At the heart of the studio hangs the Kallin family artists’ picture of a three-storey house, each room displaying a self-portrait of each artist at work. It is the piece they have created especially for their new exhibition as a family, at Burgh House in Hampstead.
Kallin Family Artists[Missing Credit]
Portrayed at the top of the house is Sophie sat at her sewing machine in her studio, where we stand today, an exquisitely detailed textile fashioned from scraps of fabric; on the first level Hamish is captured at his desk through scratchy pen lines and woodcut-inspired graphics; on the ground floor, Phoebe cuts a moody and mysterious figure at her easel in a monochromatic chalk-drawn illustration; to the left, Jenny is surrounded by paint palettes, and a vintage dolls house from her own vast collection that has long been an inspiration, in a picture of coloured pencil. She also uses pen and collage to create darkly nostalgic drawings and sculptures.
“Mum's got a house full of dolls houses,” says Sophie.
“I like the miniature world,” says Jenny. “Each one has an atmosphere. I've always loved them.”
The tables of her dolls houses are set up for Shabbos, she says, with miniature candlesticks and challah. “I have a German dolls house kitchen from 1900 which belonged to a Jewish family in Germany before the war and was then given to a local pastor for safe-keeping.” She acquired it through family connections.
And there are other Jewish influences on Jenny’s artwork: the black and white drawings of the artist Hannah Frank from Glasgow and whose pen and ink drawings adorn her house; the writings and drawings of Bruno Schultz whose “dark drawings tell a story and lead you into a bygone world”; drawings by Joseph Herman which are “full of vigour and a deep understanding of humanity”; and “the amazing paintings by Charlotte Salomon which tell the horror of growing up in Nazi Berlin. Her sad life story is told in paintings which convey a sense of home life and drama beyond any words.”
Working under the title “Sew the Scene”, Sophie creates her pieces from upcycled fabric including bits of old clothing or scraps sourced from a curtain shop. She can even remember whose clothing she used to make each artwork.
“I think that was a pair of my son's trousers,” she says, pointing to a landscape. “That was a pair of my socks. I really like that they've got a history.”
For a picture such as Dunstable Castle in Northumberland, or Kenwood House, with its pink blooms taking front of stage, she would take photographs to work from back at home.
She has said how she captures “the juxtapositions of the hard concrete and steel of London architecture with the soft, textural layers of fabric… and I love to reuse, giving unwanted textiles a new purpose in my art.”
Of her own mysterious figures and ghostly landscapes, Phoebe says they are “always emotionally driven”. She also draws often to music. “It takes me into a different headspace. I have an obsession with the singer Tom Waits. So there are quite a lot of Tom Waits-like people in my drawings.”
While the family artists’ individual styles differ considerably, they sit comfortably side by side.
“At the last exhibition, a few people said they couldn't quite put their finger on it, but there was something that threaded them together, so that they could tell it was a family,” Phoebe says.
When creating such personal pieces it can be hard to part with one, they agree, although as Sophie points out, “it’s amazing to think that someone likes it enough to want to put it on their wall. It's a real honour.”
They recall the times when at previous exhibitions someone has said they are about to fly back to a different country – with their artwork.
“Any artwork we've got up at home, we look at every single day, so they're going to be part of someone's life, potentially forever.”
The Kallin Family Exhibition 2026 is at the Peggy Jay Gallery, Burgh House, until 29 March
