New Work on Show for Wander_Land, Tremenheere Sculpture Gardens

Flags of the Forest, reclaimed and found materials, 2023.. Photo Russell Sach

After months of prep and an intense week installing my work is now on show in Wander_Land, a large scale artist-led group exhibition of new sculpture at Tremenheere Sculpture Gardens and Gallery, Penzance, Cornwall. The exhibition is about landscape and wandering, and includes 28 artists from Royal Society of Sculptors - open daily 1 July - 5 Aug, 11-4. Closing Event 5 Aug 11-4. The show spans several spaces inside and out. Works range in style and materiality, some pushing sculpture to its edges. It’s been a joy working together alongside great colleagues, and behind the scenes with steering group Seamus Moran, Mark Richards, Ann-Margreth Bohl, and curator/writer Martin Holman. See more here. Our Opening Evening was followed by a busy first weekend with Artist Talks. You can listen to artists talk about their work in a series of podcasts led by Doug Burton. Mine is here.

I created 2 pieces: Flags of the Forest (outdoors) and Above and Below (indoors).

Flags of the Forest. Photo Russell Sach

Flags of the Forest. Photo Barbara Beyer

Art writer Martin Holman, who assisted us with the curation, wrote in his introduction to the show:

‘Fiona Campbell’s ‘Above and Below’ distils that essentialness of the all-round effect of nature and transports it into the gallery as if challenging the enclosure that comes with architecture.’

‘The thicket of stem-like upright forms and trailing translucent pennants on the grass bank… suggests another way marker or a minor encampment of a travelling band. At the same time as these colourful ideas emerge, others focused on sculptural properties like line, volume, space and surface occur. The piece assembles a wide array of natural matter and woven fabrics acquired in all manner of exchange and appropriation, or bring obliquely to mind the pattern of commerce, profit and exploitation in the manufacture of fashion items for western consumption.’ (Flags of the Forest).

Grid images below: Flags of the Forest installation process. Photo credits: 4,5,6,7,8,9,24,29 Barbara Beyer

Flags of the Forest. Photos (above x 2) by Russell Sach

Photo Barbara Beyer

Visitors’ silent walk to see Flags of the Forest before Artist Talks. Photo David Bird

Above: visitor with Flag

Left: photo by Jane Jobling

Flags of the Forest took almost a year to make, in between other work. Inspired by walks in woodlands, it was developed from an indoor piece to a large outdoor installation. The flags celebrate bio-diversity, hopeful of nature being more cared for, and thriving. The work includes tall heavy scrap metal and found wood components with fragile hand-stitched patchworks of semi-translucent textiles elements - some I’ve botanically dyed, eco-printed or embedded with found objects collected on walks. It’s a first for me - and a steep learning curve - to include a water feature as part of an installation. Labour-intensive processes included digging a ditch/pond/water feature and carrying many buckets of water uphill…  Have enjoyed seeing the work activated by wind, rain and sunshine.  It tinkles, reflects in the inky water, and casts strong shadows. Have loved chatting to visitors and their dogs. I couldn’t dream of a better view for this work - across the sea to St Michael’s Mount, a tidal island, place of pilgrimage and the inspiration for the show.

Above and Below is a response to the entanglements of matter, rhizomic systems and debris that make up the strata we walk on. Interconnected lines of life, in a process of becoming, growing, ‘frothing and tangling and fusing.. layering and layering and layering…..’ (Merlin Sheldrake, Entangled Life). ‘Fungal networks lace woodland soil… slow stories… making and remaking…. Vascular systems of forest wisdom.’’ (Robert Macfarlane, Underland).

Above and Below, reclaimed and found materials including metal, wood, insects, twine, tree bark, pods, fishing net, roots, grasses, bones, pondweed, nest, aluminium, sisal,, botanically dyed fabric, wax, 2023

Above and Below, Wander_Land. Photo Russell Sach

Images above: Above and Below install, Opening Evening, Artist Talk and exhibition overview. Photo credits: 1,3 Mark Richards; 4 Rob Marshall; 5,10,11 Barbara Beyer; 8 Jane Jobling; 9,20 Seamus Moran; 14,19 Russell Sach; 16 Doug Burton; 17 Jo Hague.

