As Old as the Hills

Collett Park Day drop-in workshop, As Old as the Hills. Making & embedding paper with recycled/found river & sea debris. Community work will form part of our final exhibition. Photo: Kirsten Madeira-Revell & me, by Barbara Voules

As Old as the Hills is a community art project I’m co-curating with Jan Ollis. Rooted in heritage and environment, it culminates in an immersive contemporary art exhibition & events in the iconic Bauhaus building (Zig Zag), Glastonbury for Somerset Art Weeks Festival (21 Sept-6 Oct).

The project looks at climate change, floods, water pollution, and the ancient layered history of Mendip & Somerset Levels – interdependent landscapes. The exhibition takes place on the top floor of a disused space, once Morlands leather factory. I’m interested in placing art in unusual spaces that bring their own atmosphere. The Zig Zag is unique; light floods in through long banks of windows which span both lengths of the building. Thrilled to be collaborating with a great selection of artists, working in a range of disciplines from large-scale sculptural installations and textiles to photography and performance: Madi Acharya Baskerville , Nikki Allford, Fiona Campbell, Duncan Cameron, David Kefford, Di Milstein, Penelope O’Gara, Catriona Robertson, Jan Ollis, Richard Tomlinson.

Sadly we didn’t get ACE funding, but we’re very grateful to those who have supported us. Funders include The Arts Society, Gane Trust, Shepton Mallet Town Council, individual donations and a great deal of in-kind.

A range of workshops are open to the public. Jan and I had a great time running a free drop-in workshop at Collett Park Day on 8 June (pics above/below). We’ll be running more workshops in local schools. There are plenty of workshops to join, including a fabulous day at Avalon Marshes: ‘Memory, Mud, Mind’: Walk, Talk, Workshop, Sat 6 July, 10am-4pm, Glastonbury BA6 9TT.  Info & book here.

Photo credits (above): 1, 11 Barbara Voules; 3, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 12 Richard Tomlinson; 4 Jan Ollis

Work in Progress

I’m making a series of stilt structures, precarious hybrid forms around the notion of resilience, adaptation, making do. The tripod sculptures are assemblages of recycled & found mixed media, layered, stitched and patched together, advocating reuse, care and repair in the context of global consumerism and waste. They’ll be showcased in As Old as the Hills.

Stilt houses, built to avoid floods, exist on the edges of safety in slums around the world . People in Landes used to move about on stilts in boggy ground. Somali nomads transport their homes/belongings - elaborate overladen bundles - on camels (symbols of adaptability, endurance, trade routes). Growing up in Kenya, I have vivid memories of African women bent over with heavy loads piled high on their backs. My work also refers to the ancient timber Sweet Track found in Avalon marshes, Somerset, dating 3800BC. These stilt structures are a means of survival in adversity, and suggest treading the earth gently. Have always been fascinated by Dali’s elephants.

Stilt Structure II, found, recycled & waste materials: wood branches, coir, copper wire, handmade naturally dyed fabric, leather, plastic netting, polyester stuffing, jute, sisal, wool, thread, nylon tights

Stilt Structure III: maquette (above), found, recycled & waste materials: wood, steel, wire, paper, cardboard, teabags, bark, plant debris, sisal

Stilt Structure III: collage (below), found, recycled & waste materials: cardboard, paper, wood, wire, leaves, leather, plastic, bark, plant debris

Stilt Structure III (far below), work in progress, found, recycled & waste materials: wood, steel, wire, paper, cardboard, fabric, jute, bark…

With limited studio space, working large-scale has its problems. I utilise other spaces including my garden, but with such poor weather this summer in UK, I haven’t been able to work outside much. Luckily I’ve had access to a neighbour’s garage, so my latest piece is developing there.

Upcoming Exhibitions

Delighted my work has been selected for the Royal Society of Sculptors Summer Show, curated by David McAlmont. The exhibition will be held at Dora House, 108 Old Brompton Rd, South Kensington, London
SW7 3RA; 22 July-21 Sept. PV Sat 20 July, 11am-2pm.

