Beneath the Surface: Material and Meaning

To celebrate 25 years of supporting British craft and design, Design-Nation, the leading membership portfolio for contemporary craft and design in the UK, presents a new exhibition, Beneath the Surface: Material and Meaning

Beneath the Surface brings together selected works by 26 leading UK artists and makers selected from Design-Nation’s portfolio of members. Their diverse practices span ceramics, textiles, glass, wood, metal, and more, offering a rich cross-section of contemporary craft.

Each artist explores personal and shared narratives of identity, memory, migration, transformation, and resilience. The artworks encourage us to slow down and look closer, revealing vulnerability beneath their surface and uncovering deeper stories through material, technique, and process.

Rooted in lived experience and shaped by sustainable practice, these objects offer quiet yet profound reflections on the unseen forces that shape our lives. This exhibition also celebrates the enduring mission of Design-Nation to create opportunities for some of the country's most talented and innovative designers and craftspeople.

In the late 1990s, the imaginative and indomitable champion of British design, Peta Levi MBE (1938-2008), founded New Designers in Business to offer manufacturing, marketing and publicity expertise to new designers. New Designers in Business developed into Design-Nation and over the last 25 years has grown into a nationally recognised network dedicated to excellence, diversity, and sustainability in craft and design.

Artists featured: Adele Howitt, Amy Cushing, Anne McKenzie, Belgin Bozsahin, Belinda Coyne, Beatrice Mayfield, Bonner Studio, Cosmin Ciofirdel, Debbie Barber, Deborah Timperley, Denise Coupland, Flora Bhattachary, Jemma Gowland, Hounddog Design, Julie Massie, Kim Colebrook, Kira Phoenix K'inan, Majeda Clarke, Mary Johnson, Mari Thomas, Elaine Lim-Newton, Angus Ross, Rosa Wiland Holmes, Steinunn Bjarna, Studio Katherine James, Valerie Bernardini