and politics
that I toiled around the clock. I was fuelled with so many consciously negotiated in your work?
ideas. I feel really lucky about how my hats have been I just want peace and love. Failing that, let’s escape into
received since day one by the fashion and art worlds beauty and have some fun along the way. I’m both a
alike. Contrary to the impression given by many of my rebel and a royalist. I like to see the best in everything.
designs, I’m actually quite shy and therefore never I love tradition but I like to put my playful twist on it.
actively pushed or promoted my work. It all grew very My hats are about escapism, fantasy, beauty, elegance
organically by word of mouth and the hats gradu- and joy. My creations are playful and interact with each
ally found their way into magazines, which is where it person differently. I am pretty light-hearted in how I
really all took off. work - not really political at all.
My first celebrity commission came from Annie
Lennox. The hat I made her went on to be exhibited at Your hats are unquestionably alluring, perhaps even
the V&A. At that point I never dreamed that I would later provocative in their style and sensuality. Is the question
be making commissions for Vogue, Madonna, Beyoncé, of eroticism a conscious feature in some of your work?
Rihanna, Lady Gaga, Kylie... It’s exciting and an honour. Sometimes, but not always. When I was learning to
expand my craft and forms, I created the most elabo-
Your father—a member of the Pikemen & rate and intricate shapes possible. I was into creating
Musketeers—collected military hats and very elaborate masks as, for me, hats are individual
ceremonial dresses. How much did this inspire expressions that adorn the crown in a celebration of
your own aesthetic? femininity. They are expressive, mysterious, mischie-
My dad has some pretty fabulous outfits. I was always vous, seductive, alluring, playful, thought-provoking
inspired by the incredible detail and brocades in his and always reflective of an inner spirit and beauty.
various ceremonial dresses, from the metal shoe-lace
tips on the Pikeman & Musketeers uniforms and the This is not the first time you have worked with
exquisite gold bullion embroidery on the ceremonial HIX - previously you have collaborated with Antony
gowns - the quality is second to none; you cannot beat Micallef on works for HIX Soho and you also
hand-made craftsmanship. designed a room at HIX Townhouse in Lyme Regis.
As a child he used to bring me back traditional Can you tell us about these projects and what it was
dress dolls from all the countries he visited around the like working with HIX in the past?
world. I was obsessed by the attention to detail in these The Sweet Paris project with Antony Micallef will always
costumes and how unique they all were. be one of my favourite collaborations. It was my first
artist collaboration and I have been a huge fan of
British symbols feature heavily in your work - Antony’s for years. We had lots of fun doing it. Mark
the monarchy, union jacks, punk - how important is Hix has been an amazing supporter of my work and
London to your practice? I love working with him. Working on HIX Townhouse
I do love London. I’m a sucker for tradition and I was a dream. I got full creative freedom and was able
love the rich pageantry of our royal ceremonies as to turn my hand to interior design.
12 HI X M AGA ZINE 13
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British jeweller Stephen Webster, designer Isabel
Marant, and legendary French beret-maker
Laulhere. Is working with others an important
part of your practice?
I thrive on collaborations because the experience is
always new and you can never predict the outcome.
It’s about discovery. Working with another artist draws
Artwork by Yurim Gough, Adidas Man, 2019
you out of yourself and into a fresh, shared zone. There
is a lovely, sensitive dance - exploring each other and
getting under each other’s skin to find a balance delicate balance of beauty, expression and form. The
that complements and stretches both of you. It’s works are visually beautiful and the stories are so
about discovery. powerful and provocative. I felt an electric connec-
I think to plan anything too rigidly in a collaboration tion to Yurim’s work, joy at its beauty and a powerful
is to block the opportunity for magic to happen, where sense of harmony.
creation arises as an impulsive response, a reaction.
You need to be tuned in and ready to run with spon- Yurim’s work deals in questions of gender fluidity
taneity; many of my favourite discoveries have arisen and performance, are these subjects you find relevant
from mistakes. You are aiming for one thing, but the to your own work?
fabric burns or melts and suddenly a new more inter- Yes, totally. Performance and play is a huge part of
esting and exciting technique is born. my brand. I love the humanity of Yurim’s work and the
Naked in Clothes work is very true to modern day life
For the upcoming show you will collaborate with - also full of colour, design and, of course, millinery.
Yurim Gough - how did you first come across her All Yurim’s characters are non-gender specific, which
work and what inspired you about it? is very much a part of life and moves me hugely. I am
I discovered Yurim at The Other Art Fair and I fell in really excited about the collaboration.
love with her work instantly. Yurim expresses such a
What can we expect from the show in March?
Beyond The Veil is a dance between our two worlds -
a flirtation between two mediums that both celebrate
expression, femininity and offer an exploration of our
combined essence. It’s something many of my custom-
ers experience; they arrive thinking they need a hat for
a particular occasion, yet that’s just the start of their
journey. As they try on hats you can see and sense an
emotional transformation which draws out the many
facets of an individual’s character. It’s all about a kind
of joie de vivre; my creations are playful and interact
with each person differently. There’s often a realisa-
tion that they need hats for different moods and as
part of enjoying life.
