Earthlings

Martyrdom of the Ten Thousand, Together We Rise, Chichester Cathedral. Photo by Ann Purkiss.

I’ve had a full-on month!  Some of the stand out events:

Together We Rise opened in Chichester Cathedral at the end of June.  A major exhibition of work by 25 artists from Royal Society of Sculptors (South West), artist-led, curated by Jacquiline Creswell.

My piece Martyrdom of the Ten Thousand was created over a period of 10 months and took 5 days to install - slow, meditative art that is addictive and healing.  Described by another sculptor as ritualistic. The installation process felt like a short residency.  As I worked in the cathedral space, up tall ladders or perched on scaffolding, visitors chatted to me about the work.  It felt important to discuss it. There are over 50 bodily forms relating to the plight of pangolins. These intriguing delightful creatures are the most trafficked mammals in the world. - see my previous blog for details and more images.  I’m frequently having to conquer my fear of heights and I was grateful to those who helped.

I’m in awe of the exhibition and venue. The placement of work is very sympathetic to the space and fabric of the building, thanks to the expertise of curator Jacquiline Creswell.  Extraordinary light and beautiful choir and organ sounds accompany the work, giving it gravitas.  I’m feeling hugely grateful to be part of it, for the support of the Society group, the Cathedral team and hard work of our excellent curator.  As Jacquiline says: ‘we all put our hearts and souls into this exhibition and you can see and feel it’.

The PV was fantastic, with opening talks by Richard Cork (FT Art critic), and The Dean.  I was moved by a highly emotional response to my work:  Friend Sarah James was brought to tears at the sight of it. The exhibition feedback so far: ‘multi-layered, surprising, professional, diverse, strong, symbiotic with cathedral, sits beautifully, remarkable, spiritual, special…’.

The cathedral also has work by Chagall, John Piper and Graham Sutherland among others.

The exhibition runs until 6 September.  Hope you can visit!

Above photos: 1, 2, 3 by Paul Gonella. 4, 5, 6 by Ann Purkiss

Projects often coincide or collide.  I’m co-curating/working on The Gleaning, a collaborative community arts project celebrating diversity, connectivity, and the environment.  Large-scale translucent textile artworks will be suspended in front of clear glass windows in Shepton Mallet’s beautiful church.  Working with Gill Sakakini, Polly Hall and others, we’re delivering a series of free workshops - 2 this week. See full list, funded by Shepton Town Council, Cranmore Parish Council and other donors.

20th July, 10am-12pm – Sweet 11 Cafe, High Street, Shepton Mallet: Cake & Collage

21st July, 3-5pm – St Peter & St Paul Church, Shepton Mallet: Stories with Art

I’ve been working on a large-scale panel themed Earthlings. Stories within a story celebrate fauna and flora, the value and importance of non-humans, and life’s interconnectedness.. For weeks I’ve been hand-stitching remnants together, printmaking and tie-dyeing with home-made plant inks.  On top of collaging and arranging shapes, it takes hours and hours to appliqué pieces together.  We had a lovely time at Collett Park Day with people of all ages getting involved and creating fabulous prints for the panels. A work experience student, Pippa, and local artist Juliet Duckworth worked with me on the Earthlings panel last week.  Many more people have been involved in donating fabric offcuts, fruit nets etc.  We are fund-raising, thanks to our steering group Rosalind Teesdale-Ives, Polly Hall and Lizzie Britain.  Do get involved in some way..

Work in progress for The Gleaning - Earthlings collaboration with Juliet Duckworth

Following on from wire creature workshops with St Benedicts C of E Junior School via LIFE beat, I made a Copper Tree for permanent siting in their Peace Garden, presented on the school’s Wellbeing Day.  Made of recycled copper piping, the tree is designed to support the little sculptures. The creatures represent the school’s ‘Elly’ animals - each having important characteristics to nurture.

Copper Tree with wire sculptures (made in workshops), St Benedicts C of E Junior School, via LIFEbeat

I’m really pleased that Entangled I has been selected for the Royal Society of Sculptors Summer Exhibition by curator Isabel de Vasconcellos. The show will be at 4 Cromwell Place, London SW7 2JE 19-24 July, 10-6 daily.

Entangled I, recycled steel, wire, filter papers, 25 x 26 x 27cms

I made the piece during lockdown 2020 as part of my Life in the Undergrowth project. I was fascinated by roots, shoots and worms in upturned turf in my garden. Work evolved using to-hand and found materials.

I’m clearing the decks a little so I can get stuck into more studio work, and will set up a separate blog for my ACE DYCP work..

Hope you can visit some of these events. And enjoy the sunshine!

