Workshops, Exhibitions, Residencies

Inch by IN:CH

We had a magical day in the woods at Found Outdoors for our pop-up earlier this month. The light was sublime. ‘The work was held by the environment so well it could have been made for it!’ (Philippa Edwards). 

Our finale at the Gauge Museum (West Somerset Railway, Bishops Lydeard TA4 3RU); 25 September - 3 October, 11am-5pm daily (closed Mondays) is part of Somerset Open Studios.

The event is part of a 6 month travelling exhibition of art in cases. We’re treating this as a residency, so each of us will be working on something in situ.

We have some exciting events for you to take part in! Some are drop-in, others are part of The Big Draw and need to be booked in advance. We’re keen to engage Somerset-based residents.

The first workshop this Sunday will be led by me and Shirley Sharp:

Sculpture and Shadow Drawing Workshop: Sun 26 Sept, 2-4pm. Make sculptures and shadow drawings using wire, clay, newspaper and recycled materials. We will first create heads and other sculptural forms. The artists will then guide you to use these as inspiration to draw sculpted shadows, enhanced by dramatic lighting, using inks and graphite, limited places. For adults and children (accompanied by adult/s). Just £5 for materials. Book via Eventbrite:

Next week:

Family Drawing Workshop: Sat 2 Oct, 2-4pm. Exploring the Journey of Line: where it might go and how it might get there. With Helen Anson & Anna Kot….. Eventbrite,

Family Sculpture Workshop: Combine sculpture and drawing processes using mainly recycled materials; Supported by Somerset Art Works and linked to The Big Draw; Sun 3 Oct, 2 - 4pm Eventbrite

Please share this information with anyone you think might be interested. Our funds depend on participants!

For more events visit www.inchbyinch.uk

Wells Art Contemporary, Wells Cathedral

There’s still time to visit Wells Art Contemporary, where my installation Snakes and Ladders (I) is exhibited. I’m so grateful to visitors, wonderful feedback and photographs of my work. Below are some beautiful shots taken in the cathedral by Barry Cawston, Dominic Weston, Polly Hall, and Jack Robson

Snakes and Ladders (I), Wells Cathedral. Photo by Barry Cawston

Photo by Polly Hall

Photo by Dominic Weston

Photo by Jack Robson

The extraordinary effort and process involved in transporting, fixing together, erecting and suspending the piece will happen in reverse next week! There have been some excellent reviews of the exhibition and installations. It ends on Sunday 26 September, so if you haven’t yet, I’d recommend a visit! :-)

Snakes and Ladders (I) was originally created as part of a series of dysfunctional ladders and hangings for B-Wing, Shepton Mallet Prison. The piece was inspired by Piranesi’s ‘The Bridge’, referencing the human cycle of striving, greed and suffering. The winglike skeletal structure is a precarious stairway, reminiscent of flight and extinct animals hung in museums. My use of recycled and discarded materials relates to waste, our relationship with matter and nature.

Loft Residency

I’m really enjoying my ongoing Loft Residency above Heritage Courtyard Gallery and Studios. Huge thanks to Heritage Courtyard Gallery for all their support, for facilitating my residency, and to all our lovely visitors; it’s been wonderful to meet and chat with friends and new acquaintances. Open 18 Sept-2 Oct, 11-4 (closed Sun/Mon).

Some of my pieces are in progress. I’ll be working on them over the next week or so. The residency is giving me the opportunity to experiment with the space and new ideas using mainly recycled and found materials, responding to ongoing global events and nature’s complex interconnections.

As part of this event I'll be running a sculpture workshop on Saturday 2 October, 2-4pm in the gallery:

‘Inspired by the incredible variety of creatures and plant forms in our natural world, come and explore different processes to create a small sculpture, using recycled and found materials including copper wire. Materials will be provided, but do bring your own collection of buttons, bottle tops and beads to add to your sculpture! £15pp. Book via email: fionacampbell-art@sky.com’.

I’ll be there when the gallery’s open apart from Saturday 25/9, when I’ll be at my Inch by IN:CH venue (16).

Hope to see you at one or more of these events!

