Junko Mori - Hope in Balance
In November 2020 the Goldsmiths’ Company invited leading silversmith Junko Mori to create a piece that would be emblematic of the Covid-19 experience. Dr. Dora Thornton tells the story of the commission, creation and loan of Hope in Balance, to the Wellcome Trust-funded touring exhibition Injecting Hope.
Hope in Balance, 2021, by Junko Mori. Sterling silver and bronze. Collection: The Goldsmiths’ Company.
Junko Mori’s Subtle Sculpture, with its message of hope, represents a completely new departure for the Goldsmiths’ Company. In November 2020 we invited this leading silversmith to create a piece that would be emblematic of the Covid-19 experience. The invitation came from a display of small works in mixed metal which her dealer, Adrian Sassoon, showed that autumn. Her work is well-represented in the Company Collection, with pieces inspired by natural forms and microscopy. These small, delicate, handheld sculptures were distinctive and different, prompting the thought that she was uniquely placed to make something small scale and precious that could evoke the pandemic through which we were all living. This was a novel idea at a time when few were thinking along these lines and when the menace of the virus was particularly threatening. The concept originated with the Company, making it an exceptionally creative and significant commission.
We were looking not for a direct representation, but for the deeper story, filtered through Mori’s spirited intellect and imagination. At the time, we did not know that she had recently recovered from a serious case of the virus herself, which gave her response further resonance. She worked quickly to design and make a positive piece, hence its name, Hope in Balance, which would “shift the viewer’s attention away from the fearful image of the viral enemy, towards our strong immune system”. During lockdown in her North Wales workshop, she started to explore the human immune system online – something completely new to her – which brought her into contact with the immunologist Dr Saba Alazbin. Their conversations on Zoom helped to shape her understanding and inspiration: “Saba and I agreed that focusing on one of the stages, when millions of antibodies are created to start locking with the spikes of coronavirus, was the best way to progress with my concept and design.”
That is exactly what we see in the finished sculpture. The piece is constructed in three interlocking elements: a central lost-wax cast in bronze to signify the spherical virus itself, as the core of a small precious sculpture with a two-part outer element in sterling silver. The openwork silver structure opens in half; spikes of the outer element lock into the inner as antibodies do to the virus in our bodies. Central to the concept is the void at the very centre, a hollowed-out sphere in bronze, patinated black, to represent the space the virus leaves once it has been defeated. Around this, Mori constructed a large assembly of Y-shaped antibodies, hand-built in wax that have been cast in silver. Again, the inspiration came directly from microscopic images, showing how human antibodies operate. “They are unique and organic,” she explains. “This is something I wanted to represent, capturing something of their subtle beauty and diversity.” A cloud of silver antibodies floats around the core, offering shifting perspectives and casting intricate shadows.
The result is deeply considered and thoughtful; completely new in concept while being absolutely her own in terms of aesthetic, approach and making. It is not just a marvellous work of sculpture, but has a very serious aim, as Mori explains: “The more we learn about our immune system, the more we know how to enhance this magical gift we have been given by nature. I hope this work inspires people to learn more about our inner cosmos.”
It was that sense of public purpose that led the Goldsmiths’ Company to offer it as a loan to the Science Museum. The Keeper of Medicine there, Natasha McEnroe, is dedicated to communicating science in innovative and visually striking ways. Over the last two years, the Science Museum Group has undertaken fascinating and important work in response to the Covid-19 pandemic that has shaken the world so fundamentally. Natasha immediately took up the offer of a loan to the Wellcome Trust-funded exhibition Injecting Hope, which tells the story of the global effort to develop vaccines, including for Covid-19, at pandemic speed. She is keen to end the exhibition on a hopeful note, which the Mori sculpture does perfectly. It will feature in the exhibition in London from November 2022, then tour to three further UK venues into 2025.
Written by Dr. Dora Thornton | Photography: Clarissa Bruce.