Uncommon Ground

UNCOMMON GROUND

DRAFT

Front and back cover: Denise Jaques, Cloth (detail). Photos: David Westwood Edward Johnson, Calixis (detail). Photo: Doug Foster

UNCOMMON GROUND

DRAFT

27 Feb - 1 Mar 2026 W15, West Wing Somerset House, London

Emma Rosa, Withering (detail). Photo: Mike Evans

UNCOMMON GROUND Presented by the Society of Designer Craftsmen for Collect Art Fair, this exhibition explores the multifaceted theme of "Uncommon Ground". It delves into the fertile territory where traditional craftsmanship meets innovative design, showcasing the ongoing evolution of the crafts and their increasing relevance in the contemporary art world.

Kayley Holderness, Embrace. Photo: Richard Kalina

UNCOMMON GROUND ARTISTS Sean Evelegh (furniture) Sam Gleeson (mixed media) Kayley Holderness (ceramics) Denise Jaques (glass) Edward Johnson (furniture) Simon Jewell (wood) Caitlin Murphy (metal) Alex O’Connor (metal) Martyn Pugh (metal) Emma Rosa (mixed media)

Sean Evelegh MSDC – Furniture Sean Evelegh is a fine furniture designer-maker based near Sevenoaks, Kent. He was named Young Woodworker of the Year 2024 by Heritage Crafts, won Britain’s Top Woodworker 2020 on Sky History, was selected for the King’s Foundation 35 Under 35, and received the Gane Trust Award in 2024.

‘Pompeii Mensam’ is a new work and has been made for Collect. The table features a base with six curved, scorched openings, which are hand-carved to highlight the flowing grain patterns. The table top has around 60,000 individually cut wooden tiles made from a variety of wood species, utilising the natural wood tones to create the different patterns, protected by a glass top. This piece was inspired by Sean’s fascination with Pompeii and love of intricate Roman mosaics. His Roman inspired patterns include acanthus leaves wrapped around as a border. The pieces are individually cut and glued down by hand.

‘Celtic Maze Vase’ was inspired by ancient Roman pottery and Sean’s family's Celtic heritage. The classic Roman vase shape is decorated with Celtic patterns and a modern twist.

Disguised subtly within the pattern is a functional maze.

Made from 1,500 pieces of walnut and sycamore; the pieces were cut out – ranging in widths, glued and then turned on a lathe. Each vase takes a month or so to make. @sean_evelegh Sean Evelegh SDC

Facing page: Celtic Maze Vase (detail) 2024, 1,500 piece segmented vase, walnut and sycamore, 35 x 25 x 25cm £15,000 (made to order) Photo: Josh Cameron Pompeii Mensam (detail) 2026. Burnt redwood base with mosaic top made from 50,000 pieces of different species of wood.

110 x 110 x 30cm £18,000 (made to order)

Sam Gleeson MSDC – Bladesmith Bladesmith Sam Gleeson’s practice focusses on tradition and sustainability. In producing his highly creative knives, high carbon steels are forge-welded using historical salvage, iron cartwheel rims, whiskey barrel straps and ship anchor chains. Each knife tells a story of transformation and translation, and a tangible connection to the material world.

Sam’s blades have been commissioned by chefs, private buyers and restaurants from around the world, including The National Gallery of Ireland, Ballymaloe Cookery School, Jameson Whiskey and the Irish Museum of Modern Art.

@thisiswhatwedoo Sam Gleeson SDC

A cut above the rest (paired set) 2024 Twisted suminagashi laminate of wrought iron, salvaged steel, silver birch burl, bog oak, silver, brass and antler £2,800 (pair) Facing page from top: Tenalach 2025 Suminagashi laminate of refined bog iron, salvaged steels, beach found marine plastics, skip-dived carbon fibre, old stock shim brass, Loveless bolts and custom mosaic pin £750 Even a stopped clock tells the right time twice a day. 2026 Damascus laminate of recycled tooling steel, skip salvaged carbon fibre, old stock shim brass, wind-felled spalted hornbeam and custom mosaic pin £800

Kayley Holderness FSDC – Ceramics London-based ceramic artist, Kayley Holderness, creates thrown and coiled forms with textured clays and engobe decoration. Having trained as a Ceramic Designer at Central Saint Martins, she is now in her twelfth year of running the successful and independent 'Islington Pottery Workshops' at Spirelight Studios in Islington.