For more images visit my Instagram page

Dreams

Collaged impression of my ideal place for Snakes and Ladders (I) for WAC - in the cathedral nave

It’s wonderful when dreams of possibilities become a reality.  Sometimes things evolve beyond expectations, sometimes there has to be a compromise, and one thing always leads to the next. Two new exhibitions involving installations in cathedrals have developed - both thrilling to be part of! Lots of exciting things are happening at once, so the next few weeks will be a challenge which I’m embracing!

Chichester Cathedral

After a year of Zoom meetings and drawing sessions with fellow Royal Society of Sculptors members, a group sculpture exhibition curated by the eminent Jacquiline Creswell is now in planning stages for Chichester’s Year of Culture 2022.  The theme is loosely based around our group solidarity during a difficult year, new hope, and offers an opportunity to take risks.  We had a fabulous day last week on a site visit to the magnificent Chichester Cathedral, and it was great to finally meet some of the group in real life.

The Cathedral is steeped in art with a startling Marc Chagall stained glass window, John Piper tapestry and Graham Sutherland painting, among other works. Thanks to Walter Hussey, Dean of the Cathedral at the time, Pallant House, nearby, houses an astonishing art collection. I spent a lovely morning catching up with old friends and wandering round the Gallery.

I’ve started working on ideas for it, which I’ll be gradually developing over the next few months. It will be an alternative altar piece with hand woven multiple pieces, inspired by the plight of pangolins - the most trafficked mammal in the world. 

Wells Art Contemporary

I’m excited that my work Snakes and Ladders (I) has been selected for Wells Art Contemporary installations at Wells Cathedral!  WAC received 200 applications for installations this year and Simon Periton chose 28. I proposed that my piece might be suspended in the Nave (see top image), but that’s no longer possible, so it will be in the South Trancept, another grand space in the cathedral.

The exhibition will coincide with the installation of a new Antony Gormley work to be exhibited on the West Front of the Cathedral!   The exhibition runs 28 Aug - 26 Sept; PV Fri 27 Aug, 7pm.

Snakes and Ladders was created for B-Wing, a project I co-curated in 2019. The series of dysfunctional ladders and hangings were installed across 3 floors of the massive wing in the decommissioned Shepton Mallet Prison. They ranged in size from 3-7.5metres. Initially inspired by Piranesi’s ‘The Bridge’, from The Imaginary Prisons series, the work relates to the human cycle of striving, greed, suffering and waste. There’s an element of hope, and dreaming.. Snakes and Ladders (I) is a suspended piece, a skeletal structure which appears winglike and bone-like, reminiscent of flight and extinct animals hung in museums. Made from found and recycled materials including wood and newspaper, my use of discarded materials relates to waste, our relationship with matter, nature, and ourselves. 

Snakes and Ladders (I). Photo by Barry Cawston

Thanks to Nick Weaver who will be my technical assistant in the installation process, and who helped me originally.

Inch by IN:CH

Hope of a Tree at ESR, just before the storm. Photo by Linda Ashe

Our travelling group project Inch by IN:CH has now toured to 3 locations - the most recent was East Somerset Railway, a heritage steam railway station in my village, Cranmore. I invigilated daily when open, and got to know the station more intimately. At each venue the focus and work change, there are different people, challenges and achievements. 

We’ve engaged all sorts of people in conversations about the work and wider issues, so our project is doing what we intended - transporting art and ideas to local communities. 

The staff and volunteers at ESR have been so helpful and and intrigued. We’ve had some great interaction from visitors with our Drawing from Cases sessions and my intergenerational sculpture workshops. 

This slideshow gives a snapshot of my work in situ and some of the events I ran. I’ve been moving my piece around, trying it in different spaces..

Our next stop is Backwell Playhouse (23 Mariners Drive, Backwell, West Town, BS48 3HT), involving free shadow drawing workshops led by Shirley Sharp and me, this Saturday 7 August. Exhibition:12-3 pm; Drawing Workshop: 1-2pm & 2-3pm, book via eventbrite.

My Residency in the Loft, above Heritage Courtyard Gallery, Wells will be starting soon. It will give me a chance to re-make, document and focus on new work, as I grapple with unresolved themes and ideas.  The space will be a real treat for me. I’ll be showing the work in Somerset Open Studios 18 Sept- 3 Oct.