Beyond the Veil is at HIX ART from 20 March - 17 May
14
n popping
For 3 years now I have bee
of a festival,
up at a summer shindig
the grounds of
Smoked & Uncut, held in use,
hotels; the HIX Biryani Ho
THE PIG and Lime Wood tes
s on tour across the 3 da
my curry feasting tent, goe un der
some serious flavour
and we serve up some up outdoor
festivals are the perfect
canvas in a field. These rite
held at some of my favou
open-air parties and are
Angela Hartnett pla a ys
escapes in the South West.
er pop up feasting tent, so
starring role hosting anoth to the
t to dine well, and all set
you know you can expec sic wo rld..
thing’ from the mu
backdrop of the ‘next big
als and hotels is my very
The man behind the festiv
d he knows how to host
good pal Robin Hutson, an
urants with rooms’ are
a good ‘do’! THE PIG ‘resta
rset, Hampshire, Dorset,
dotted around Kent, Some
Combe in Devon, just half
Cornwall and THE PIG-at
& Fish House, who are
an hour from HIX Oyster are
THE PIGs love local and
regulars at Food Rocks. in the ir ow n
what they can
obsessive about growing me rs an d
ng from local far
Kitchen Gardens or sourci pro perty.
a 25-mile radius of the
producers that are within by their
sonal and always inspired
Food is super simple, sea
British gardens.
st in the
f, and with Robin’s outpo
Being a Dorset lad mysel st on the
cooked up the idea (whil
neighbouring county, we win e made in
ducing an English
riverbank together) of pro to create
h Castlewood Vineyard
Devon. We teamed up wit ripest
the Devon Minnow. The
something quite unique – rel fer me nted and
hand-picked, bar
berries of Bacchus were qu an tities
month and miniscule
aged in French oak for 6
Hopefully you might find
made…get it while it lasts!
pot of my Biryani in front
yourself with a steaming
cut festival this summer.
of you at a Smoked & Un
ere
See you th
M
www.thepighotel.com
k
www.limewoodhotel.co.u
unc ut.c om
www.smokedandTHE
A R T
Dustin MacMillan is our barfly on the wall as he guides us
through the dark underbelly of Soho after hours. He occupies both
sides of the bar in this love letter to the late nights and memories
of his time at HIX Soho.
A smothering shot of adrenaline clenches - suffocat- house motto, words to die by, or to aspire to at least.
ing and tight, hours after the clock-out sheet has been Grown men have retreated from here in tears -
regrettably blemished. We will hang out anywhere we saying they were going for a dirty Marlboro Red fag
have friends who can dish out a few free cans of Irish break, never to return. One employee said if he contin-
scrumpy, paired with some blinding remedy made in a ued working here he would give himself a cardiac
shed, stored in a questionable plastic bottle, belonging arrest, as the pressure of being in such a fast-paced
to a Romanian ancestor of a colleague. Seeking pleas- environment is too colossal for our pea-sized human
ures to induce sleep leads us down a slippery, infected brains. I once carved my thumb like a jittery, inexpe-
OF
alley of addiction. rienced butcher (while plastering it up back-of-house)
Incoherently strung out, I was fatally in need of a bar, to such a brutal degree that those who witnessed the
and there it stood, a mistress my other half will be jeal- aftermath could be excused for thinking an unsolva-
ous of forever, entombed deep within Soho’s raucous ble crime had occurred. I simply doused the wound
underbelly, past the blur of ‘twenty pound or best offer’ with a mixture of Jamaican over-proofed rum and
ambassadors of the W1 sex trade. It’s beaming fetish Temperley cider vinegar, preferring to swerve Accident
neon glow, over a timber-framed threshold, beckons & Emergency. It's not easy working here, when I’m in
me in. Upon entering, a twisted gold-encrusted stair- the thick of it I can't have anyone near me, no one can
case weaves downward to the bar as pulsating echoes help me. Sometimes losing sight, I look across my bar
vibrate through every last inch of me. I am greeted by and I make out those treasured painted words, Hard
a Highland fox wearing a tweed waistcoat who goes as Fuck, and I pick myself up and carry on.
by the name of Hamish. If you've been here, you’ll On any given night you're perched - legs rubbing,
know who I'm talking about. The entire length of the pulse increasing, next to a perfect stranger: connected,
ceiling is lined with imported silver tiles shimmering untamed and consumed. Daily worries politely excuse
down on mismatched, tattered and tanned Dunhill themselves, in a position where you willfully indulge
armchairs and Chesterfields with stately vintage rugs in an awkward, yet sinfully enticing, unforeseeable
fitting snugly beneath them, all of this scattered within moment just beyond one, hesitant gulp.