Thanks to:

Jason Nosworthy and Mike Belcher for helping me install; Seamus and Jo Moran for their hospitality all week during and post install; Jane Jobling and other exhibiting artists; Neil Armstrong & team at Tremenheere Sculpture Gardens; Martin Holman for his help curating; Arts Council England for my DYCP award which enabled me to develop this work to an ambitious scale; Mark Devereux Projects for mentoring support this year.

If you haven’t yet, do visit!  And see @wanderland2023 for more..

My year of ACE DYCP has now come to an end, but I will be continuing in the same vein towards a more sustainable practice, taking risks, exploring and developing further.

I was delighted to see my work settled in its new home. Above and Below I (mixed media collage) looks fabulous framed up so beautifully, and in a perfect spot. I’ll now be focusing on new work for Somerset Open Studios (16 Sept - 1 Oct). In the meantime, if you’d like to purchase any of my works please visit my shop.

Above and Below 1, mixed media collage

Solo Exhibition extended, and Eco Sculpture Workshop

solo exhibition, photo by Russell Sach

Over 60 people joined me last Saturday at the Opening Event of my solo exhibition, the culmination of a 3-week residency in the large empty shop space (Create@#8, Shepton Mallet, Somerset ).  I've been developing work related to our natural world, and its continuous entanglements, (part of my Arts Council England DYCP award, which also supported my recent research trip to Kenya).   I’ve loved my residency - it was a luxury being able to spill out, expand and respond to the space, with its wonderful pale pink plaster walls and exposed ceiling structures. I managed to ‘complete’ a new sculpture and other pieces.  I’ve now transformed the space into a gallery, comprising sculptural installations, drawings, collages, sketchbooks and the in-between - a range of suspended, wall-mounted and free-standing works.  An evocative soundscape enhances the experience, created in response to my work by Ushara Dilrukshan. Massive thanks to Amanda Hirst and Gill Sakakini (SMart CIC) for their support during my residency. Thanks to all who attended my Opening, to Polly Hall and Jack Robson for helping at the bar, and Doug Siddons for kindly loaning his sound system. And I’m immensely grateful to photographer Russell Sach for his superb photos of the event.

I’d love you to come to my exhibition, now extended for another week, open Monday-Saturday, 11am-4pm, until 25 March.

Solo Exhibition, photos by Russell Sach

Visitor comments include:

'I really enjoyed discovering your work yesterday, being able to turn the pages of your sketchbooks, see your process and walk around your wonderfully poetic installations.’

‘Stunning new exhibition by Fiona Campbell.. launched today, which really takes advantage of this new gallery space. Both the building and Fiona’s work are deconstructed and reconstructed into thought provoking and inspirational new forms, immersed in a mesmerising soundscape by Ushara Dilrukshan.’

‘Fabulous exhibition. You’ve made a gallery of evocative, found, salvaged things. Love the hanging down and reaching up’.

‘..Fiona Campbell's work.. was surprisingly moving… it seemed to pull me in, coupled with the background soundscape, the piece that particularly drew me was ‘The Fall’.  Based on the myth of Icarus, the burnt feathers dangling from the branches somehow spoke of sadness but also the hope of transformation; there was so much life & hope in walking around these pieces.’

‘..thought provoking and beautiful in an unexpected way’

‘Very engaging… love the hangings’

‘Beautiful work using nature and recycled elements to portray something deeper. Really enjoyed the music in the background too, fitting the tone for the pieces.’

Last chance to book a space on my Eco Sculpture Workshop!

Alongside my exhibition I’ll be running an Eco Sculpture Workshop on Saturday, 18 March, 2-4pm.

https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/eco-sculpture-workshop-tickets-524375831227

It was fun to chat to Matt Faulkner on BBC Radio Somerset, 15 March

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/p0f4mrkv.   Listen from 3:44-4:02

‘Human exploitation of nature and the climate crisis dominate Fiona Campbell's work ‘

Delighted with this article about my work by Fiona Keating on Creative Boom’s website:

https://www.creativeboom.com/inspiration/fiona-campbell/

Thanks to Theresa Simon for the introduction, which led to an interview.

Delighted to have my work selected for Stone Lane Gardens 2023 Sculpture Exhibition/Ashburner Prize.  The exhibition runs throughout the summer from June.  The last time I exhibited in these beautiful gardens was over a decade ago. 