Front Cover of a magazine!

Thanks to Mark Adler for taking this great photo and placing me and my work at Frome Museum on the front cover of Mendip Times, August issue!

Other news:

My All The Colours lenticular Chameleon (created with community participation) is travelling around Somerset on the buses - particularly the Bridgwater to Taunton route. Here we are with one of the exterior panels.

Windows on Nature Trail: my mini solo continues at 51 Fore St, Trowbridge BA14 8ES; June-Sept. All work is for sale

I’ll be taking part in Somerset Reacquainted Touring: Re-imagining Nature, Yeovil Art Space (23 Vicarage Walk, Quedam Shopping Centre, Yeovil BA20 1EU).  There will be a selection of work by 20+ SAW artists. Open 4 Aug-11 Sept, Wed-Fri 11am-3pm, Sat 11am-5pm

I’m running the following Workshops:

Wire Sculpture Workshop inspired by nature: Holburne Museum (outdoors), Thurs 5 Aug, 10.30am-1pm, ages 5+. £12, book via Eventbrite

Sculpture Workshop using recycled & found materials, Sat 14 August, 11am – 4pm, Five Trees Bowlish

Other thoughts:

A webinar that particularly struck me was Rivercide with George Monbiot. It’s about how filthy and toxic all the rivers in England have become, linked to poultry intensive farming and sewage works.  Happy Eggs are not happy..  and I’m glad I don’t eat chicken.

The challenges that continue to face artists can lead to burn out and serious financial instability. I’m looking into infusing my practice with more of a business element - watch this space!

B-Wing Funding Success & New Developments

June brought a stream of thrilling news. After months of what seemed like never-ending funding applications and a long waiting game to hear our results, B-Wing received several grants in succession for our art in prison project. This will enable us to pay artists and engage the wider community in a series of special events including free workshops, talks and exhibition tours. We are so grateful to Arts Council England and The National Lottery for awarding B-Wing a project grant.  We have also received match-funding from Somerset Community Foundation, Shepton Town Council and Cranmore Parish Council - huge thanks to them and to all our supporters (see our website for a full list). It has been worth all the meetings and late nights at the computer. Now onto the next stages of curating and making.

I’m co-curating B-Wing with Luminara Star, alongside 6 other artists/writers. 8 of us will be installing a range of site-responsive visual art, poetry and text-based artworks in the unique spaces of B Wing, Shepton Mallet Prison for Somerset Art Weeks Festival 2019 (21 Sept - 6 Oct).

All the B-Wing artists met together at Shepton Mallet prison recently to celebrate.  Ideas are accumulating, and new collaborations brewing. I’ll be collaborating on work with Lou Baker and Scott Sandford on an immersive piece.

We now have our logo designed (by Chris Lee) and hard work continues, moving the project forward.

In the next couple of months, we are engaging the local community in free one-off workshops leading up to the main exhibition. I’m running 2 free workshops for adults on 23 July and 6 August, creating collaborative artworks (all abilities welcome), to be exhibited at our exhibition ( see poster). We aim to engage the local Shepton community as much as possible. We are also leading workshops at Whitstone schools and a Shepton home ed group this July, and offering free additional workshops for schools at the prison during Somerset Art Weeks as part of the prison’s educational package. For info on these and special events visit B-Wing Community Events and follow us on our social media channels: instagram, twitter and facebook (@bwing2019) #bwing2019 #artbehindbars .

To book a workshop email: bwingsheptonprison@gmail.com

For my B-Wing artwork, I have a few ideas on the go and am looking forward to getting cracking during my residency at the prison in August. I will be working on site using the Servery in B-Wing as my Studio. Some of my B-Wing work is going to be quite large, so making part of it on site will make logistics simpler .