B A R
smoke-mirrored walls. Feeling as if you crept into an unrestricted, lawless
The bar counter, a one-of-a-kind, often imitated, underworld, in which nobody there seemed to notice
pewter surface, bears scars from the high heels of the or mind. It feels as if you have always been there,
women who have gyrated the night away upon it. Once welcomed like an elusive friend, immediately fading
seated, you’re eye-to-eye with the barkeep, thanks to a into old stories you haven't lived through. In each
sunken barside trench. A large text painting dominates dimly lit corner are artworks you’d only expect to find
the wall opposite the bar, it’s daubed words became the in prestigious galleries. Offering a backdrop to the
Photo © Dustin MacMillan, 2020 19Departing without a trace of evidence left behind,
memories swiped due to excessive amounts of alcohol,
passing as ghosts at dawn on our separate paths. Later
we awake with bumps, sore bones, blood stains and a
sense of meaning. Usually feeling like a drill is pressing on Free
the spinal tap, surging up into our membrane from trave-
ling the world in the shape of so many different bottles. I
entry
with this
Annual Exhibition 2020
don't remember there being any message in them at the
time, if there was, I can’t remember what the hell it was.
London, a city which will strip you of breath, kick you voucher
in the balls and cheat on you while having a torrid affair, 20 to 29 February, 10am to 5pm
then expose the truth with a sunrise, only to wretch
all over it. Fall hopelessly in love and despise its very
creation in a single step; it makes you hard, remember- Over 500 works of contemporary painting,
ing we are merely temporary residents here. We forget
this city we call home is the toughest of us all, hiding
sculpture, printmaking and drawing.
its wounds in plain sight. Your skin gets thicker here, it Most works are for sale, starting at £120.
does what all great cities do, it makes you want to be
better than when you arrived, leaving you with marks
on your soul in the face of adversity.
Our current climate has Brexit dividing the nation,
Parliament in meltdown, controlled by a bozo circus
of dishonest clowns who blush and bend-over at any
chance for US counterparts to expose a truly “special”
Harland Miller, Hard as Fuck, 2010
relationship, caught up in school yard antics of never-
ending newsreel nooses entangled, tied by fear and
conversations about a third-generation local grocer turmoil with an uncertain future, leaving us desperately
closing its doors for the final time due to extortionate in search of a hero. Warnings from frightened nonbe-
rent hikes. Elsewhere, a flock of hedonistic models are lievers urge us to never meet our heroes, they will only
in a heated, vodka-fuelled debate with the stubborn, let you down they say. Victimized by flawed propa-
yet sure of himself, Venetian deli owner from across ganda, cowardly devised and spread by nearly men, the
the road on how much squid ink to use in the Nero type who never get anywhere trying to define a culture.
di Seppi risotto. True heroes evolve with a simple step, the begin-
This is where everything and nothing happens; it is ning of a pure task, terrified about what we believe we
a place to disappear and a place to be: solace. Still, lack or the courage to try. Having the will to be part of
the haunting look is in our eyes; we’re over-worked something far greater than ourselves is the first step.
and looking for someone to fuck. It doesn’t matter Unsure of the final outcome we jump regardless, dare
where you come from, in this moment we are all one to speak the truth; we make love, create art, that’s really
consuming soul, in search of a laugh, possibilities of the why we exist. To glance in the mirror when all we had
mundane falling away, moments becoming just what we were the fatal fantasies of the future staring back at us,
hoped they could always become. the person you knew you could one day become, the
Drinking here is approached in a ritualistic manner, one you ached to be, only to realise you were already
it is purely for pleasure; decadent, luxurious. We’re that person all along.
working, creating, playing, making contacts and laying One true sentence scribbled on a napkin can begin
out deals while others lie in their beds, unaware of any a movement. Barflies protect devoted secrets, rounds
activity and sinful deeds occurring, safely tucked up passed between young and old, implementing timeless
and dreaming. We raise our glasses together, spilling traditions, and you, my stubbornly enchanting, bastard
their overfilled contents. We’re drinking gun-powder friend, with the cheesiest of grins, bearing all the
soup. You can feel every emotion that went into its notions of a life lived beyond those of societies rules.
creation; each sip bringing you closer to that perfect You will be welcomed early to the party of immortality,
moment. Here we are not scared, never second-guess- carried by south winds of barmaids and bitters upon
ing ourselves. We work too godamn hard in this modern your unburdened backside, hesitantly acknowledging
world to frivolously dispose of digital funds on bottom that there ain’t no fucking place else you’d rather be.
barrel drinks. The Mall, London SW1
www.mallgalleries.org.uk
20 HI X M AGA ZINE Guy Portelli RBA ImagineT H E R E C YC L E OF LIFE
With the world swamped in plastic packaging and people throwing out as much food
as they eat, or gorging on exotic fruits even when they’re out of season, it’s no wonder that the
environment feels like its going into a tailspin. Time for us all to take a step back and think a bit
harder about Mother Earth, advises Mark Hix.