Kayley’s sculptural clay forms are created using various techniques - throwing, coiling and sometimes a combination of more than one skill.

Made especially for Collect, her work ‘Embrace’ is a coiled piece, made up of three intersecting but separate pieces.

The three sections were intentional; Kayley wanted to create something in response to becoming a new parent, and becoming a family of three. Each of the forms grew intuitively. As they developed, Kayley made increasingly conscious decisions about balance and form, ensuring the reciprocating curves worked in harmony. Building slowly, coil by coil, lends itself to this thoughtful, reflective evolution.

This piece marks several firsts for Kayley - working from the seed of a narrative, the introduction of concave curves, the careful consideration of negative space between interlocking elements, and the inclusion of an enclosed form. In doing so, the work moves beyond the vessel and further into a sculptural realm, where independence and connection coexist. @kayley.holderness Kayley Holderness SDC

Embrace (2025) White stoneware clay with an engobe wash Part 1: 37(h) x 22.5(w) x 15.5(d) cm Part 2: 39.5(h) x 31(w) x 18(d)cm Part 3: 42(h) x 25(w) x 20(d)cm £4,350 Photo: Richard Kalina

Denise Jaques MSDC – Mosaic Denise Jaques is a contemporary mixed-media mosaic artist whose practice is grounded in material exploration and process-led experimentation.

Allowing the physical properties of each material to guide the evolution of her work, she embraces unpredictability while maintaining a strong commitment to craftsmanship. Pushing the boundaries of contemporary mosaic, Denise incorporates contrasting reflective surfaces and unconventional materials to challenge traditional expectations of the craft.

‘Cloth’ is inspired by the woven structures of cloth, the surface of this mixed media mosaic undulates rather than lies flat, echoing the tension, flexibility, and rhythm of textile traditions. Hard materials behave like fabric; glass bends visually, fragments interlace, and reflection becomes fluid.

The work integrates thousands of meticulously placed fragments of mirrored and reflective surfaces including the layered depth of gilded glass creating distorted, shifting reflections which change with light and movement.

In this work, Denise continues to explore the parallels between contemporary mosaic and traditional woven structures. It also aims to navigate a dialogue between traditional crafts and the future of contemporary mosaics.

Cloth. 2025 Glass, cement, fibre glass. dimensions 62(w) x 160(h) x 7(d)cm £4,500 Photos: David Westwood @denisejaques.artist.mosaics Denise Jaques SDC

Simon Jewell FSDC – Box Maker Simon Jewell is entirely self-taught in fine furniture and box making and has been running a bespoke furniture business for over 30 years.

He makes speculative work to his own design and commissioned work for other clients in the UK and internationally. Over the last 10 years turned to box making, more intimate scale. His background in physics informs his designs and his astronomy PhD inspires the work on show.

‘Systema Solaris’ is made up of a set of boxes representing the sun and planets of the solar system, the most ‘uncommon ground’ that we have begun to explore. While we have only set foot on our own moon, each of the planets has been extensively studied through visits by scientific missions, which have shown the beauty and uniqueness of each world and have only deepened our desire to visit.

To attempt to show the wide variation of the planets, each box is decorated with marquetry and other techniques, using the unique features of each planet, including colour, cloud patterns, ring systems, and astronomical peculiarities.

Systema Solaris (2026) Brown oak and walnut, with various figured/burr veneers with gold and other metal powder decoration.

65 x 65 x 15cm £9,750 Photos: Richard Kalina @simonjjewell Simon Jewell SDC

Materials: Mercury: Walnut and burr oak with metal/mineral powder decoration. Handle: Blue lace agate.

Venus: Walnut and burr elm with metal/mineral powder decoration. Handle: Amazonite.

Earth: Walnut and burr elm, with various dyed and bleached veneers. Handle: Copper turquoise.

Mars: Walnut and antique figured mahogany.

Handle: Jasper.

Jupiter: Walnut with ripple sycamore, makoré, lacewood, amboyna burr, figured walnut and bird's eye maple. Handle: Lapis lazuli.

Saturn: Walnut with figured oak, ripple sycamore, and figured walnut, with metal powder and mother of pearl decoration.

Handle: Black onyx.