I recently discovered Giovanni Battista Piranesi, Tavola VII (The Bridge), from The Imaginary Prisons series, 1745, thanks to a talk by Helene Bremer at Grow Flow symposium, Pound Arts, Wiltshire. The work reinforced ideas I’ve been developing for months around the theme of rickety ladders. Like the game snakes and ladders, humans seem imprisoned in an eternal cycle of striving, greed, pain, suffering and evil. Louise Bourgeois wrote a series of short stories - illustrated as 9 engravings. ‘He disappeared into complete silence’ features skeletal buildings, claustrophobic cells, dysfunctional spaces, human frailty, separation, isolation. Her floating ladders (plate 8) relate to the story of a man who ‘became cut off from part of the world’ through deafness. My large-scale installation for B-Wing will reflect on similar notions.

Re-Formation

Last week I installed my large sculptural installation Crowns of Thorns for a summer group show Re-Formation at Bishops Palace, Wells, organised by Heritage Courtyard Gallery. It’s made from various re-purposed older works (more than 7), using scrap steel, lead, a hand-woven net made from recycled materials (Canopy, 2016, originally created for RHS Chelsea Flower Show), and glass. The install was a long process, as is often the case with my work, thanks to my son Jack for all his help loading and unloading. I’m so grateful that the weather has allowed me to work outside, as the scale is too large for my increasingly cramped studio. Crown of Thorns investigates ideas about religion and myth, rethinking our belief systems. I’ve really enjoyed working with lead and glass again, playing with their capabilities, both respond so differently to heat and fusion. The materials speak of flux, transformation, contrast, collapse. The exhibition runs from 22nd July - 6 October. Private View 10 August, 6.30-9pm, all welcome!

Drawing on Dorset

My work Traces is included in a publication and exhibition Drawing on Dorset, currently at Fine Foundation Gallery, Durlston, Swanage - an idyllic setting. Part of Durlston Castle, it overlooks the sea, Studland and Isle of Wight. The Private View was held on a perfect summer evening this week, a packed event, which included a panel discussion about the practice of drawing, led by Anita Taylor. Tania Kovats read her beautiful introduction to the book, which begins ‘Make a mark, leave trace, something against nothing...’ I feel honoured to be a part of the exhibition and publication, alongside some great South West artists. The show runs til 17n July, then tours to the Lighthouse, Poole Centre for the Arts, 6-29 Sept.

Marks Hall Summer Exhibition

I delivered my Verticals and Giant Nest to Marks Hall Estate, Coggeshall, Essex last week - 9 hours round trip! Pleased to be showing work in such a beautiful landscape.

Sheds

Due to the nature of my work and my increasingly tight studio space, I’ve spent a few weekends sorting out and fixing 3 old dilapidated sheds in my garden, which will become storage and work spaces. I’m making good progress thanks to the help of Jason Nosworthy and Nick Weaver.

Workshops

I’ve run a range of workshops recently - the furthest was a sculpture workshop using recycled materials at Nottingham High School; a long way to go in a day but what a delightful set of outcomes from 40 Yr 9 students!

For further news of my forthcoming workshops and exhibitions please visit this link.

Happy summer days ahead!

Suddenly, it's Spring!

I completed my steel Bishop last month (see images) for Bishops Palace Gardens, Wells - to be unveiled soon!  I was originally asked to create a topiary structure, but as he evolved it was decided the Bishop would remain purely a sculpture.  I created him as a 3d linear sketch.  He represents a myth about the medieval Bishop Jocelyn of Wells who slayed the Dragon of Worminster, saving the people of Dinder from further ravaging of their children and stock.  The Dragon will be made later.

I’ve been involved in work behind the scenes at Black Swan Arts as a Trustee. The current Young Open Exhibition required lots of preparation – an impressive show of young talent including some of my students from All Hallows and elsewhere.  Very proud that some of them were winners!  Celebrations for Black Swan’s 30th anniversary this year include some exciting events coming soon at the centre – BBC’s Get Creative Day (Drop-in workshops on Sat 2^nd April, 2-4pm), 1000 Postcards (exhibition & sale of mini artworks by artists/celebs), Secret Swans (trail as part of Frome Festival) and 30 Plinths exhibition.  A chance to look forward to a great future for Black Swan and vital fund-raising.  If you’d like to help or take part do visit www.blackswan.org.uk.  We need 1000 postcard artworks by June!