22 HI X M AGA ZINE All artworks © Lydia Hix 23The tide has turned and many of us are jumping Isla is seven and, like a lot of young children, she’s demand in restaurants for quality sashimi. Interestingly,
through hoops, trying our best to lead a more sustain- a great role model when it comes to raising aware- in the last few years we have seen huge shoals of blue-
able life and do the best thing for the planet. As the ness and spreading the word about waste and the fin tuna appearing off the coast of the West Country,
planet gets older we are gradually eroding it without imperilled future of our planet. Sadly, it’s extremely with fish weighing up to 300 kilos or more. It’s great
thinking and, often, without even noticing, by just doing difficult to educate a lot of these enlightened kids’ to see these monsters returning to our waters. Back
simple day-to-day things that we were brought up with parents, because they’ve grown up discarding their before the Second World War people would pay seri-
and take for granted. rubbish unthinkingly, and it’s an ingrained way of life. ous money to catch them for sport, especially off the
I believe we need to bring something into the The whole packaging and plastic thing is driving many coast of Yorkshire. The tuna were attracted by the
school curriculum at an early age and educate kids of us mad and documentaries like Rupert Murray’s abundant herring, which gradually became overfished
about food, where it comes from and how it’s grown The End of the Line, about overfishing of the oceans, and vanished, as did the tuna, in turn. As an avid angler
or produced. Of course, food is not the only issue at and the BBC’s self-explanatory Drowning in Plastic I’m hoping that tuna fishing will become legalised so we
stake, there’s a huge problem with the use and recy- (which Isla has watched several times, as have her can have some UK big game fishing fun like they do in
cling of synthetic plastic - a revolutionary, futuristic friends) should surely be introduced to schools as a other countries - and it would be great for the charter
material back in 1907 when Leo Hendrik Baekeland salutary warning about what we have created and the boat fishing business.
invented it, but now an uncontrollable blight on the damage we are doing. When I was at school in Dorset, domestic science
world, with over-packaged foods, delivery items and The End of the Line is a film about how the blue- was on the curriculum, a subject which taught you basic
seemingly everything we purchase coming wrapped in fin tuna has become endangered, partly thanks to the cookery skills and how to iron a shirt and make a bed.
layers of the stuff. I find myself going to a supermarket
and trying to buy unpackaged food but I never seem
to get what I want and so end up wasting time, not to
mention fuel, visiting multiple shops. Some packag-
ing seems ludicrous. Why do shops pre-package a
tiny piece of ginger or three chillies? It’s bonkers. And
what’s wrong with buying exactly what you need rather
than having a supermarket dictate the quantities?
I live on a houseboat now, on the Thames, and some-
times I sit on the stern with a coffee and just watch all
sorts of plastics drifting past, all of which will presum-
ably end up in the sea. The other day I witnessed
someone leaning off Albert Bridge emptying a bag of
plastic bottles into the river. What were they thinking?
When my daughter Isla stays on the boat I give her my
landing net, from my fishing tackle, and she retrieves
as much floating plastic as possible as it drifts past.
It really doesn’t take long to fill a bin liner. Last year,
three whales, of different species, were found dead
in the Thames. Whales are intelligent beasts but once
they swim into the narrower parts of the Thames there
isn’t much food for them and a plastic bag suddenly
looks like a squid in tidal waters, which is one possible
explanation for the deaths.
24 HI X M AGA ZINE 25We could choose to take this subject over metalwork, of the local pub, avocado on toast didn’t really exist,
which I hated. This was much more fun. Part of the but now it’s almost a menu necessity. Like all fruits,
teaching touched on home economics, which I think avocados have a season, which most people are obliv-
should still be drilled into kids from an early age. I’m ious to, much as they are about how they are grown,
bemused and appalled by how much food some people the provenance of the fruit and how many miles they
buy and keep unnecessarily in their fridges and conse- have travelled to satisfy the needs of a healthy British
quently throw away without even touching it. diet. As a result of its rampant popularity there are
We also studied a subject called rural science, which now parts of the world where pine forests are being ille-
taught us how to keep and tend a garden and grow gally replaced with avocado farms, with increasing use
fruits and vegetables from seed. We kept chickens and of chemical fertilisers and pesticides and, of course,
were instructed about how to kill and pluck them for the increased pressure on local water reserves. I’ve never
table. I’m pretty sure this kind of thing no longer exists been a massive fan of the bland avocado, that is until I
in schools, but it certainly should do, especially as we tasted a locally grown one I bought from the roadside
throw away 86 million chickens annually, the equiva- in Barbados. It had a flavour beyond anything I had
lent of 235,000 a day. That’s far more shocking than ever tasted and confirmed my dislike of what’s availa-
learning how to rear and (humanely) kill them. ble in the UK shops.
We all need to become more aware of what and I won’t bang on anymore, but we all certainly need to
how much we are consuming and also relearn how to think a bit more about what we eat and how often we
eat things in their natural season. Take the now popu- eat it. If you are scratching around for a healthy alter-
lar but often tasteless avocado, which seems to have native to avocado, give humble frozen peas a go; they
taken over the world. It was once an exotic rarity in UK taste better and are packed with vitamins and minerals.