Uranus: Walnut with dyed veneers. Handle: Rose quartz.

Neptune: Walnut with dyed veneers. Handle: Amethyst.

Sun: Burr ash with walnut, ripple sycamore and makoré, satinwood and 18ct gold and other metal powder decoration.

Handle: Figured maple with gold leaf and central Citrine gem.

Pluto: Brown oak and bird's eye maple.

Base: Brown oak and walnut with ripple sycamore inlay and mother of pearl details.

Edward Johnson FSDC – Furniture Edward Johnson is a bespoke furniture maker and designer, based in Chichester, West Sussex. His creative approach allows him to think outside of the box and push the boundaries of his materials to the limit. It demands that he stays true to traditional methods, where he has worked tirelessly to hone his craftsmanship, specialist skills and technical knowledge whilst striving to do so with an open mind and ambitious outlook.

Calixis is a sculptural exploration of timber, form, and colour. Phased hues of brown and fumed oak guide the eye along its elegant sweeping curves and layered contours. An evolution of Edward’s commissioned work and his Murano Collection, it stands as a work of art that seamlessly blends creativity and craftsmanship. The depth of texture, character, and colour in the grain invites touch as much as admiration. With ethereal strength and presence, this piece is a centrepiece for any inspirational home.

Calixis. 2025 Brown oak, fumed oak and oil 86(h) x 220(w) x 35(d)cm £26,960 Photos: Doug Foster

@edjohnsonstudio Edward Johnson SDC

Caitlin Murphy MSDC – Metalsmith Emerging Irish maker Caitlin Murphy comes from a family of silversmiths. She has a degree in silversmithing and jewellery from the Glasgow School Of Art. In 2025 Caitlin was a Gold Award Winner, Goldsmiths' Craft and Design Council Competition. In 2024 she was a Heritage Crafts Young Metalworker of the Year Finalist and in 2024 she won the SDC’s Award for Outstanding Innovation in Craft and Design. Her work resides in the collections of the Goldsmiths Company, the National Museum of Ireland and the Arts Council of Northern Ireland.

Blue XL is a series of 3 ‘Metal Paintings’ which are exploration of illusion and pattern, requiring mathematical accuracy and meticulous attention to detail. They are complex titanium weavings where each metal strip is marked, hand-cut, hand-finished, and anodised.

The process is long and methodical, initially beginning by generating multiple digital weave patterns. Before weaving, each strip is marked, hand-cut, hand-finished, and anodised. Only then does the magic unfold, as the weaving begins and the piece takes on its final form.

@caitlinmurphymaker Caitlin Murphy SDC

Blue XL 1.0. 2025 Woven titanium. 51 x 3 x 51cm £4,900 Blue XL 2.0. 2025 Woven titanium. 51 x 3 x 51cm . £4,900 Blue XL 3.0. 2025 Woven titanium. 51 x 3 x 51cm £4,900 Photos: Richard Kalina

Alex O’Connor MSDC – Silversmith Alex came to silversmithing and jewellery from a background in sculpture, and this foundation continues to inform her practice. Her work merges an inherent understanding of form, composition, and balance with the specific disciplines of contemporary craft, resulting in pieces that are both sculptural and functional. The creative process begins with walking and being present in the landscape. Immersed in its rhythms, patterns, and light, she translates these sensory experiences into silverware and 'wearable sculptures'.

‘Garniture (Twelvemonth)’ is a series of five vessels that began in February 2025 during a month-long residency at The Hugo Burge Foundation, Marchmont. The work was initially conceived as an exploration of the genius loci, the spirit of the place, and a response to its quiet rhythms and layered histories. As the pieces evolved, however, they became shaped just as profoundly by the shadow of a close friend’s relentless illness. The vessel form for Alex is a metaphor; for bodies, landscape and the spaces we inhabit and leave behind These pieces became both an immersive escape and a reminder of time passing.

Garniture (Twelvemonth). 2026 Silver £14,000 Photo: Paul Mounsey @movingmetal Alex O’Connor SDC

Martyn Pugh FSDC – Goldsmith and Silversmith Martyn’s work is rooted in the purity of natural form, the geometry of engineering and architecture. The ultimate goal is to achieve the perfect equilibrium between function and form. He has won numerous awards, exhibited widely and his work can be found in many international private and public collections including York County and Guinness PLC, and his work resides in the collections of 10 Downing Street and the Worshipful Company of Goldsmiths.

