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

Opening Event!

OPENING EVENT: SATURDAY 11 MARCH, 2-4PM

Create@#8, 8 Town Street, Shepton Mallet BA4 5BG

I'm developing new work as part of an Arts Council England 'Developing Your Creative Practice Award' which also supported my recent trip to Kenya.

During my residency in this empty shop space, I've been developing work related to our natural world. The residency culminates in an exhibition of ongoing work. The Opening Event is on Saturday 11 March and I hope you'll be able to join me.  

Two of the pieces created this year will also be exhibited in Wander_Land, a group show at Tremenheere Sculpture Gardens and Gallery featuring work by members of the Royal Society of Sculptors.

I’ll be running an Eco Sculpture Workshop on Saturday, 18 March, 2-4pm, Book: eventbrite.

I hope to see you on Saturday 11 March!

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!

Flags of the Forest, Residency, Exhibitions, Workshops

Flags of the Forest (in progress). Photo by Russell Sach

Happy New Year (I think I can still say that as it’s still January, just)!

Knuckling down to studio work has been a priority this past month. I’m developing new work as part of my Arts Council England ‘Developing Your Creative Practice’ Award. The award supports a year’s development, including my recent research trip to Kenya (see film), and mentoring with Mark Devereux Projects - which helps motivate me. I’m working on several pieces, leading to upcoming shows, including a residency/solo exhibition in a large empty space, Create@#8, Shepton Mallet, and Wander_Land at Tremenheere Sculpture Gardens and Gallery, with Royal Society of Sculptors this summer.

Inspired by walks in woodlands, I’m creating a series of Flags of the Forest. The flags celebrate bio-diversity, hopeful of nature being more cared for, and thriving.  These involve a combination of sculptural lines and fields of colour in space - hand-stitched patchworks of semi-translucent fabric and plastic remnants.  Some I’ve botanically dyed, eco-printed or embedded with found objects collected on walks.

I’m really grateful to photographer Russells Sach for visiting me last week for a photoshoot in my studio. It was a great opportunity to test out how the separate elements of my Flag pieces work together (and have a tidy up!).

Flags of the Forest (in progress). Photos by Russell Sach

Woods and forests provide vital ecosystems - crucial to our survival. Trees and their underground connections with mycelia fascinate me. Trees inspire awe, such slow-moving tolerant beings with ancient energies. My labour-intensive process is key to the work. Care and repair, making do, reusing, avoiding wastefulness. The binding, weaving and hand-stitching is cathartic, a form of suturing - healing through making.

If you have any green fabric/old clothing you’d like to get rid of, please let me know. I can collect if in the Somerset area.

Collage for Above and Below - a sculpture I’m developing

Botanical-prints on khadi paper, created after watching online demo with Suzanne Ledesma-Sikkerbøl

I plan to create a dyers garden. This will take time, so while I set up, I’m on the look out for certain leaves and flowerheads (unwanted) for eco-printing eg: eucalyptus leaves, african daisies, chocolate cosmos, dahlias, coreopsis, madder root… If you’re able to save me any of these, please get in touch!

During my residency at Create@#8, 20 Feb-10 March. the space will be open to visitors on Fridays and other days by appointment.  From 11-19 March, ongoing work will be showcased in a solo exhibition (Mon-Sat 11am-4pm, 8 Town Street, Shepton Mallet BA4 5BG). The Opening Event is Saturday 11 March, 2-4pm - save the date, I’d love you to come!  There will be a compositional soundscape in response to works by Ushara Dilrukshan. I plan to show a range of suspended, wall-mounted and freestanding works in the empty shop space, including a few pieces from my Life in the Undergrowth project. All welcome! 

I have some workshops you might be interested in (pics below of one I ran last weekend):

Join me in creating small snowdrop-inspired sculptures as part of Shepton Mallet's Snowdrop Festival on Friday, 17 Feb, 2-4pm, at The Art Bank Cafe, 13 High Street, Shepton Mallet BA4 5AA. Supported by Snowdrop Festival. Tickets £5. Book: eventbrite.