households but has now become a must-have fridge or
fruitbowl commodity. Avocado with prawns is a child-
hood memory of mine. When I worked in the kitchen
26 HI X M AGA ZINEA MADGESTIC
For anyone under 40 years of age, it may come as a roses and which I set a small diamond in the middle of
surprise to hear that until the end of the last millennium, each rose. After the encounter, at least 30 years before
or approximately twenty five years ago, jewellery shops social media, the only way I knew how to spread the
in the UK were a bit like strip clubs. Not because the word was by phoning my mum, who despite being a
purchasing of jewels involved nudity, but because both good communicator (or ‘gossip’) simply didn't believe
R EVOLU TION
establishments were almost exclusively frequented by me. The cocktail ring comes with only one message:
men. And that is where the similarity ends. Today, one “happy hours only, please”.
might expect a strip club to be a place with nothing Several years later, back in London and fully
immediately visible other than a neon arrow, a door Californicated by my almost ten years there, I wanted
and a curtain behind which lies the promise of titilla- to make jewellery that gave enjoyment rather than
tion - with men being the only patrons. Whereas a highly commitment. The best way for me to express this was
visible, over-lit, high street jewellers, openly displaying through the failsafe cocktail ring. At the same time I had
the sparkly trappings of more wholesome promises, been using some of my, by then, considerable experi-
might now be frequented as much by women as by ence working with big, semi-precious gems. It is worth
men. However, this wasn't always the case. In the past, noting that what was once classified as ‘semi-precious’
men bought jewellery for women when they wanted can nowadays be as expensive or even more expen-
to or (God forbid!) when women ‘deserved’ it. “You sive than the classic precious stones. Consequently,
now belong to me” - the engagement ring. “We are semi is now redundant. Anyway, these stones were less
now conjoined” - the wedding ring (only in this case pricey in the 1980s and ’90s. I also started to create
the husband reserved the right not to wear his). “We my own gem cuts. A lot of my experimentations were
are still married”- the eternity ring. And best of all, the carried out on clear quartz, which was the least expen-
“thank you for those 30 hours in labour, resulting in our sive. I liked to take a cabochon, or carbuncle as they
second child” - the push present. I'm not suggesting were sometimes called due to the blister or dome-like
that women do not deserve all the jewellery they can profile of the shape, and I would use this as the base
lay their hands on, but to think that a woman could shop
for her own diamonds was seen as a bit sad. That's
what I'm talking about. Hold that thought for a minute.
In the 1980s, I was employed as a bench jeweller in
Santa Barbara, California. It was a great time for jewel-
lery; the Dynasty effect was in full swing - big, bold
and gold. The store where I worked was modern and
all the product was designed by me and made on site
by my team and I. I would often be summoned from
the workshop in the back to meet the clients out front,
and a good proportion of the clients were women. One
day, one of those women was Elizabeth Taylor, possi-
bly the greatest jewellery-wearing icon of her time. She
had bought one of my cocktail rings. The stone was a
big, juicy cabochon-cut lavender Chalcedony. The ring
was white gold with a rose gold band running around
the centre that I had hand-engraved with thorns and
and apply facets to its surface. This instantly added
more glamour but also created interesting reflective
patterns to the flat surface below. This intrigued me.
I couldn't leave it alone. Eventually, almost by acci-
dent, I placed a faceted lump of quartz over a flat
piece of opaque blue-coloured stone. Instantly the blue
became electric blue, due to the prism effect and light
refraction created by the facets of the high dome of
Twenty-five years after the introduction of the unique Crystal Haze jewel, its inventor, Stephen quartz. I decided to go a step further and curve the
Webster MBE, recalls its hard-won creation and the sea change in attitudes to jewellery shopping back of the quartz and cut the piece of blue agate,
which I had placed underneath into a corresponding
it helped bring about, aided by the endorsement of superstar rock-wearers like Elizabeth Taylor
curve. The effect was even more extreme, stunning
and Madonna, if not by his disbelieving mum. in fact. But what I held in place by hand proved to be
28 HI X M AGA ZINE Images © Stephen Webster 29there were three messages from Madonna. The first
was: “Hi, it's Madonna. Can you come to my house next
Wednesday and show me your jewellery?”. Second:
“Hi, it's Madonna. Are you coming tomorrow?” Third:
“I guess you're not coming.” Shit! I had blown my big
chance due to the lack of advancement in ’90s mobile
phone technology.
I called back and the woman who answered said,
“No worries; come tomorrow”. I was over the moon.
Round at Madge's mansion, I was ushered in and I
showed my wears. She put a ring on every finger and Block HH at Castlewood Vineyard lies sprawled
said, “I’'m going to walk around my house.” As a jewel- across a warm south-facing Devon hillside over
ler, I'm very security conscious and wouldn't normally looking the river Axe. The exceptional summer of
let eight rings out of my sight, but this wasn't normal
and I had very little say in the matter, so off she went. 2018 produced stupendously ripe Bacchus grapes,
Half an hour later she came back and said “I want that providing the perfect DNA for Devon Minnow.
one.” In the end she took two. One was a Crystal Haze
ring and that was all that mattered. She asked me what
Photo © ABACA/Photoshoot
it was because, she said, it was like a ‘mystery ring’.
