Jacky Oliver Showed Field to Fork at Somerset House in 2020. Years Later, It Led to Her Largest Commission

Jacky Oliver is a metal sculptor in London who makes steel wire sculpture for homes, commissions, exhibitions and residencies, working from her studio at Cockpit Bloomsbury. Put in the textile area on her Foundation course and then advised to study jewelry, she went on to the Royal College of Art, where her tutors helped her realize that all her varied inspiration was linked by one thing: her love of lines.

Jacky begins with research – archives, maps and objects – and with drawing. She then translates shapes into wire, bending and manipulating it, sometimes several times, before exploring how different forms might come together, and joins the elements by soldering. She rarely knows exactly where a piece is going at the start. She couldn’t be without her parallel pliers, or a large mandrel on long-term loan from a friend.

Jacky takes commissions, from bespoke pieces to larger installations and site-specific projects, and she is particularly interested in working with interior designers and architects. Most begin when people contact her through her website. She invites the client to her workshop to discuss ideas, visits the site for site-specific work, and develops the idea through making; the client then visits again or is sent photos of the progress. Commissions start from £2,000, and she ships wherever a collector would like.

Jacky finds most of her customers at the Open Studios at Cockpit, held twice a year, where visitors meet her in her workshop and buy directly from her. Roughly half of her work comes from Open Studios and half from larger commissions. Galleries have mattered too: she sold lots of work through Gallery 57 in Arundel and a couple of pieces at the Royal Academy Summer Exhibition.

At the Royal College of Art, on the goldsmithing, silversmithing, metalwork and jewelry course, Jacky’s tutors pointed out something she hadn’t seen in her own work. “My tutors there helped me realise that all my varied inspiration was linked by one thing, my love of lines.” With their support and encouragement, she started creating linear structures.

Getting there took a few turns. She had always loved making: her grandmother worked in a paper factory, so there was always a good supply of paper to make and draw with. At art college she didn’t really fit neatly into any of the specialist areas. On her Foundation course she was put in the textile area, but she focused on details and loved spending time refining pieces rather than moving on quickly, so she was advised to study jewelry. “However I hated the techniques I had been shown in metal”, so she chose a course that allowed her to work really experimentally, in a wide variety of materials.

The lines were simply her natural language, and she didn’t really think about it until she got a bursary for a workshop at Cockpit from the Worshipful Company of Tin Plate Workers alias Wire Workers. Today she lives in North London, right next to where she grew up and close to her parents and brother, and cycles down to Cockpit.

“Having a studio where I could put out all my work made a huge difference to my practice and made me realise that wire was a key part of my vocabulary.”

Most of Jacky’s work begins with an idea or a project, which often develops through several different iterations. Research is an important starting point: she might spend time looking through archives, studying maps and objects, drawing and experimenting with different materials. These drawings then become the starting point for making. She often translates shapes into wire, bending and manipulating it, sometimes repeating the process several times before exploring how different forms might come together.

“I rarely know exactly where a piece is going when I begin. That’s what I enjoy about making – it’s a process of discovery, exploring how lines and shapes interact, and how a lightweight metal structure can be changed and transformed.” Metal is fundamental to her work, and she particularly loves working with wire. “I’m fascinated by line, space and the possibilities of creating something that feels almost weightless.”

Soldering is another process she absolutely loves. “There’s something incredibly satisfying about watching tiny details of solder melt and flow as I work with the torch, bringing separate elements together.” As for tools, she couldn’t be without her parallel pliers. She also has a large mandrel, which has been on long-term loan from a friend. “I’m not sure she’d be pleased to hear quite how indispensable it’s become, but I’m not sure how I’d manage without it.”

Her installation Blinkers, made for the exhibition Horse Power at the Somerset Rural Life Museum in Glastonbury, shows where the research leads. It is made from steel, leather and brass – the same materials used to make the blinkers that inspired it. The linear steel forms echo the shape of the blinkers, and the brass oval shapes are taken from a decorative detail on a pair of blinkers in the collection of the South West Heritage archives. The brass is etched with details from archive material about the farm where the museum now stands, and about horses used in agriculture: the tasks they performed, the crafts that developed because of them and the tools they used.

These pieces, although inspired by very different starting points, all explore composition and line through a playful experimentation with forms. Photos: Jacky Oliver, except those by Jim Wileman (Horse Power, the University of Exeter pieces and Jacky in the barn) and Stefan Stefanou (Jacky at her bench).

Jacky’s work has found its way into homes and collections locally and nationally, as well as much further afield: she has pieces in New York and New Zealand, “which is always lovely to think about.” Much of her work is lightweight, so it is relatively easy to package and ship internationally, and she ships wherever a collector would like. Alongside private collectors, her work is held in museum collections.

In people’s homes, pieces tend to find their way into living rooms, bedrooms and sometimes more unexpected places, including kitchens. One of her earliest collectors bought around eight pieces, all for a small one-bedroom flat. “I loved that!” The scale and open, lightweight nature of the work mean that people can live with several pieces without them overwhelming a space. “I love the thought of my work becoming part of someone’s everyday surroundings rather than simply something to be looked at.”

