COMPOUND CRUX
Photo by Calum Macleod
N. J. Harrington is a metalworker and designer who uses traditional techniques, precious metals and recycled materials. From his workshop in Glasgow he produces jewellery, lamps, bowls and other metal objects, to sell as affordably as possible to customers and clients of all classes. Heartbroken by the fires at Mackintosh’s Glasgow School of Art and the subsequent inaction, he dreams of living in a city that still has the skill and vision to produce (and look after) world-class works of design and craftsmanship.
Much of his work is a meditation on geometry and the process of transformation, lifting ideas from Constructivism, Zen, Alchemy and elsewhere. Through architecture he attempts to create spaces that are both spiritually uplifting and cheap, playing with themes of proportion, colour and the balance of opposites. Likewise his love for creating jewellery comes from an enjoyment of both designing and making: it is a process of rearranging materials, which have been in the earth for millions of years and will be here long after us. He frequently uses offcuts and discarded materials as starting-points and works regularly with recycled silver, a metal that continually delights and fascinates him.
He gained undergraduate and postgraduate degrees in architecture at the Glasgow School of Art, where he was awarded a travelling scholarship to research the work of Eileen Gray and Charlotte Perriand. He gained a Higher National Diploma in jewellery design at the City of Glasgow College and has since spent time working in Kyoto, Oaxaca and Vienna.
In 2010 he became artist assistant to Alasdair Gray and worked closely with him until his death in 2019, producing many paintings and book illustrations as well as public murals. Since 2013 he has regularly worked with Turner Prize-winning artist Richard Wright and has travelled internationally with him to produce many site-specific installations, often using gold and silver leaf.
@compoundcrux
njh.harrington@gmail.com
Much of his work is a meditation on geometry and the process of transformation, lifting ideas from Constructivism, Zen, Alchemy and elsewhere. Through architecture he attempts to create spaces that are both spiritually uplifting and cheap, playing with themes of proportion, colour and the balance of opposites. Likewise his love for creating jewellery comes from an enjoyment of both designing and making: it is a process of rearranging materials, which have been in the earth for millions of years and will be here long after us. He frequently uses offcuts and discarded materials as starting-points and works regularly with recycled silver, a metal that continually delights and fascinates him.
He gained undergraduate and postgraduate degrees in architecture at the Glasgow School of Art, where he was awarded a travelling scholarship to research the work of Eileen Gray and Charlotte Perriand. He gained a Higher National Diploma in jewellery design at the City of Glasgow College and has since spent time working in Kyoto, Oaxaca and Vienna.
In 2010 he became artist assistant to Alasdair Gray and worked closely with him until his death in 2019, producing many paintings and book illustrations as well as public murals. Since 2013 he has regularly worked with Turner Prize-winning artist Richard Wright and has travelled internationally with him to produce many site-specific installations, often using gold and silver leaf.
@compoundcrux
njh.harrington@gmail.com