Inga Fraser

In 2023 Inga was appointed Senior Curator, House and Collection at Kettle’s Yard, leading on the care and conservation of the house, collection and archive, and related displays, exhibitions and events.

Prior to joining, Inga held curatorial roles at Tate, English Heritage and the National Portrait Gallery and has taught at the Courtauld Institute of Art, the Royal College of Art and Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design. She is a specialist in modern British art, focusing on artists’ intermedial practices and experimental exhibition spaces. Her PhD was an AHRC-funded collaborative doctoral partnership with Tate and the Royal College of Art and she also has a History of Art MA from Birkbeck College and History BA from Goldsmiths College, University of London.

Inga’s favourite thing about Kettle’s Yard:

“My favourite object at Kettle’s Yard is Henri Gaudier-Brzeska’s ‘Mermaid’, a carving in marble from 1912-13. It usually sits on top of the bookshelf in the space that connects the cottages with the 1970 extension, but I first encountered it in the context of a temporary display in Helen’s bedroom. There it was placed on the small, wooden half-moon table, which – in light from the adjacent window – created a dark, glossy pool contrasting with the grey-white glow of the marble. The carved lines that subtly differentiate the head, the hands and the fins from the block are so tangibly tactile; and the distribution of weight in the sculpture creates an ambiguity whereby the twisting figure seems to sink into the stone as much as emerge from it. On that visit I was carrying my then 11-month-old daughter in a sling around the house, so perhaps I was more acutely aware than usual of the balancing of weights in relation.”