Shepton Reflections: a FREE one-day art and creative writing workshop with me and Polly Hall, Fri 3 March, 10am-4pm at Shepton Mallet Library. Using written word, poetry, botanical dyes and textiles we’ll make a suspended artwork featuring the Market Cross.  Supported by Shepton Mallet Town Council. Book: eventbrite.

Linked to my exhibition at Create@#8, I’ll be running an Eco Sculpture Workshop on Sat, 18 March, 2-4pm. Tickets: £18. Book: eventbrite.

Very happy my piece Entangled VI was selected for an exhibition Darkness to Hope at Atkinson Gallery, Somerset, opening 27 Feb. For more details please visit current and forthcoming events.

Looking forward to Spring!

Kenyan Research Trip

Graphite bark rubbings - handmade book (detail)

For the past 3 weeks I’ve been in Kenya on a Research trip as part of my Arts Council Developing Your Creative Practice award. I immersed myself in Kenyan culture, visited galleries, museums, markets, other places of interest, and met contemporary artists & curators.  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 stayed at the inspiring Untethered Magic, Ongata Rongai (↑), on the outskirts of Nairobi. Situated on the edge of the national park it overlooks a dramatic river gorge, where artist Syowia Kyambi has her studio. She was away collecting her work from Venice Biennale (Kenya Pavilion), so I was hosted by her colleagues. Loved all the conversations and art-based adventures we had. We visited Neo Musangi (writer and performance artist) and Justus Kyalo (etched rust works on steel); walked through the bush and across a rope bridge to Kitengela Glass, where we watched glass works being made. Saw lion paw prints, and learnt to recognise hyena poo (white). 

Then a trip to Malindi and Watamu on the coast (↑), where I learnt more about the complex history, physical geography, flora, fauna and cultures there. A Swahili port, Malindi has a turbulent past, having been colonised by the Portugese (Vasco da Gama visited in 1498), Sultan of Zanzibar, and British. On the beach at Watamu, I drew, collected found objects, and made a couple of impromptu sculptures, attracting local interest. I invited a couple of beach boys to make a collaborative sculpture with me. We had a little performance at the end! Went snorkelling - the best part was watching a pod of 50+ dolphins swimming - quite a rare sighting.. Very sad to see the coral depleted so much since my childhood in Kenya due to climate change...

I visited Hell’s Kitchen (↑), Marafa, a mini ‘grand canyon’ depression of sandstone, comprising dramatic layers of calcium, sulphur and iron. Colours range from whites, pinks, ochres and reds, formed into giant folds, pillars, gorges, pinnacles. I arrived late afternoon to experience the colour changes at sunset. Too hot for much life, I was fascinated by the few trees which hang on by strangely formed roots. Myth tells of a rich selfish family who bathed in milk rather than water, leading to angry gods causing them to be swallowed up. There are many other Giriama stories. I went on a detour expedition to find a couple of rare surviving Giriama grave posts in a dwelling nearby.

I’ve discovered more about the rich variety of Kenyan trees - many have healing properties and are used for timber/ house building poles (often combined with earth, sometimes coral), eg: Mukinduri, Mung’ambo (which I can now pronounce), Neem, Mukula... Encountering trees up close, drawing and making bark rubbings, helped me get to know the trees, and I had encounters with creatures in the process. In one instance, a monkey came to touch my graphite pencil!  Visited Gedi ruins, (12th c. Swahili city near Malindi, abandoned aprx 600 years ago, due to plague) once a wealthy trading city, with palace, sultan, governors, and sophisticated water, bathroom and air conditioning systems. Now, the ruins are overgrown with magnificent indigenous forest trees, including ancient baobabs.

I walked around Ndoro Sculpture Garden, a vast private collection of Zimbabwean stone carvings.  Owner Carola Rasmussen was welcoming and explained the background of the work - especially one her favourites Bernard Matemera..  Each sculptor has an individual style, not to be copied. The value of these works in the context of African art is significant. The garden is open by appointment.  I appreciated Carola’s excellent personal tour.