Other Current and Forthcoming Exhibitions:

Darkness to Hope, Atkinson Gallery, Millfield, Street, Somerset BA16 0YD, 27 Feb-30 March, Mon-Thurs 9.30am-5pm

Measureless, East Quay 1-23 April. Launch 1 April 6-8pm. Readings eve: 22 April 7-9pm. Linked to the Quantock Poetry Trail led by Ralph Hoyte.

Wander_Land, Tremenheere Sculpture Gardens & Gallery, Cornwall.  New work by Royal Society of Sculptors SW group about landscape and walking, 1 July-5 Aug

Above and Below, exhibition invite, workshops

Really enjoying my residency in the empty shop in Shepton Mallet - Create@#8. It’s been liberating to spread out in a huge space, view my work as a collection, and get absorbed in making. I’m using the residency to develop work as part of my Arts Council England ‘Developing Your Creative Practice Award’. Ongoing work will be shown in a solo exhibition 11-19 March. Come to the Opening Event on Sat 11 March, 2-4pm! There’ll be a soundscape in response to works by Ushara Dilrukshan. Open Mon-Sat 11am-4pm.

I’m making a sculpture Above and Below - a response to the entanglements of matter, rhizomic systems and debris that make up the strata we walk on.  All are continuously transforming in a process of becoming, ‘..frothing and tangling and fusing.. layering and layering and layering… millions of fungal skeins suspended.. a gossamer web at least as intricate as the cables.. that hang beneath our cities..,’ (Merlin Sheldrake).

Linear uprights extrude through layered substrates - a mass of interwoven lines. It’s made from reclaimed/discarded materials and objects sourced from different places, each with a story, including steel, copper, plant fibres/roots/debris, twine, wire, wool, rope, feathers, rusted paper.. Life above and below; ‘as above, so below..’ I’ve since learnt Freud took this line ‘Flectere si nequeo superos, Acheronta movebo’ to describe the currents of psychological underland that rush beneath our sunlit uplands of conscious mind, here and there surging up…

The work will be exhibited at Tremenheere Sculpture Gardens this summer together with my outdoor Flag pieces. I’ll be showing alongside 30 Royal Society of Sculptors - see here for more about our Wander_Land exhibition.

I’ve been spending many hours hammering and ‘stitching’ bottle tops together with fine copper wire. They’re being added in blocks are to a handwoven backing I previously made for another project (Chelsea Flower Show) - now being reused and transformed for my Flags of the Forest. Layers of translucent netting and fabric will be added. The original design references endangered species across the globe. There will eventually be several eco flags that stand together. The flags will be made from a range of found and reclaimed materials stitched together, representing bio-diversity, making do, hopeful of nature being more cared for, and thriving. The work was inspired by walks in woodlands and a phrase ‘the word for world is forest’ (Ursula Le Guin). Woods and forests provide vital ecosystems.

My giant snowdrop sculptures (made from discarded materials including plastic, wire and tent fabric) were installed in Shepton Mallet for the Snowdrop Festival until 20 February. It was lovely to see people engaging with them as we put them up outside the Baptist Church. One of Shepton Mallet’s annual highlights, the festival events had a massive attendance through the week.

Next week I’ll be running a free one-day art and creative writing workshop with Polly Hall. Join us to create a suspended artwork for Shepton Mallet library window featuring Market Cross. We’ll delve into the history of this iconic landmark, create written responses and drawing on textiles with botanical dyes. Supported by Shepton Mallet Town Council, part of their Winter Series. Friday 3 March, 10am-4pm. Shepton Mallet Library, 2 Market Place BA4 5AZ. Book: eventbrite

I’ll also be running an Eco Sculpture Workshop on Saturday, 18 March, 2-4pm. Create@#8, Shepton Mallet BA4 5BG. Book: eventbrite

Great to be showing Entangled VI in Darkness to Hope exhibition, Atkinson Gallery, 27 Feb - 30 March.

It’s your last chance to take advantage of my February Love Art shop discount! I’m offering 15% off all orders over £10 until the end of this month when my prices go up!  Quote this code at checkout: LOVEARTFEBSALE

Hope to see you at the Opening Event!