She is particularly interested in working with interior designers, architects and other creative practitioners, whether on a bespoke piece, a larger installation or a site-specific project. “Having spent many years applying for commissions, it’s especially rewarding that people are now approaching me with ideas and opportunities to work together.”

Jacky has been exhibiting since 1994. Since graduating from the Royal College of Art, her work has found its way to people through a combination of commissions, residencies, exhibitions and galleries.

One of the earliest galleries to regularly show her work was Gallery 57 in Arundel. She had seen and really admired the work they exhibited, so she approached Ann, who runs the gallery, and asked if she would consider showing hers. “It was an important early opportunity and a reminder that sometimes you just have to take the initiative and ask.” She also had two pieces exhibited and sold at the Royal Academy Summer Exhibition.

Awards came too. Fleur Grenier, a fellow student at the Royal College of Art, introduced her to working with pewter, and in 2019 Jacky won both Best in Show and First Prize at Pewter Live. She has also received an Arts Council Developing Your Creative Practice grant.

Open Studios bring in most of Jacky’s sales. Joining Cockpit opened up another way of reaching people: twice a year, visitors can explore the studios of over 60 makers at Cockpit Bloomsbury – and, the following week, the Deptford Open Studios – meet her in her workshop and buy directly from her. Roughly half of her work now comes from Open Studios and half from larger commissions. For anyone who can’t make it, she is always happy to arrange a studio visit.

Galleries have been the other route. She sold lots of work through Gallery 57, and more recently her work has been available through Contemporary Applied Arts in London. Over time, these different routes have helped her build relationships with collectors, clients and people who have followed her work and come back to buy more.

Community has mattered as much as any channel. “I’m very lucky to be part of the Cockpit community”, and her connection with the Queen Elizabeth Scholarship Trust (QEST) has been fundamental to her practice. The scholarship, mostly in 2025, gave her the opportunity to study with five renowned metalsmiths in the UK and Canada, and being part of the QEST community – meeting other scholars, sharing experiences and exhibiting together – has been incredibly important.

“With many of my most successful projects, there has been a point when I’ve genuinely wondered whether the work is going to come together.” Often it’s when she pushes an idea beyond what she knows will work, and that uncertainty can lead somewhere much more interesting than she imagined.

Flow began as one of those pieces. While developing Horse Power, she made several different linear steel pieces before arriving at Blinkers – one of them, inspired by a harrow, was included in the Royal Academy Summer Exhibition. Flow was an idea for a piece inspired by the harness a horse wears when pulling anything, and it didn’t work. Then Gallery 57 asked her to create something for its exhibition Rhythm and Flow. She made a series of these pieces; they have been very popular, “and I enjoy playing with the compositions and infinite possibilities.”

When something isn’t working, she tends to keep making, but another version of what she is struggling with: she looks at an idea from different angles, photographs it, draws it, takes it apart and starts again. When she tries to remake a piece, she often begins to see qualities in the original that she hadn’t appreciated at the time. “I’ve realised that not every piece needs an immediate solution. Sometimes you just need to step away, give yourself a little distance and come back to it with fresh eyes.”

There have been plenty of moments when she has questioned whether to carry on with a particular piece. “But making is so fundamental to every inch of my being, that it’s not really an option. Being in the workshop, exploring ideas is one of my favourite places to be, and where I feel most comfortable.”

Exhibiting at Collect Open at Somerset House in 2020 was a particularly significant moment. Her project, Field to Fork, was “my first truly self-directed brief since leaving the Royal College of Art” – the freedom to follow her own ideas, experiment and take the work in a direction she hadn’t explored before. “To then see that work exhibited at Collect, which is such a brilliant exhibition, it felt like a real milestone.”

Several years later, that project led to her largest commission to date: a large sculptural seating installation for a new housing development in Cambridge. It started in 2025 and is called Feather Lane, after the name of the new road. “It was a reminder that following an idea you’re passionate about can open doors you might never have anticipated.”

Joining Cockpit was another turning point. Being part of a community of makers gave her the space to think more strategically about her practice, develop her ambitions and connect with a much wider audience. “It has changed not only how I work, but also how I think about the possibilities for my work in the future.”

Feather Lane will be completed next year: the housing development is still being built, and the piece can’t be installed until it’s finished. The next Open Studios at Cockpit run from November 27 to 29, and the one after that from June 10 to 13, 2027; between them, she is always happy to arrange a studio visit.

Exploring the possibilities of metal, Jacky Oliver creates sculptural work that plays with line, space, light and shadow. From intimate pieces for the home to ambitious public commissions, her work grows through curiosity, experimentation and a fascination with what happens when materials and ideas come together.

Have a question for Jacky about her work or a commission, or a few words about her story and work? Leave them in the comments at the end of this story.

Who: Jacky Oliver
What: Steel wire sculpture for homes, commissions, exhibitions and residencies
Where: Cockpit Bloomsbury, London, UK
Started: Exhibiting since 1994
Audience: 3,066 Instagram followers
Customers: Private collectors and clients in the UK, New York and New Zealand; museum collections
Price range: £100–£3,000; commissions from £2,000
Custom orders: Yes, from £2,000
Ships: Yes, wherever a collector would like
Works with designers: Yes – particularly interested
Channels: Word of Mouth & Offline