Gathering

January is supposed to be a time for reflection, but with many projects gathering and colliding, it was full-on for me!  I think it was my busiest January ever. On the last day of the month I celebrated and took a much-needed breather with friends at Dawlish Warren beach - while collecting all sorts of goodies for ongoing work ;-)

Martyrdom of the Ten Thousand

I’m developing my series of multi-forms for an exhibition later this year: Together We Rise, Chichester Cathedral with RSS members, curated by Jacquiline Creswell.  The work’s inspired by the plight of pangolins, slaughtered/shipped in their thousands, wildlife wet markets and animal extinctions. The working title is Martyrdom of the Ten Thousand, after a series of Renaissance paintings (mainly by Durer) of the same title.

Stitch by stitch, a growing collection is slowly gathering in my studio (images above). I’m using recycled materials that are layered, hand-stitched, wrapped, tie-dyed with plant-based inks, and waxed over woven structures.  It’ll take me a few months, but I’m enjoying the labour-intensive process, which relates to care and repair. I still need to make about 25 more, so it’ll be head down for a few more months!

RSS Talk

I really enjoyed sharing my work in an online talk I gave last week to RSS members. I was so grateful and moved by the responses and feedback, and feeling energised from the conversations. Thanks to Simon Hitchens for inviting me to share my work. Image 1 (below) by Rebecca Newnham - diagram about interconnection while listening to my talk. Image 2: collage done in Sculptors Drawing Space - thinking through ideas for my installation.

Snowdrop Festival

I’ve been commissioned to make 3 giant snowdrop sculptures for the Snowdrop Festival, Shepton Mallet, 19-20 February.  A lot of time is spent gathering materials. I’m using recycled copper piping and wire for the structures and grateful for contributions from Cranmore/Dean residents of plastic and tent fabric, which will be added as a ‘skin’ for the petals, stems and leaves. Do visit the festival if you’re nearby and look out for the sculptures at the entrance to Collett Park, opposite Whitstone School, Shepton Mallet during the Festival.  

As part of the Festival, I’ll be running a wire sculpture workshop at The Art Bank BA4 5AA on Thursday 24th Feb, 10.30am-1.30pm. Further info here.

Pyre

Pyre is currently on show in Transfiguration, International Biennal 2021, National Taiwan Craft Research and Development Institute, Taiwan, until 12th April ‘22.

I have an image in the solargraphic exhibition Slow Time, at Black Swan Arts. It shows a collection of long-exposure photographs of Somerset landscapes created with recycled drinks cans. I loved learnng about the process in a workshop with Janette Kerr and John Gammans, and looking forward to making more sun trail images with my newly created pin hole can/cameras.

Online sculpture Course

We’re coming up to the final week of a 5-week online course I’ve been running. I’m delighted with the experimental nature of work-in-progress by participants and their feedback so far.  Participants are from various parts of UK and USA, including MA students, art enthusiasts and one who is doing it for a second time.  Content (focused on 3d work using recycled/found materials) includes a weekly blog with content-rich info/demos, Zoom sessions, 1-to-1s, What’s app and instagram sharing: #onlinesculpturecourse2022. Looking forward to our final zoom presentations next week!

Private Tutoring

I’ve started tutoring privately, and enjoying it.  If you’re interested in being tutored in art let me know!

Featured in a Blog

Thanks to Ruth Connolly for her excellent blog which features a section about about my work and practice related to nature and environment, and work I made supporting the brilliant initiative #artforyourworld (via #artistsupportpledge). The donation to World Wildlife Fund from a sale was a small gesture towards helping important environmental projects.

Shop

I have signed giclee prints, original drawings and sculptures for sale - do have a look.

Coming soon:

Workshops and resources are being developed with SAW for Greening the Arts - more info soon.

Books

I’m currently reading Merlin Sheldrake’s Entangeld Life and loving it! ‘ As.. vexed hierarchies.. soften, our ruinous attitudes towards the more-than-human world may start to change… ’We’ are ecosystems that span boundaries and transgress categories…Mycelium is… the living seam by which much of our world is stitched into relation… Nature is an event that never stops’..

And I recently read All We Can Save as part of a book circle initiated by Kelly O’Brien. ‘My heart is moved by all I cannot save:

so much has been destroyed

..’ Adrienne Rich

I recommend them both!

Post Christmas Sale and Sculpture Course

My next Online Sculpture Course runs 10 Jan-13 Feb 2022. Aimed at adults with mixed abilities, the 5 week course is designed to inspire you to get creative with nature-inspired sculptural work using found and recycled materials, including wire. Visit this link to find out more and see my showreel.

COST: £80
TO ENROL email: fionacampbell-art@sky.com

You’ll receive further info + a free tools list

Book now as places are limited!

Testimonials:

‘Brilliantly delivered by Fiona, through her weekly blogs/zoom and Whatsapp presentations…’ Gina Glover

‘Clearly structured and catered for all abilities… my creativity is much more free-flowing and is absolutely blossoming as a result’ Sarah Herfet

‘Friendly, guiding and inspiring... This has had a significant impact on my practice as an artist.. a joy’. Nicky Oram

Do share this with anyone you think would be interested.