Known for his trademark simplicity of line, graceful curves, and strong, confident forms, his work is underpinned by a sense of control, an attention to detail and mastery over his material.

Each piece explores different expressions of the same philosophy - common use imbued with uncommon luxurious drama. Using an uncommon combination of contemporary and traditional techniques with an unique fingerprint-resistant, tactile matt-silk finish allows these pieces to be uncommonly easily handled.

Presenting three beautiful pieces from his ‘Arc’ series – Martyn looks at commonly used vessels infused with an uncommon sense of luxury and drama. Contemporary and traditional techniques are combined with a unique fingerprint-resistant, tactile, matt-silk silver. @martynjpugh Martyn Pugh SDC

Arc 1. 2022 Silver, fused body, matt-silk textured finish.

37(h) x 9(d)cm. Cap 1 litre. £8,600 Arc 2. 2023 (facing page and above) Silver, fused body, hot-forged handle, matt-silk textured finish 40(h) x 17(d)cm, cap 1 litre £12,000 Arc 3, 2024 Silver, fused body, hot-forged handle, matt-silk textured finish 32(h) x 19(d)cm, cap 1 litre £13,400 Photos: Martyn Pugh

Emma Rosa MSDC – Textiles Multi-disciplinary, textile artist Emma Rosa brings a unique voice to contemporary craft. She uses repurposed dead-stock silk and cotton threads, sometimes other materials like clay, to get the effect that she wants.

By pushing the boundaries of traditional techniques, her work demonstrates innovative use of materials, high execution of craftsmanship and originality. Her focus is not only to create precisely executed work, she also aims to contribute to a broader narrative around conservation, habitat and the ever-evolving language of nature in art.

‘Creep’ - is a sculptural study of the convolvulus plant capturing the moment before florescence, exposing the root system that lies beneath, that which is left unseen.

‘Withering’ - is asking the viewer to appreciate one of the most considered beautiful flowers, but not in full bloom, instead when past its glory.

‘Anthesis’ - provides a peek into the florescent stages of a beloved tree, the Oak. Most famous for it's fruit, the initial leafing and flowering of this tree are subtle, with flowers the same colour as leaves, and the leaves emerging with autumnal colours before turning green.

@emma.rosa.artist Emma Rosa SDC

Creep (2025) Silk, thread, clay and ink.

51(w) x 30(d) x 65(h)cm £2,900 Withering (2025) Silk, thread, clay and ink 41(w) x 36(d) x 80(h)cm £3,500 Anthesis, 2025 Silk, thread, clay and ink 39(w) x 39(d) x 80(h)cm £5,200 Photos: Mike Evans

Simon Jewell, Systema Solaris (detail). Photo Richard Kalina

ABOUT US The Society of Designer Craftsmen is one of the largest multidisciplinary craft Societies in the UK and has been championing the work of designers and makers who innovate in craft through their exploration of materials and skills for over a century.

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Formed as the Arts and Crafts Exhibition Society in 1887 with Walter Crane as the Society's first President, the purpose was to give a voice to, and to organise exhibitions for the growing body of designer makers who felt under-represented in the art world. The first of these exhibitions was held at The New Gallery, Regent Street in October 1888.

The Arts and Crafts Movement took its name from our Society and was one of the most influential, profound and far-reaching design movements of modern times. Today, as a registered charity, we continue to give voice to and organise exhibitions for designer makers, advocate for craft practice and support our talented community of over 350 craftspeople.

Our national membership is made up of designer makers across various disciplines including ceramics, wood, metal, glass and textiles.

We are run by makers for makers.

Alex O’Connor, Garniture (Twelvemonth) (detail). Photo: Paul Mounsey

Project Team Nikkan Woodhouse Interim Chair Hazel Connors FSDC Trustee, Curator Margaret Jones FSDC Trustee, Curator Catrin Wright Trustee, Curator Pat Tempest Administrator, Curator Contact chair@societyofdesignercraftsmen.org.uk societyofdesignercraftsmen.org.uk @societyofdesignercraftsmen_sdc

Society of Designer Craftsmen 311 Chase Road London N14 6JS United Kingdom Registered charity no. 328202

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