I’ll be installing work in Truro Cathedral, Cornwall soon for Solastalgia, an exhibition curated by Summer Auty, It runs 1-14 July. 

I’ll be showing 2 drawings in Landscape (Re)View) at The Wall, Musgrove Hospital, 2 July-29 Oct, & small works at Brewhouse, Taunton in September - part of Somerset Reacquainted.

I have 3 pieces on show in The Piano Shop Bath, 1&2 Canton Place BA1 6AA. Nest, String Theory, & Starfish were created for Played and Remade using discarded piano parts. Available for sale & online.

I have some handmade books on exhibition at Create@#8, 8 Town St, Shepton Mallet, as part of Art Book Shepton. Open 14-23 June (Fri-Sun). I’ll be there on Sun 16th if you want to pop in.

1 Kenyan Tree Rubbings, graphite, paper: I made the tree rubbings in Kenya on an ACE-funded DYCP trip in ‘22. The book is special to me as it documents an important time revisiting my Kenyan roots, and seeing my Dad for the last time.

2. Fungi, paper

For more about my DYCP year see @fiona_campbell_dycp and my film.

I’m raising funds to go on a trip to Vietnam at the end of the year. Please consider purchasing something from my shop. I’ve added an Online Sculpture Course, which has no time limit (self-directed) - great value!

Elysia, collaboration with Dance Artist Vanessa Grasse

I’ve spent the past few days working with Dance artist/Choreographer Vanessa Grasse. I was asked to mentor and collaborate with Vanessa on her R&D Project Elysia, to explore the creation of wearable sculptures made from natural and recycled materials.

Based in Leeds, Vanessa has been staying with me in rural Somerset. We’ve been collecting natural materials on walks, hand colouring natural fabric remnants with homemade botanical dyes, exchanging ideas around contemporary sculpture and dance, slime mould and lichen, and working daily at our residency in a large empty shop space Create@#8, Shepton Mallet. The project name is inspired by the Elysia chlorotica, a sea slug with plant-like qualities - a living testament to hybridity and symbiosis. The themes are very much up my street.  See Vanessa’s newsletter here.

It’s been an incredibly refreshing and energising experience, working across disciplines, learning new ways of thinking, approaching art in motion - something I’d like to explore further.  We’ve had fun playing with materials, colours, cavities, lines and blobs, improvising with assemblages around the body in movement, hand-stitching…

We’ll be sharing the work in progress on our last day - Thursday 11 April, 4-5pm. Please join us at Create@#8, 8 Town Street, Shepton Mallet. All welcome!

Elysia R&D project delves into the profound interconnection between humans and the non-human world. It blends outdoor choreography, ecological sculpture, and Land Art processes, towards the creation of a visceral, sculptural, and playful outdoor performance, where hybrid creatures, bodies, natural materials, and the landscape are in metamorphosis.

Humans are intricate ecosystems of a multiplicity of species. Awakening an awareness of our inherent hybridity, has the capacity to alter how we perceive our place in the world and our connection with our ecosystems.

The creative research includes exchanges with academic researchers; sculptors, costume makers and land artists. Elysia is supported by Arts Council England, University of Leeds; Yorkshire Dance, Create@#8.

New Courses:

Vanessa and I met when she did my Online Sculpture Course earlier this year. If you’re interested in doing an art course with me, I’ll be running some new adult Love 2 Learn art courses at Bath College from 17 April:

Sculpture: (Wed am and/or pm)

https://www.bathcollege.ac.uk/course/view/3109/introduction-to-sculpture-23-24

Drawing and Painting (Wed or Thurs)

https://www.bathcollege.ac.uk/course/view/3069/drawing-and-painting-23-24

Please book asap as spaces are limited!

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

Flags, Crowns, Costumes, Giants

Flags of the Forest in progress

I hope you’ve been enjoying the May bank holidays (with extra coronation one for those of us in UK). I spent it with friends in North Cornwall (see pics at end). Flags, Crowns, Costumes and Giants have been recurring themes lately…

I’m working on my Flags of the Forest series - eco-flag pieces inspired by woodlands.   Some have different qulities/themes and hoping they’ll speak to each other.  I’ve used labour-intensive methods such as hand-stitching, weaving, and hand-made eco dyes to celebrate biodiversity, hopeful of nature being more cared for, and thriving. Placed in the landscape near Tremenheere’s woodland, and reflected in a water feature, the flags become way markers. The concept was inspired by Ursula Le Guin’s book title ‘The Word for World is Forest’. Woods and forests provide vital ecosystems - crucial to our survival.

