The Art Traveller has published a review of The John Ruskin Prize 2026, including a detailed reflection on Jacqueline Duncan’s work ‘Relationship’ (2025), from her sculptures series. The text, written by filmmaker, writer and art historian Gillian McIver, offers a perceptive analysis of the sculpture’s structural and conceptual dimensions, situating it within broader ideas of interdependence, fragility and systemic balance.
Below is an excerpt from McIver’s review:
“Calling this sculpture ‘Relationship’ is certainly provocative—let’s just sit with that for a moment. To begin with, it’s an absolute tangle, almost like a knot of intestines that appears impossible to unravel without causing some sort of catastrophic damage. As a metaphor for a relationship, I’ll take it. But look a little closer, and you see it’s deeply, profoundly about connection. Thousands—and I do mean thousands—of spent matches are individually placed within a stainless steel mesh, yet there’s no adhesive holding them together.
Instead, it forms an interdependent structure, supported solely by friction and tension. What a metaphor that is! Each element shapes and supports itself and the others—together, they make up the whole. In short, it’s a model of the universe, an ecosystem, existence itself. It takes time to really look at it. At first, it’s quite bombastic: large, spiky, fascinating, and just a bit odd—in a good way. But the more you contemplate it, especially the process of its making, the more you’re drawn in.”
McIver’s reading resonates closely with the structural concerns that inform Relationship, particularly the notion of systems sustained through tension, balance and mutual reliance. Constructed from thousands of spent wooden matches held within a stainless steel mesh without adhesive, the sculpture operates through friction and compression alone — an arrangement in which each element both supports and depends upon the others.
About The John Ruskin Prize
The John Ruskin Prize is an internationally open, multidisciplinary art prize celebrating artistic practice across all media, including sculpture, installation, painting, drawing, textiles, digital work and performance. Established by the Guild of St George, the prize reflects John Ruskin’s belief in the integrity of materials, careful observation and the capacity of art to reveal broader truths about society and existence.
Now in its eighth edition, The John Ruskin Prize 2026 brought together a wide range of contemporary artists at Trinity Buoy Wharf, London, presenting diverse approaches united by a commitment to thoughtful making and material awareness. Alongside the exhibition, a number of awards recognise excellence in craftsmanship, innovation and sustained artistic practice.
About Gillian McIver and The Art Traveller
Gillian McIver is a filmmaker, writer and art historian. She writes The Art Traveller, a platform dedicated to exploring art in relation to place, history and environment. Her work examines how context shapes perception and interpretation. McIver is also the author of Art History for Filmmakers (Bloomsbury Press, 2016), a study of how filmmakers draw on historical painting traditions to inform visual storytelling. Her practice includes documentary filmmaking, short films and artists’ video, often engaging with historical events and specific sites.
Relationship (2025) was presented as part of The John Ruskin Prize 2026 at Trinity Buoy Wharf, London.