Conceived on the riverbank by fishing buddies
Still a good 20 years before social media, I once and restaurateurs Robin Hutson & Mark Hix with
extremely difficult to retain using conventional jewel- again called my mum, who by now had me down as more than just a little help from the Corbett
lery techniques. I spent the best part of two years trying a pathological liar, but I also called my friends, who family at Castlewood.
to work it out. I attended the Loctite school. I picked the thought it was amazing. But still nothing changed in
brains of every glass sculptor I could find, and eventu- my world. That was until one day, while waiting for a
ally, Dale Chihuly (or his studio, at least) gave me the Chinese takeaway in Deal, Kent and flicking through Hand selection of golden fruit, barrel fermentation
name of the man who, in his shed, invented the glue the Daily Mirror laying on the greasy counter, I came and a further 6 months of oak ageing has allowed
that bonded massive pieces of glass together and still across a full page colour picture of Madge and her
endless layers of complexity to develop through this
let the light pass through uninterrupted. Finally, I had new man, the film director of the moment, Guy Ritchie.
a stone that was, in fact, two stones bonded together, Bang in the middle of the picture was her Majesty’s sumptuous fruit forward wine.
giving an effect that was not there before. I named it hand holding a glass of champagne and on her index
Crystal Haze and introduced it to the jewellery industry. finger was my Crystal Haze ring. After that nothing was Devon Minnow release is at the discretion of its
The reaction was less shock and awe and more flac- the same. Stephen Webster, according to American
cid whimper. Anyone would think I had gaffer-taped a Vogue, was the man who reinvented the cocktail ring founders. Only available at HIX Restaurants,
banana to a wall and called it art. The men who wrote the and women started to go into jewellery shops asking The Pig Hotels, Lime Wood, Angela Hartnett’s
rules of women's jewellery back then didn't take to it at for Crystal Haze rings. As silly as it sounds, it became Murano & Cafe Murano
all. In fact, they dismissed it as ‘fashion jewellery’, possi- known as a ‘women’s self purchase’.
and a selection of Mitch Tonks’ restaurants
bly the worst or, with hindsight, the best categorisation The following few years redefined fine jewellery.
I could have dreamt of. Back in those male-dominated We were the premier designer jewellery brand in the in Devon and Cornwall.
institutions known as jewellery shops, ‘fashion’ was iconic NYC department store Bergdorf Goodman and
Photo ©️ George Chesterton
simply not a recognised pillar of what was accepted most of our sales were made to the woman who would
as fine jewellery. Down but not out, mainly because my purchase for themselves - a mini revolution.
wife absolutely loved my new delusional cocktail rings, Back to 2020 and the future; there is now a whole
I stuck with it, introducing more and more colours to category of fine jewellery that is bought and worn
layer underneath my curved faceted quartzes. according to fashion and wardrobe. This is not to say
One day in 1995 Madonna, perhaps the most that women or men no longer enjoy the gift of jewellery;
famous woman in the world at the time, called and after all, it's expensive and who wouldn’t? However, it
asked to see my jewellery. The problem was she called is no longer spinsterish for a woman to buy her own
my mobile phone and back in the mid ’90s, mobile jewels, nor sad for a man to do likewise. Indeed, it’s
phones were about as mobile as telephone boxes. I just as likely that a woman will be shopping for her best
happened to be in the US at the time. When I returned, friend, a diamond, with her other best friend, a woman.
30 HI X M AGA ZINE
www.castlewoodvineyard.co.uk/devonminnowS O O YO U N G
CHUNG
Soo Young Chung is a Korean painter living and work-
ing in London. Chung documents daily life through
her ongoing ‘Biographical Object’ series of paintings,
depicting the clutter of everyday artefacts that define
modern existence. The items she paints offer personal
portraits of individuals expressed through the arrange-
ment of their belongings, while at the same time being
snapshots of contemporary life. She views mundane
objects as the intersection of personal mythology
and collective identity. The objects in her paintings
contain intimate details about personal taste, alluding
to an individual’s daily existence as well as their iden-
tity within the wider community to which they belong.
www.chungsooyoung.com
Instagram @mi__fish
Two Eggs, 2017 Biographical object No 49, 2018TA L K I T O U T
With mental health issues affecting millions of us and life only ever
seeming to get more hectic and stressful, it’s difficult to know where to look for
genuine succour and relief. Putting the tech away and making time for some good
old fashioned face-to-face conversation can go a long way to lifting the mental
burden, suggests Chris Barez-Brown.
This world is getting better and better, or is it worse years we have noticed that not only did it give people
and worse? It’s certainly faster and faster than ever better ideas and insights, it also helped them to feel
before. As a result, our mental wellbeing is under threat better. We heard time and time again that it seemed
and unless we learn to adapt a brain that evolution has as if a weight had been lifted and people felt happier,
not designed for today’s stresses, we could all be in lighter and more energised as a result. It obviously
serious trouble. showed great potential in helping people develop posi-
One in four people around the globe experience tive mental wellbeing.