My work for the Viking Cruises Chelsea Flower Show Artisan Garden, designed by Sarah Eberle, is now well under way.  It is inspired by Cambodian floating gardens and fishing techniques of the Mekong region.  I'm working on it collaboratively with Nick Weaver, who's making the wood boat/lounger, while I'm making a 4 metre textured fishing net/canopy by hand (see image), incorporating fine woven copper wires, twine, silk, wool and other surprising found materials like fish skeletons!  I am avidly collecting lemon netting bags for it.  It’s a long process and an exciting prospect – I’ve not produced work for Chelsea Flower Show before.  I will be there on 24/25 May, so please come and say hello if you have tickets!  Updates about this will be added to this blog in due course or visit here.

This June I will be exhibiting works in The Hidden Garden Art Show at Maureen Michaelson Gallery in Hampstead, London (June 4-12).  On Sunday 12 June this Gallery is also hosting a day as part of Chelsea Fringe Festival where I will be demonstrating my sculpting techniques.  For more information about these events, visit www.maureenmichaelson.com or www.chelseafringe.com.

Looking ahead, 'step in stone' - the artscapes-in-quarries project I ran last year - will be touring to Salisbury Art Centre in Aug/Sept.  Artworks by all 14 artists will feature - a chance to see some of the work if you missed it last year.

Have a lovely Spring!

Sense of achievement

Around this time I normally write a winter newsletter, but it feels like I've only just finished the autumn one!  Time has really flown by.  It's been a very intense and challenging few months for me, full of achievements and not quite burnt out yet!  'step in stone' - an ambitious art in quarries project I organised - took over my life for many months and is now over.  It was incredible seeing it through to fruition, and so fulfilling working with quality artists whose work I admire. Overall, ‘step in stone’ was a tremendous success, very well received by an extremely varied and broadly based audience.  Combining the role of project manager and curator with that of being a participating artist was demanding.  Considering time constraints and my other roles, I feel I achieved a great deal, though disappointed that I could not fully explore more possibilities with my commissioned artwork for the project. 'Cirri' was intended to be more numerous, (based on Fossilised remains of ancient sea life forms).  I relished the opportunity to explore new concepts and media in my piece ‘Eviscerated Earth’ installed at Fairy Cave Quarry – recycled wax, cloth, scrim, paper and wire combined with found, rusty scrap steel collected from quarries.  It linked to the story of Fairy Cave: destruction of caves and beautiful (speleothem) formations within.  I would have liked to create more work for our Black Swan Exhibition - a beautiful show - but management of the project took over and time ran out.

Now that the excitement is over, and I've reached the end of the arduous (but revealing) evaluation process for it, I'm starting to look forward to new ventures and getting inspired.

I visited Ai Weiwei's exhibition at the Royal Academy, London recently.  It's not often art brings tears to my eyes, but his work is so powerful, I was deeply moved.  The cell depictions of his sordid incarceration by Chinese authorities made me feel voyeuristic, angry and amazed at the brilliance of them.

A fortnight ago I sold my Nestling Cocoon to Mark Owen of Take That for an anniversary present to his wife Emma.  I drove from Somerset to North London to collect the piece from Maureen Michaelson (Gallerist), then to Sussex where I delivered it, then back to Somerset, in time to teach my evening art classes... all in a day!

I'm currently working on a life-size steel Bishop commissioned for the gardens at Bishops Palace, Wells, and will then start on a new commission for garden designer Sarah Eberle's Artisan Garden at Chelsea Flower Show 2016, to create a 4 metre square woven canopy.

Other opportunities in the pipeline include showing with Maureen Michaelson again next year for Chelsea Fringe.  In the immediate future, I have been selected to show at the The Grant Bradley Gallery, (1 St Peters Ct, Bedminster Parade, Bristol BS3 4AQ) as part of a mixed show entitled 'Bristol Green Capital in the Frame'. Celebrating and reflecting on the year that Bristol was voted The European Green Capital, it embodies a green theme: recycling, the importance of green spaces and wildlife.  The exhibition runs from 5 Dec '15 - 2 Jan '16.  You're welcome to come along to the Private View: Fri 4 Dec 6-9pm!

In case you've tried viewing my website gallery pages - apologies!  There is a plug-in issue due to server updates, so some images are failing to open.  Hopefully it will be sorted soon!