From the perspectives of an artist, a curator and a foundry specialist, this talk provides insight into how nature has been a source of inspiration for metalwork past and present. The speakers on this panel work with metals in very different ways. Their discussion will focus on metal through the lens of nature: Junko Mori is an artist whose work draws on nature in startlingly original ways; for Tobias Capwell, a curator of historic armour, its form is conditioned by nature; and for Rungwe Kingdon, bronze founder, its possibilities, like the natural world itself, are virtually limitless.
 
Speakers:
Tobias Capwell, Curator of Arms and Armour, The Wallace Collection
Rungwe Kingdon, Bronze Founder, Pangolin Editions
Junko Mori, Artist Maker in Metal

Moderator: 
Timothy Schroder, Lecturer and writer on silver and goldsmiths’ work, Trustee of the Wallace Collection and past Prime Warden of The Goldsmiths’ Company

Rungwe Kingdon
Rungwe Kingdon and Claude Koenig started Pangolin Editions in a garden shed in 1984. Working with some of the foremost artists of the late 20th and early 21st century, their foundry has grown into the large sculpture foundry in Britain. Alongside casting they have also created galleries, a charitable foundation and a sculpture park. They are active in commissioning books, films and exhibitions. Through collaborative partnership with sculptors they active explore, research and develop art casting to further artists’ individual needs. Growing up in the tropics, working with art, wildlife and conservation they have been lured back to Africa as initiators of the Ruwenzori Sculpture Foundation; a charity which helps artists create new work in Africa.

Junko Mori
Junko Mori is a Japanese-born, Wales-based artist maker who has specialised in metal for more than two decades and developed various skills in contemporary metalwork. She has become well-known for her intricate metal sculpture, which encompass hand-forged components in steel and silver. The repetition of multiple forged units form the basis to the aesthetic of Mori’s dynamic sculptures. Distilling observations of the natural world, she translates their essence to create works of unbelievable complexity and beauty, and has recently begun working with bronze.

Tobias Capwell
Tobias Capwell is Curator of Arms and Armour at the Wallace Collection in London, Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries, Freeman of the Armourers' Company of London and an internationally acknowledged expert on Medieval and Renaissance weapons. His books include Arms and Armour of the Renaissance Joust (2021); Armour of the English Knight 1450-1500 (2021); and Masterpieces of European Arms and Armour at the Wallace Collection (2011; Apollo Magazine Book of the Year 2012). As a historical consultant in film and television, Toby has appeared most recently on Tony Robinson's History of Britain (2021). 
 
Timothy Schroder
Timothy Schroder has worked in the museum sector as well as the art market. He has served two terms as Prime Warden of the Goldsmiths’ Company and he is currently a trustee of the Wallace Collection. His many publications include a three-volume catalogue of silver in the Ashmolean Museum (2009) and ‘A Marvel to Behold’, Gold and Silver at the Court of Henry VIII (2020).