some form of mental health issue every year. The cost The origins of the idea go back a while. Over a period
to our planet hits the trillion dollar mark annually and of time it seemed that there were so many people in
with around 450 million people currently suffering with my life who were struggling with mental health issues
mental health-related conditions it’s one of the lead- that I couldn’t help but think about ways to somehow
ing burdens on our healthcare systems. Yet, according shift the balance. When a hero of mine, the chef and
to the World Health Organisation, nearly two thirds of author Anthony Bourdain, sadly took his own life I got so
people never seek help, as the stigma that still exists pissed-off I decided it was time to do something prac-
around mental health is very much alive and kicking. tical and impactful. There were times I was worried that
There are many reasons for this epidemic taking the world didn’t need more ‘helpful solutions’ and that
grip, but one that’s particularly evident to me is the perhaps mine wasn’t worthy as I’m not a mental health
demise of face-to-face conversation and a lack of professional, but I’ve learned what works through the
awareness or openness about the things that are experience of training many people around the world.
most important to us. Our individualistic and technol- The inspiration I got from Anthony’s passing quickly
ogy driven landscape, exciting as it seems, means we got me over the self-doubt bullshit (something that he
simply don’t talk to ‘real’ people as often as we once would have called very quickly) and we launched Talk
did. This paucity is ultimately having a detrimental it Out as a community interest company, dedicated
effect. If we don’t talk, we are essentially alone, and to giving people a simple, human and fast-working
loneliness has been proven time and again to make approach to developing positive mental wellbeing
us unhappy. According to the British Red Cross, at any - something that was free for anyone to use. It was
given time over 9 million people in the UK – over a sixth important to me that we launched as a community
of the population – say they are always or often lonely. interest company as I wanted it to be a pure invest-
A recent study showed that people of working age ment in humanity and helping people to make their
who live alone increase their risk of depression by up world spin that little bit better, not anything to do with
to 80%. We have lost our shine. any corporate agendas.
Through my business consultancy, Upping Your Since its launch we’ve worked with Bristol University
Elvis, we’ve trained thousands of people in our simple to research the impact of Talk it Out and we were
creative exercise, Talk it Out, and over the last few delighted to find that 85% of people felt better after one
photo © Matt Austin 35HELLO@KLINICAL.CO.UK
0203 790 7020
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B R A N D S T R AT E G Y
CONCEPT
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WEB DESIGN
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TONE OF VOICE
of the sessions. Their feelings of positivity increased by situation, the one we keep coming back to time and BRAND NAMING
18% and negative feelings fell by 15%. So, while I don’t time again and that keeps us stuck in today. Just by LOGO DESIGN
claim it to be the finite answer to the complex mental sharing in a stream of consciousness we can change BRAND GUIDELINES
health problems of our times, I do know that it can help our whole relationship with what has literally been APP DESIGN
a lot with mental wellbeing. “on our minds”. PRINT DESIGN
Our brain is a muscle like any other in the body, All you need to run a Talk it Out session is a buddy
one that needs to be taken care of regularly. We know to talk with, a place to meet where you can walk and
how to look after our bodies by eating well and exer- talk, and our simple ‘How to Talk It Out’ guide, which you
cising, yet very few of us invest in looking after our can get for free at www.talk-it-out.org I’m constantly
minds. Talk it Out gives us the space to do just that. It enthused by the positive impact Talk it Out creates for
is the fastest way to process complex situations and people. Give it a try and see how you feel.
gain clarity, energy and inspiration and release our
bottled-up emotions.
When we walk and talk, we access more of our
subconscious and therefore many of our unseen chal-
lenges, frustrations and untapped passions come out
into the light of day from the shadows of our uncon-
scious processing. For every opportunity that we have,
we have a story. The story is our take on a particular
BRANDING & DIGITAL DESIGN
36 HI X M AGA ZINE SHOREDITCH, LONDON klinical.co.ukThe HIX Award was founded by chef, restaurateur annually. The prize money gives the artists an oppor-
and art collector Mark Hix in 2013 in order to give tunity to cover their studio and material costs and get
young artists an opportunity to show their work in a that all-important post-college head start.
contemporary art gallery and take the first steps in It is an extremely hard award to judge as the stand-
the arduous journey that is the career of a professional ard is always so high. Artists working across many
artist. The award offers students and postgraduates different mediums are represented so there is no
a truly unique opportunity to exhibit their work as particular ‘type' of HIX Award winner. This makes
well as offering crucial support after completion of the judging process both appealing and surprising. You
their art degrees. literally never know what you will be presented with.
I have been on the judging panel of the HIX Award The selection is so good that I have acquired several
for the past seven years. It has been a great pleasure works from finalists for my own personal collection.
and an honour to work alongside such an esteemed 2020 is an exciting year for the HIX Award, with
group of judges consisting of fellow artists, curators, solo exhibitions from two of the past two winners,
writers and designers. Mark Hix and curator Sophie Elizabeth Eade (2018) and Richard Baker (2019) show-
Harriott bring together graduates from all over the UK. ing at HIX ART. These have been two of my personal
The competition is fierce year on year, with over 800 favourites from the history of the award. Both artists’
applicants at the last count. work was incredibly strong but in completely differ-
All too often, life after art college can be tough. Many ent ways. We should expect great things from their
BA graduates don’t manage to sustain their practice first solo shows.