End of a Busy Time

A whirlwind of overlapping projects came to a crescendo last month. In addition to featuring in WAC, Wells Cathedral, I had 2 venues during Somerset Open Studios - one an art residency and solo in the spacious Loft above Heritage Courtyard Gallery and Studios.  The second was our Inch by IN:CH finale. I ran workshops as part of these events, and invigilated daily.  All went surprisingly well, though felt shattered after takedown last week!

Loft Residency & Solo Exhibition

My residency was a great opportunity to test ideas and curate a body of work in an interesting space.  Some pieces were reconstructions; others new and exploratory. Threads connected the drawings to sculptural installations, loosely hinged on entanglements.  I welcomed conversations with visitors and appreciated the feedback.  There was a sense that the sculptures were alive. 

Visitors’ comments:

‘Awesome, imaginative installations, gives me some inspirations to move me forwards’

‘Very stimulating. Captures so much’ 

‘What impresses me most is the subtlety of sewing together the most varied colours and shapes into a cohesive and harmonious whole’

‘Inspiring, energetic insect-like pieces’

‘Fabulous, intricate, complex - great to see work in progress. Very evocative!’

‘..made me think of Merlin Sheldrake’s book on Fungi. Exhibition captured me immediately’

‘Otherworldly and thought provoking’

‘Fascinating range of exploratory work’

’So-o-o inspiring working with the natural materials..’

I’ve loved my time there and really grateful to Heritage Courtyard Studios for their support. I’ve made a short film of the residency - thanks to Rebecca Barnard for footage, and Dan Hopkins, Jack Robson and Nigel Evans for some of the photos:

Inch by IN:CH Collaboration

Inch by IN:CH, now over, was a formidable undertaking at a difficult time.  We had many conversations with visitors, in relation to the work and wider issues. Taking our work to places where people didn’t expect to see art, responding to changing environments and pressures, our project accomplished what we intended - transporting art and ideas into local communities. 

We had a fantastic finale at the Gauge Museum, West Somerset Railway, ending 3 October.  It was filled with activities, visitors, participants and creative energy!  We ran several workshops, linked to The Big Draw.  Mixed ages created together using a range of media and techniques, 2d to 3d.  We were delighted with the large turnout of participants and their responses.

Jenna Myles (Somerset Cool/BBC radio) visited and interviewed us, trialing a Sculpture and Shadow Drawing Workshop I ran with Shirley Sharp.  I featured on BBC Breakfast radio with Charlie Taylor on the last day (1:53 - 1:58).  We were thrilled with an excellent review of our project by Fiona Robinson, for Evolver magazine. 

It’s been wonderful travelling around parts of the south west to such an interesting range of venues over the past 5 months! We’ve learnt so much as a collaborative artist group, and thrilled that it’s been a success!  Hard work.  But an incredible journey.  We’re so grateful to all our visitors and supporters.  

Hope of a Tree, The Gauge Museum. Photo by Jenna Myles

WAC

It was sad taking down my Snakes and Ladders (I) installation from Wells Cathedral, a highlight of this year.  Feedback has been very positive. Many thanks to Nick Weaver, WAC and Wells Cathedral team for helping with de-installation. It was an honour to be part of this fabulous show!

Snakes and Ladders (I). Photo by Dan Hopkins

A big thank you to everyone who came to see my exhibitions and supported along the way!
Things are easing a bit for me, and I’m beginning to feel restored :-)

Other News

My work Pyre will be on show in Taiwan soon, as part of the International Biennal for fibre art: Change, 12 Nov ‘21 - 10 April ‘22

My giant Octopus installation, created with students at Eastover Primary School, Bridgwater, via SPAEDA is being appreciated by the school. See pics from a site visit/photoshoot, and below.

Me with pupil and giant Octopus installation, Eastover Primary School. Photo by Alice Crane, SPAEDA.

Time to focus on my ongoing installation for a group exhibition with Royal Society of Sculptors ‘Together We Rise’, Chichester Cathedral 2022, being curated by Jacquiline Creswell.

A very exciting London exhibition is coming up (details to be announced soon)!

I’ll be working on my website e-commerce shop in time for Christmas, and currently making a batch of small copper bowls for Durslade Farm Shop, Hauser & Wirth Somerset. Always grateful for sales ;-)

I’m part of a Reading Circle ‘All We Can Save’. Rather than just hope, we’re discussing ways to act in courage. ‘All you touch changes’. ‘Indigenous ways of knowing.. [deemed] primitive.. are now being ..sought to save our environment..’ ‘Diversity fosters social coherence’; we need to ‘evolve into a state of interbeing with the rest of life..’

