Cara Murphy
Cara Murphy is a contemporary silversmith based in Northern Ireland. She applies traditional silversmithing techniques to create innovative and sculptural functional silver tableware.
Cara works mainly to commission and exhibits her silverware internationally. Her work has been showcased in numerous high profile applied art and silversmithing exhibitions. Her silver tableware is represented in many national and international public and private collections.
Recent commissions have included ‘Seed Heads’, a silver centerpiece for Queens University Belfast. ‘Seed Heads’ is showcased in Silver Sounds, a permanent exhibition in the Naughton Gallery at Queens.
‘Gathered Pebbles’ was recently purchased by the National Museum of Ireland and is on permanent display in Collins Barracks, Dublin.
In December 2008 Cara was awarded a Major Individual Artist Award from the Arts Council of Northern Ireland to assist with a commission she has gained from the Silver Trust for Downing Street. This commission will be completed in 2010. Cara’s work has been selected as one of five applied artists to represent the National Craft Gallery at Collect: The International Art Fair for Contemporary Objects at The Saatchi Gallery 14-17th May 2009. She has also been invited to showcase her work at British Silver Week and Goldsmiths Hall (see Profile for further details).
February 2009 sees Cara becoming a Freeman of the Worshipful Company of Goldsmiths in London.
Artist's Statement
The landscape of tableware: questioning contexts, boundaries and function in silverware.
Using traditional silversmithing techniques the work addresses the concept of a silver landscape in the context of the table that challenges the boundaries of functional silver tableware.
Inspired by the natural environment the work has a sculptural presence focusing on how the pieces interact with the table and metaphorically ‘grow‘ from it. The sculptural silver forms aim to challenge the users’ established knowledge of silverware by not always having an obvious function and question the user’s perception of functionality by requiring user interaction to discover the function of the piece. The work is enhanced by user participation, resulting in constantly evolving work - creating a movement, sometimes physical, sometimes visual, which can be determined by the user. The use of silver evokes a sense of ritual and ceremony.
Functionality has always been a fundamental aspect of the work and for several pieces the driving force behind it. Working with a variety of materials, predominately silver, the work investigates the organic grown form. Through the context of the dining table the work aims to create a focus for the table that interacts with other objects or stands sculpturally in isolation