- what with home rent, studio rent and materials, the Elizabeth Eade won in 2018 with her work Die
financial realities of staying afloat make life for young Liste, 2018 (‘The List’), a truly breathtaking installa-
artists extremely challenging. That is why competitions tion exploring the human cost of the refugee crisis.
like the HIX Award are so important. Even the oppor- Her ten-metre-long work of art swept across the ceil-
tunity to show your work in a large-scale Shoreditch ing of the gallery directly above our heads on judging
gallery as impressive and well run as HIX ART is some- day. Its sheer size is one of its strengths, the capacious
thing rarely achievable for most recent graduates. The scroll is covered in handwritten biographies of 33,305
HIX Award, recently supported by Hauser and Wirth, is refugees who died trying to claim asylum in Europe.
now one of the most desirable prizes in the art world, It really is a very powerful work that very poignantly
comprising a ten-thousand pound remuneration along- and directly makes the viewer sit up and take notice.
side the incredible opportunity to have a solo exhibition It is overwhelming in some respects. As Elizabeth Eade
at HIX ART the following year. There is also a hand- says: ”When a problem is so vast it is easier to ignore
Artwork © Richard Baker, Hall Stand, 2018 some winner’s trophy, designed by Damien Hirst, no it than try to tackle it. That was the reason I made this.
less, and the names of the winners are engraved on it It has a seductive minimalism.”
Artwork © Elizabeth Eade, From
A TA L E O F
Alpha to Omega, 2019
T WO W IN N ER S
Now in its seventh year and fast gaining in prominence and profile, the HIX Award is an established
and sought after art competition for recent graduates. The standard of the final selection is so high,
that each year’s round-up of shortlisted artists presents a robust survey of grass roots contemporary
art. The ultimate goal is, of course, to claim the healthy cash prize - not to mention a solo show at HIX
ART, a potentially vital springboard to a successful art career. Here, Nicky Carter, much respected
HIX Award judge, reflects on the competition and two of the most recent winners.
38 HI X M AGA ZINEArtwork © Elizabeth Eade, I know you are but what am I, 2020
Die Liste, for me, is an extremely powerful piece; it figures, which were immersed in sea water, an inter-
is not only aesthetically beautiful but it has an ethereal action that resulted in the formation of green crystals
quality, bringing home the message of the transience on the surfaces. Two of the girls were pregnant, which
of life and the tragedy that takes place all too often. is revealed in the sculptures. On another, Eade has
Since winning the award, Eade has gone on to engraved “I’m super happy”, the upbeat slogan that
complete her MA in fine art at the University of featured on one of the girl’s T-shirts. ‘NRV’ is a term
Brighton, as well as work towards her inaugural solo used by insurance companies for lost and damaged
exhibition, I know you are but what am I, which is on goods and, chillingly, the artist shows the method of
until 15 March 2020 at HIX ART. Eade is primarily an calculating this loss – the net realisable value – to
installation artist whose work demonstrates a subver- accompany the installation. The final sentence reads:
sive, socio-political critique of the world as she sees ‘This is what the inventory was worth to you’.
it. As the title implies, there is a combination of puer- The fallible ways in which Eade engagemes with
ile humour and deep introspection in her work. In this people, society and her environment, is at the core
exhibition she explores attitudes towards a range of of this body of work. There are moments of serious
social and political issues, some serious, some frivo- and historically referenced focus, which sit alongside
lous. This oscillatory approach is embodied in two of lighter elements of absurdity and formal anti-narrative
the featured installations. – a very human balance.
People who’ve pissed me off is a kinetic installation, The 2019 HIX Award winner was Richard Baker
which sporadically produces the names of people who for his work Hall Stand. The small oil on panel paint-
have basically, as the title makes plain, rubbed Eade ing was exquisite. It appealed to me as it was like a
up the wrong way. Included amongst the thousands of jewel in the gallery, while it was a small-scale work, it
people featured in this work are the Kardashians, Piers was imbued with great beauty and quiet strength that
Morgan, almost all of her friends and Pol Pot. Each made it stand out.
name is given equal weight and eventually disappears Size is an issue, Richard explains. "I do sometimes
from view. Playful and acerbic, it invites the viewer to work slightly larger. There are a number of reasons
share or rebut Eade’s subjective prejudices, while also [for working on a small scale], some philosophical and
creating a kind of self portrait – or, as she puts it, a some pragmatic. My studio is small but also, I want the
visual display of “a mind at boiling point”. viewer to be physically engaged.”
An altogether more serious note is struck by Net Baker’s work draws the viewer into a domestic
Realisable Value (NRV). The artist was compelled setting where they are forced to make up the narra-
to produce this piece in response to the deaths of tive, to decide what has taken place or what might be
26 teenage girls who, it is believed, were being traf- due to happen. Although 'an empty set' the human
ficked from Nigeria into the European sex industry. All presence is very powerful. The work invites the viewer
were found drowned off the coast of Italy in 2017. It is to approach and take a closer look - a seemingly
comprised of an identical number of clay and copper abstract painting in fact investigates human presence
Artwork © Elizabeth Eade, We the people, 2019 41You can also read