Countdown to COP26 in November requires ‘injections of imagination about how harmful systems and embedded inequalities can change for the better’…

The Fall

The Fall (detail) - work in progress

The changing seasons here in UK are a poignant reminder of life’s cycle.  Falling leaves reveal skeletal structures of trees, signifying loss, decay, repression.  In this beauty there is sadness, but also hope and promise.

In Cranmore woods, where rusty autumn leaves thickly cover the ground, I found a couple of fallen trees.  Ripped from the ground, their exposed roots are a mass of interconnecting lines.  My drawings led to new sculptural work, in progress. 

Playing with lines, The Fall is a drawing in space using locally sourced, to-hand-materials: steel rod, copper wire, found wood, wool, sisal, leaves… I’ve been collecting feathers - picking them up wherever I go.  Waxing and burning them produces interesting results.  I’m thinking about Icarus, roots, life’s interconnectedness and lines that ‘give us life.’ (Life of Lines, Tim Ingold).  I’m reading a book The Overstory (Richard Powers) about trees, connections and human/nature conflict.  My thoughts often return to Donna’s Haraway’s phrase staying with the trouble - sticking with the entanglements of life.

Shepton On Show 

Last month I was involved in Shepton On Show - a community event organised by The Art Bank, involving window performances around Shepton Mallet.  I had fun creating a large scale backlit performative drawing in the window of One Craft Gallery in 2 hours, linked to The Big Draw.  Made with egg ink on paper (170 x 180cms), people watched it emerge, alongside other performances. 

The slideshow documents the event from prep drawing to live version.  It was inspired by my @life_intheundergrowth project. 

Exhibition News 

3 film stills from from my film Life in the Undergrowth are showing in the Being Human New Worlds Exhibition.  The work was displayed outside Queen Mary University of London last week and is currently online.  The exhibition shares people's experiences of Covid-19, and the Festival reflects on the radical global changes of 2020, from the Covid-19 pandemic to the Black Lives Matter protests and US election.

Our Somerset Reacquainted exhibition at Somerset Rural Life Museum, Glastonbury has been extended until 16 January. Once lockdown has lifted, do try to visit if you can, it’s a very moving experience.

Shop

I have developed a little sideline making small copper bowls, each annealed and hammered, plus other copper goodies, ideal for Christmas gifts and copper wedding anniversaries. The bowls are on sale at Hauser & Wirth Somerset’s new Durslade Farm Shop, Somerset, where you can buy locally made quality artisan eco products and foodstuffs.  Very pleased that they are selling well :-)

I’ve added a Shop to my website, which includes these, together with affordable drawings, small sculptures, prints and cards.  Enjoy a browse and if there’s anything you’d like to see added, please get in touch.

A few projects and exhibitions are in the planning stages for 2021. As part of an artist group IN:CH (Incubation Chamber), we are excited with developments for our travelling exhibition next year.  Inch by IN:CH is an artist-led project bringing contemporary art out of the protected space of studios and galleries and into communal areas of our everyday lives.  Small-scale works in cases will be transported from place to place, migrating outwards in a spiral. Artists will engage with local communities through workshops, talks and performances.  We’re seeking match-funding prior to our ACE application.  If you’re able to support in any way do please get in touch.

Next Online Sculpture Course

After the success of this year’s Online Sculpture Course, I’m running one from 11 Jan - 14 Feb ’21. It’s a 5 week course to create a nature-inspired sculpture using found & recycled materials. Aimed at adults, art students, teachers and those who want to get creative, it’s suitable for mixed abilities.  This showreel gives you a flavour of my work and Introduces the course.  Places are limited so book now if interested! To enrol (and receive your free tools list) e: fionacampbell-art@sky.com . It might make a nice Christmas present ;-)

I am thrilled to be featured in The Arts Society winter magazine about my sculpture workshops with art teachers! It was great to be involved in the initiative!

I was invited to run a wire sculpture bugs workshop at Preston School, Yeovil last week.   I really enjoyed being back in school working with young people face to face after so many months.  Students made a lovely range of small creatures.

Stay safe!