The work’s being developed for Wander_Land. Follow our weekly instagram @wanderland2023 artist takeovers by Royal Society of Sculptors members leading up to our exhibition at Tremenheere Sculpture Garden and Gallery, 1 July - 5 August, (PV 30 June 6-8pm). 

I’m involved in an ACE funded project to create a processional giant puppet ‘Sovereign Nature’ via Spoken World, for upcoming Somerset festivals in June/July.  ‘Built by a professional giant maker Jem Dick, Sovereign Nature’s costume will be created with textile artist Fiona Campbell, project director/storyteller Sharon Jacksties and community groups. ‘ I’m creating parts of the costume using recycled/found materials.  Currently working on the oak copse crown/headdress comprising handmade leaves, and eco-dyed fabric.  We are holding several community workshops.  These start in May - one at Create@#8, (8 Town Street, Shepton Mallet BA4 5BG) on Tuesday 23 May, 6-8pm, run by me and project leader/storyteller Sharon Jacksties.  This free community workshop is to help make a large recycled fabric river train.  The making process will include storytelling and sharing stories about Nature - reviving the age-old practice of telling/listening whilst making.  The more hand-stitchers the merrier, so do join us!  We’ll also be doing some drawings of Somerset's endangered creatures on fabric for the giant’s dress sleeves   Book: eventbrite

Listen to a BBC radio chat about the project (3:16-3:36)

Sovereign Nature Events: 10/6 Taunton Green Fair, Castle Green, Museum of Somerset, Taunton; 11/6 The Green Scythe Fair, Thorney Lakes; 15-16/7 Pitchfolk Festival, Sedgemoor. Plus various residential care homes..

I led a flower-crown workshop for Jack in the Green via The Old Stores Studio on May 1. High Wire Mystic Chris Bullzini was the master of ceremony, always a pleasure to witness. The cloak he wears was made last time by me and the community.

I also made a crown for my local village church (St. Bart’s) for the coronation, and installed the work with Gill Sakakini.

Yesterday I installed my piece House on Fire at Stone Lane Gardens for Stone Lane Sculpture Exhibition, part of the Ashburner Prize. It opens 1 June and runs throughout the summer. The theme is ‘Sense of Place’. Thanks to Jason Nosworthy for his help with the install!

House on Fire, reclaimed materials: found wood, wire, steel, twine, fabric, plastic..

Other news:

Honoured to have been invited to join the board as a Trustee at Somerset Art Works. I was a Rep ’13-’19.

A few sketches done on my mini break in North Cornwall. We did some gorgeous coastal walks around Rock, The Rumps, Padstow, and Daymer Bay.

Pics below include a heart-making workshop I ran for a Community Spirit giant - to be installed in Shepton Mallet this summer; prepping work for Flags of the Forest; and London exhibitions (Mike Nelson at Hayward & Souls Grown Deep.. at RA)

Film: Kenyan Art Research Trip

I’ve made a film about my Kenyan Art Research trip. 

I immersed myself in Kenyan culture, met some inspiring contemporary artists and curators, visited galleries, museums, markets, other places of interest, and had wonderful adventures. In the final week I went to Nanyuki, on the edge of Ol Pejeta game reserve which overlooks Mount Kenya, for more wildlife, sketching, a bit of relaxation and family time.

I learnt so much and made many new connections.

Threads of ideas are brewing for new work.  I brought back various materials/found objects, sketchbook of notes/drawings, photos/footage/sound recordings (used in this film), and bark rubbings, now made into a small handmade book.

I’m very grateful to Arts Council England for supporting the trip via my DYCP award, and to those who hosted/supported me in Kenya including Untethered Magic, Ian & Andrew Campbell. And thanks to all artists, curators and galleries who gave their time.