FAB

Spring News by Fiona

Flags of the Forest, Seed Pop Up, Angel Place, Bridgwater. Photos 1-5 (above & below) by Kate Pearce

Flags of the Forest was re-created as a site-responsive installation in an empty shop space in Angel Place, Bridgwater last month, commissioned by Seed Sedgemoor. I so enjoyed spending time with the installations, welcoming and speaking to visitors, hearing their perspectives and watching their interactions. I had many stimulating conversations about art, trees, animals, recycling and ‘rubbish’ we can creatively transform. Thanks to those who visited.

I’d created a few additional elements and adaptations since its first placement in ‘23 was outdoors at Tremenheere Sculpture Gardens. Being in the space all week gave me more time to consider the work and receive thoughtful feedback. I’m galvanised to add more to this installation in the future.

The commission was focussed on actively engaging people in the creative arts. I was present daily and ran a drop-in workshop. I’m hugely grateful to Seed for the commission, and for their support. It was a fantastic opportunity to recreate my 2 installations (the other in February) in the space and see them hang in a different setting/light. Each install felt a bit like a residency.

Considering Art Podcast

It was a real pleasure talking to Bob Chaundy recently about my work for his Podcast series Considering Art. We had a conversation about my background and inspiration, and how environmental issues are at the heart of my work, materials and processes. I’m grateful to Bob for inviting me. You can listen here:

Check out other artist interviews here

The Arts Society Wessex Area

Delighted to have been granted some funds by The Arts Society Wessex Area towards delivering a workshop (date TBC) for One Island - Many Visions, plus towards costs for the exhibition catalogue & symposium. I’m currently developing work for this show in Portland (6 Sept - 31 Oct). The exhibition is a collaboration with Portland Sculpture and Quarry Trust and fellow members of the Royal Society of Sculptors. I’m also working behind the scenes in the Steering Group.

My piece Riot is inspired by Maritime Sunburst Lichen (Xanthoria Parietina) growing on the rocks at Tout Quarry, their colour, folds, and radial growth. Ancient life forms of fungi, algae, and cyanobacteria in symbiosis. Created from recycled materials including beach waste, Riot is a reflection on ‘troubled beauty’, Arts Precario. Labour-intensive processes of weaving, wrapping and hand stitching refer to line as energy, tentacularity, thread as the universal component of the cosmos. A site-responsive intervention at Tout Quarry, Riot is also wearable sculpture, There will be a performance in which the human body activates the work during the exhibition.

Riot, being trialled at Tout Quarry. Photo by Russell Sach

I’m now working on the second part to it.

Spring Clean

Feeling cleansed after a big studio clear up (see below: last 2 images of the mess before..)! For a while I’ve been working anywhere but my studio, which had become a dumping ground for stuff as projects mounted up. Although I have a studio outbuilding - historically the laundry building for my village - I prefer working out in the garden especially when it’s sunny. I use a separate shed for metal/woodwork, and grateful to a neighbour Roger Spear who lets me use his large workshop for occasional jobs. Roger passed on to me an old catering tray/trolley, which I transformed into a storage shelving unit with plywood offcuts, and used some repurposed marquee poles and wood blocks to make a folder rack.

FAB

An image of ‘Sack’ has been selected for Insert There, curated by Roger Clarke, part of Fringe Arts Bath Festival ‘25. It will be displayed on a wall in 'The Street' at Bath Spa University's Locksbrook Campus, BA1 3EL. FAB runs 23 May to 7 June.

Sack 2024. Placed via AI in the industrial wasteland of Barreiro, Portugal, where the work was once destined to be sited during my PADA residency last year. AI by Ellie Forman-Peck

Workshops and Courses

I worked with approximately 90 children from St Joseph and St Teresa's Catholic Primary School creating small creatures and plant forms for a permanent artwork at their school. Looking forward to seeing it in situ soon - here are a few pics of work in progress.

My next Eco Sculpture Course with Frome Community Education starts on Wednesday 4 June, 2-4pm and runs for 5 weeks at Makers’ Yard, 37 Lower Keyford, Frome BA11 4AR. £60 + £5 materials. Book here

If you’re further afield and want to do a self-directed course along similar lines, I have an Online Sculpture Course you might like to book.

Both great value!

