Roger Bennett

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Biography

Roger Bennett’s bowls and vessels are wonderfully distinctive: unexpectedly light, delicately coloured, sparkling with points of silver or gold. He usually chooses the paleness of sycamore, a perfect canvas for colouring with water-based wood dyes.  Bennett inlays with precious metals, painstakingly inserting silver or gold wire into hundreds – sometimes even thousands – of individually-drilled holes; the patterns created range from ‘controlled random’ concentrations to flowing, spiralling lines. His signature shape is like an inverted cone, with the rim flaring out gracefully from a narrow base. Some of his bowls are in a more traditional concave shape which fits snugly in the hand: these are filled with dots of silver which glow and fascinate like constellations of stars in a night sky. The Pieces are finished with Danish oil, which builds up a lustrous, protective sheen.
Roger Bennett began woodturning in 1992, after working for several years as a teacher of English and French. He is a graduate of Trinity College, Dublin. Bennett’s work has been shown in several international fairs including SOFA Chicago and Origin at the London Craft Fair.

Selected Solo Exhibitions
2011 Solo Exhibition, Open Eye Gallery, Edinburgh, UK

Selected Group Exhibitions
2023 Colour in Craft, O’Connell Gallery, Clonakilty, Co Cork
2022 Willow and Wood, Market House Crafthouse, Cappoquin, Co Waterford
2022 Next of Europe, in Homo Faber 2022: Living Treasures of Europe and Japan, Fondazione Giorgio Cini, Venice
2022 Made in Ireland, National Design & Craft Gallery, Kilkenny
2022 Irish Craft Heroes, Dublin Castle
2022 Portfolio Critical Selection, Conjuring Form, Doneraile Court, Co. Cork
2021 Made in Ireland, National Design & Craft Gallery, Kilkenny
2021 Irish Craft Heroes, Dublin Castle
2021 Portfolio Critical Selection, Conjuring Form, Doneraile Court, Co. Cork
2021 Elements, American Association of Woodturners POP Exhibition & Auction, AAW Gallery of Wood Art, St Paul, Minnesota
2020 After the Fall, South Tipperary Arts Centre, Clonmel; Blue Egg Gallery, Wexford
2020 Nature/Nuture, American Association of Woodturners POP Exhibition and Auction
2019 Portfolio Critical Selection, Surface Matters, Dublin Castle; CCAM, Barcelona; National Craft Gallery, Kilkenny
2019 Wood, Scottish Gallery, Edinburgh
2018 Wood Work, Blue Egg Gallery, Wexford
2018 The Maker’s Hand, RDS, Dublin
2017 Portfolio Critical Selection, Narratives in Making, National Craft Gallery, Kilkenny
2016 Established Maker Award, RDS Craft Awards Exhibition, Dublin
2016 Up Front, Craft Centre Gallery, Leeds
2015 The Irish Connection, Scottish Gallery, Edinburgh
2015 Made London, London
2015 Portfolio Critical Selection, National Craft Gallery, Kilkenny; Centre Cultural Irlandais, Paris.
2014 Is it wood?, Ruthin Craft Centre, Wales, UK
2014 Bravura, Blue Egg Gallery, Wexford
2014 
Irish Craft Portfolio at RHA, Dublin
2013 Irish Craft Portfolio at RHA, Dublin
2012 My Place, Bluecoat Display Centre, Liverpool, UK
2012 CraftBoston, Boston, US (International Invited Artist)
2011 CraftBoston, Boston, US (International Invited Artist)
2011 Conversations with Wood, Minneapolis Institute of Arts, MN, USA
2011 Small Treasures, del Mano Gallery, Los Angeles, USA
2010 CraftBoston, Boston, US (International Invited Artist)
2010-2007 Small Treasures, del Mano Gallery, Los Angeles, USA
2009-2006 Turning Wood into Art, Sarah Myerscough Gallery, London
2008 CraftBoston, Boston, USA (International Invited Artist)
2006 Cabinet de Curiosités, Galerie Embargo, Paris