Ann Carrington is part magpie, part alchemist; working in the folk tradition, she creates pieces that take extraordinary amounts of time to complete. Some of the most collectable pieces she has created are part of her Pearly Queens series with coloured buttons sewn onto a crimson, or black background to emulate the 1st Class Royal Mail stamp. Carrington holds an official license from Royal Mail to produce stamp artworks featuring the Queen.
Carrington was commissioned to make ‘The Royal Jubilee Banner’ for the Queen in celebration of her Diamond Jubilee. The banner hung from the stern of the Royal Barge ‘The Spirit of Chartwell’ as it made its journey up the River Thames on the Diamond Jubilee procession in the summer of 2012.
Jacob Rothschild purchased the first Pearly Queen which now forms part of the Rothschild collection and was recently shown alongside Lucien Freud's famous portrait of the Queen at his exhibition 'Power and Portraiture'. The Queen also commissioned one (in red and gold) to accompany the banner made for her Diamond Jubilee. Collectors of Carrington’s work include Elton John, Paul Smith and Lulu Guinness.
The United Nations invited Carrington to help raise awareness of current issues through her artwork in 2010, her first piece for The UN was presented at their Human Trafficking conference in Luxor, Egypt. August 2016 saw a large retrospective exhibition of Carrington’s work open at the Royal College of Art, London. The centrepiece of the exhibition, Devil’s Trumpet, a floral sculpture crafted from cutlery, was acquired by the V&A for their collection and is on permanent display in the Silver Gallery.