Follow my instagram channel for more regular updates

Enjoy the best of Spring!

Current and Forthcoming Exhibitions and Projects 2018 by Fiona

I am excited to be involved in the following exhibitions and projects this year: MA Walcot Chapel Residency, Bath; 12-18 February

The Cotswold Sculpture Park, The Paddock, Somerford Keynes, Cirencester GL7 6FE;  1 April – 30thSeptember, 10.30am-5pm (closed Tues and Wed), admission £5.  http://www.elementalsculpturepark.com/

Sound Bites Talks on Beatrix Potter's 'Absidia' drawing, Hauser & Wirth Somerset, Bruton, 10 March  & 27 April, 2pm; part of 'The Land We Live in - The Land We Left Behind' exhibition.

Talk 'Art from Scrap' at The Ocean Matters, Bristol Aquarium, Bristol (organised by Bath Spa university); 4.30pm, 26 May.  Event: 26-27 May.  Exhibition will be extended for longer.  A1 mounted photographic prints of various artworks displayed to highlight the plight of our oceans. https://oceanmatters.weebly.com #oceanmatterstoartanddesign

'ABC Bath’ (Art Breeds Conscience), Walcot St and surrounds, Bath; 11 – 31 May. Initiated by MA Curatorial Practice student Beatriz Nogueira, the project aims to bring environmentally friendly art onto the streets and parks of Bath, in the hope that it will encourage its audience to question current issues – waste, factory farming, pollution of our air, land and seas. Instagram - @abcbath; Twitter - @AbcBath; Website - bathabc.wordpress.com

Continuum, FAB Festival (Fringe Arts Bath), 6 New Bond Street Place, Bath; 25 May (opening night)- 10 June;11am - 6pm daily.  Artwork by MA students from Bath Spa University. Varied practices including sculpture, painting, installation and performance.  The exhibition addresses the issue of change.  I will be working on a piece, which will grow throughout the festival period.

WE ARE ALL ... FOUR WORDS MEETS PARIS 1968, Media Wall, The Commons Building, Bath Spa University, Newton Park, Bath.  1-17 May.  500 submitted/selected slogans animated into a one-hour sequence with programmed screenings and talks  http://alandunn67.co.uk/weareall.html @MediaWallBSU

WE ARE ALL poster

The Rubbish Art Project, old HSBC Bank, Shepton Mallet, a new venture creating art with the community for the town using scrap materials.

SAW Residency working with PRU teenagers, Bridgwater and Taunton College; 19 - 27June, making artworks from reclaimed materials particularly metals.

Making headdresses with All Hallows Prep School pupils for an exhibition ‘All the Fun’, Silk Mill, Frome; 23 June

Summer Show, Atkinson Gallery, Millfield School, Street; 25 June - 3 Aug

Ingruttati Palermo’, Manifesta12 collateral event 5x5x5. 10 day workshop and exhibition as part of Manifesta Biennale (supported by Bath Spa University Enterprise Showcase Fund). The exhibition is in Crypt of Chiesa Parrocchiale SantaAgnese, Piazza Danisinni, 90134 Palermo, Sicily and runs throughout Manifesta12, 27 July - 4 November 2018 (by appointment)

Evolver Prize, ACE Arts, Somerton; 28 July - 25 August

Up Late, Holburne Museum - collaboration with Bath Spa University; Friday 31 August, 5-9pm

MA Show, Bath School of Art & Design, Sion Hill, Bath BA1 5SF; 22 - 26 Sept, 9am-5pm. Private View Fri 21 Sept, 6-9pm, all welcome!

Visions of Science, Andrew Brownsword Gallery, The Edge, Bath University, BA2 7PD, open 15 Sept - 13 Oct Tues-Sat, 11-5

Line and Point, Centrespace Gallery, 6 Leonard Lane, Bristol BS1 1EA; 27 Oct - 31 Oct, 10am-6pm daily.  Private View Fri 26 Oct, 6-9pm.  All welcome!

Residency and Solo Exhibiiton (title TBC), The Cells, Town Hall Arts, Trowbridge, April – May 2019

Incendiary, Landsdown Gallery and SVA, Stroud, 4-10 February 2019

Marks Hall Sculpture, Essex, 20 July – 1 September 2019

Reformation, Bishops Palace, Wells, July – October 2019

More info to follow