Iris Roots, charcoal on Somerset Paper, 76 x 57cm

I want to highlight some of my favourite pieces in my online store and let you know about my post Christmas sale, which lasts until midnight this Friday 31 December. I’m offering 10% discount on all purchases via my shop, and I’ll also be donating 10% of product sales to Save Pangolins this month. So, with your purchases you’ll not only be getting a slice of me at a reduced price, but also helping to stop trafficking and slaughter of these precious creatures - the most trafficked on earth, tragically slipping away to extinction.

Use this DISCOUNT CODE at checkout to get your 10%: FIPROMO21. Please take your time to explore everything the shop has to offer. Enjoy!

Winter News

In the Studio

I’m currently exploring layers, patchwork, pattern and tie dye for a new sculptural installation of multiple suspended pieces based on pangolins and their tragic plight. Strange forms are progressing in the studio. I went to Chichester Cathedral for a site visit and to meet curator Jacquline Creswell recently, and now have a beautiful space allocated for my installation. Really excited about the venue and the work we are making for our RSS group sculpture exhibition next summer - ‘Together We Rise’.  Our RSS SW artist group has become quite a tight online community. We discuss practices, ideas, offer advice and support, share exhibition news and talk about our concerns in these strange Covid days..

Using recycled, donated and found materials, I’m making a series of bodily forms and hangings in various states: skeletal, bound, unravelled, sutured, ornamentalised…. I’ve been looking at a range of art from The Ghent Altarpiece and Michelangelo to Arshille Gorky and Annette Messager, aiming for a painting in space.

Pangolins are the most trafficked mammals on earth, now endangered, and nearing extinction; they need all the help they can get for survival. I will be donating 10% of all shop sales (physical products) in December towards Save Pangolins.  And an extra 10% on orders until tomorrow towards David Shepherd Wildlife Foundation’s The Big Give Christmas Challenge. Take a look now!

Ingram Prize 2021

Last month it was exciting to be part of the Ingram Prize exhibition in London. I felt honoured to be selected for the prestigious exhibition. It all hung together so beautifully.

Ingram Prize 2021. Photography by Paul Tucker. Courtesy of The Ingram Collection & Unit 1 Gallery | Workshop

Jo Baring, Director of The Ingram Collection said ‘The Ingram Prize is a barometer of artistic excellence in contemporary British art. 29 exceptional finalists whose bold and startling work encapsulates contemporary themes and issues..’

Glut is a labour of love, and takes a few hours to instal and de-instal. Made in 2018 from found and recycled materials, it’s a wailing in response to environmental issues: waste, consumerism, factory farming, plastic oceans, animal extinctions… And the death of our dog. The materials speak of past lives, loss, textiles, craft; the forms reflect a duality of horror and tenderness.

The Private View was packed and buzzing, it was great to meet the curators, host, artists and catch up with friends and family, who I stayed with during set up and take down. 

As part of the award we attended professional development talks - all helpful info.

You can listen to our artist audios here:

While in London I visited the Tate Modern with my cousin. Loved Anicka Yi’s kinetic floating aerobes and the Phyllida Barlow Artist Rooms. Also saw the diverse RA Summer exhibition - all such a treat. 

For me, it’s increasingly vital to repurpose, recycle, utilise to-hand materials and found objects; I like to connect with meaningful ancient modes of making like stitching, weaving and wrapping - the ‘visceral nature of art-making’ (Yinka Shonibare).

Exhibition in Taiwan

‘Pyre’ is showing at the 2021/22 Biennal International: Transfiguration, NTCRI, Nantou, Taiwan. It runs until 10th April 2022. There will be a film of the exhibition, which I’ll share asap. I’d love to visit, but it’s unlikely!

Online Sculpture Course

I’m running my 3rd online Sculpture Course: 10/1/22 - 13/2/22.  If interested please email me: fionacampbell-art@sky.com or enrol via my shop, where you can find further details.

Online shop

I’ve finally created an e-commerce facility on my website shop, with updated products. There is currently a Bulrush sale - prices of these will go up in January, so order soon!  They are presents that last, made mainly of recycled materials, helping towards a circular economy to avoid waste. Click here to see what else is on offer.

Thanks to Somerset’s VESP business initiative, I was given helpful advice by Melanie Sensicle and Graham Soult. 

Free Workshop

I have a FREE Workshop coming up at The Art Bank, Shepton Mallet on 10th December, 1-3pm. We’ll be making eco Christmas decorations using recycled and found materials including copper wire. To book email me: fionacampbell-art@sky.com (limited spaces so book soon)

One of my website updates includes this Chameleon film. Take a tour of my website to see more.

For regular updates visit my instagram page and consider following.

Wishing you a Happy Christmas!