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Meet the Maker: Leah Black

Where did you get the idea for your Monument project?

During my final year at the Glasgow School of Art I bought a tenement flat in Glasgow. As my boyfriend Greg and I bought and were gifted old furniture, and as we began to peel back the layers inside the flat – stripping wallpaper, lifting floors and sanding wood – we saw glimpses into the lives of past owners. I began to think about the importance we place on using objects to remember and in the destruction or loss of them in order to forget.

After reading about the surfeit of monuments in Edinburgh in Glasgow and realising that not many people know who these people were or why they were placed high on their plinths, I started making monument silhouettes. The ‘remembered’ that had been forgotten were remembered once again.

Do you have a favourite forgotten monument?

I don’t think she is forgotten as she is very beautiful, but Luxembourg City’s ‘Gellen Frau’, or Golden Lady is a particular favourite of mine.

Are there any artists you particular admire, and who inspire or influence your work?

I love the work of German jeweller Bettina Speckner, the Dutch jewellers Lucy Sarneel, Ruudt Peters and Marc Monzo. I recently lived in Vienna and will never forgot seeing the work of Egon Schiele and installation artist Peter Kogler and I will always come back to Antoni Tapies’ paintings.

Tell us about the collection you’re presenting in Meet Your Maker.

I will have some monument pieces on show in the Meet Your Maker exhibition; these are a mixture of Edinburgh and Glasgow inspired monuments made into bangles, rings and brooches, some with organic stone settings. The main body of work on display though will be based wholly on the general public! I am giving everyone the chance to step up onto a plinth, strike a monumental pose and be remembered forever in the form of a metal pin.

What are your plans for the future?

I am currently working as artist in residence at Brazen Studios in the Merchant City of Glasgow, where I teach jewellery night classes and have a workbench. Constantly developing my ideas and techniques, I have exhibitions lined up for the next few months ahead. I hope to continue exhibiting my work throughout Europe and to gain more experience in teaching.

Currently I am setting up a design collective in Glasgow called The Gin Palace and along with my partners we will showcase the work of emerging and established designer makers from Scotland.

What is your favourite piece of craft that you own?

It’s more 'art' than 'craft' but as the lines are happily becoming more blurred, I’d say a beautiful large painting of trees my boyfriend and I bought by the Glasgow artist Janice Curless.