Pectoral Cross Press Release
Glasgow School of Art student, Eva Lynch, will present a new Pectoral Cross to the Rt. Revd. Andrew McLellan, the Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland at a reception hosted by the School, on Thursday 22nd June at 4.30pm.The Pectoral Cross is an exciting and imaginative commission for the Church of Scotland, resulting in the first Pectoral Cross ever for a Moderator of the General Assembly. Glasgow School of Art was approached by the Church of Scotland to run a design competition for the Cross and the School is delighted to be involved in such a prestigious partnership. The competition was generously funded by Lord Macfarlane of Bearsden, a former Lord High Commissioner to the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland and an Honorary Fellow of Glasgow School of Art.
Eva Lynch won the student design competition and as a result was commissioned to make her design. Unanimously selected from over 20 competition entries, Eva's winning design draws on the Old Testament story of the burning bush and the parable of the loaves and the fishes. The silver and 18ct. gold cross is made up of four separate units which, when linked together, form a cruciform 7cm by 4.5cm to surround a gold leaf flame. The artist drew further inspiration from the architecture of the Glasgow Cathedral with the supporting buttresses of the building mirrored in the make-up of the Cross.
Roger Millar, Head of the Silversmithing and Jewellery Department, comments: "The scope of today's silversmiths and jewellers is ever widening as finely crafted objects continue to satisfy people's desire to explore, experiment, refine, decorate, and express their individuality. It is also more difficult to define contemporary silver and jewellery in traditional terms as makers develop MORE their own means of expression with ideas of identity, politics, image, symbolism, myth and so on, using a seemingly endless range of carefully worked materials. It is this variety of approach that marks the work of GSA students each year and is demonstrated in Eva's winning entry for the Moderator's Pectoral Cross".
Eva Lynch, from County Kilkenny in Ireland, is in her third year of the Silversmithing and Jewellery course and has already gained experience of other private commissions.
The Rt. Revd. Andrew McLellan became the Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland on 20 May 2000. His ministry has led him to preach in many areas across Scotland and to become involved in religious broadcasting.
The Judges of the competition were:
Revd. Finlay Macdonald, Principal Clerk and Secretary to the Moderator
Revd. Douglas Galbraith, Secretary, Church of Scotland Committee for Artistic Matters
Crissie White, Senior Research Fellow, Glasgow School of Art and member of the Church of Scotland Comittee for Artistic Matters
Michael Laing FGA, Laing's the Jewellers, Edinburgh.
Silversmithing and Jewellery final year students are showing their work, as part of the Glasgow School of Art Degree Show, on the ground floor of the Newbery Tower, 164 Renfrew Street.
Map
The Degree Show runs from 24 June - 30 June 2000.
For further information contact:
Lyn McPhail,
Glasgow School of Art
Tel: 0141 353 4698
Pat Holdgate,
Church of Scotland
Tel: 0131 240 2243
****Note for Picture Editors****
A photo call is arranged for 3.30pm in the Silversmiting and Jewellery exhibition in the Newbery Tower, 164 Renfrew Street, Glasgow. The Rt. Revd. Andrew McLellan, Eva Lynch and the competition judges will be present.