Back in Nairobi I visited Kuona Artist Collective (hub of artists’ studios ↑). I saw Dennis Muraguri’s matatu prints & mixed media sculptures: patches of metal components attached to wood with copper stitches. There were colourful woodcut prints of heads with headwear by Ndunde Bulomo; jacaranda wood sculptures of dancing guitars and totemic figures by Mosoti Kepha. Yassir Ali incorporates Sudanese text into abstract paintings, some with figures. I enjoyed chatting to artists about their ideas.

Circle Art Gallery’s exhibitionThe Forest and Desert School Revisited, curated by Michelle Mlati, brings together Sudanese artworks, reflecting on African Arab hybrid identity, referencing the ‘60’s Sudanese movement. Forest symbolises African culture; Desert its Arab counterpart. I found Eltayeb Dawellbait’s work: scratchy lines depict faces on salvaged wood; a peeled football, it’s sphere made from reconstituted concrete from a Palestine wall by Kaled Jarrar; lyrical paintings of plant forms by Gor Sudan; Donald Wasswa‘s globular albizia wood sculptures. Loved the fragile hangings made of bark cloth & paper fibres by Sheila Nakitende, which resonated with my recent work. I’m sourcing bark cloth..

At Kobo Trust Studios/Gallery I was given a brilliant tour by artist David Thuku. A papier mâché boat with heads, and distressed paintings of walls with overlaid text (Onyis Martin) recalls the refugee crisis. He uses posters peeled off city walls.  David Thuku has developed his own techniques using paper as surface, an intricate process involving cut and peeled layers to reveal different shades/surfaces. Results are striking images of figures and chairs, ordinary objects referencing temporality, past, present, future. Other artists there, manly figurative painters, use different techniques: pattern, layering, bleach into ink…  I was engrossed by the range and unique approaches. Each artist has an individual style. A common element is using materials from what’s around - making-do. Grateful to Jim Shamoon for driving me around!

I visited One Off Gallery (↑) and met owner Carol Lees, and Marc van Rampelberg, celebrated furniture maker and serious collector of East African art. We had a great conversation about the contemporary art scene in East Africa. Marc was involved in a significant book Thelathini (published by Kuona Trust) featuring artists who are a main part in the story of contemporary East African fine art from the ‘60’s onwards. Found Harrison Mburu’s animal metal sculptures humorous. Paintings by Ehoodi Kichapi had an ‘outsider’ quality, upstairs a treasure trove of stacked works, and more in the lush sculpture garden. At Redhill Art Gallery I was welcomed by owner Hellmuth Rossler. Rashid Diab’s etchings are on show, some with bird imagery as poetic, ancient mythological symbols. His use of faded calligraphic Sudanese text adds mystery.  Artist Dickens Otieno met me there, with one of his alluminium can weavings to show me. It was a privilege to meet him and study one of his pieces. He was one of the artists representing Kenya at Venice Bienale 2022.

Next day I visited the impressive Nairobi National Museum (↑) . I was intrigued by the artefacts, relics, wildlife specimens and historical narratives. Especially captivated by the gourds displays. The Abuu (musical horn) is made with gourds attached by wax/grounded bark. Africans have been recycling for centuries, using metals and found objects to make ornaments. Many masks, headdresses, and skirts are made from plant fibres, animal skins, shells, beads.. In the art gallery is a chair made from pangas (knives). Nairobi Gallery houses Joseph Murumbi’s extensive collection of art, artefacts, books.  Acclaimed ceramicist Magdalene Odundo is one of several pioneer East African women artists. Her smooth wide rimmed vessel greets in the entrance, with signature pinch marks, and tangible human form. Also there: hammered relief metal panels by Asiru Olatunde, paintings of animals, etchings, Benin sculptures, Lamu chair, Mali mud cloths with stylised geometric patterns, Giryama grave posts, and lavish Yoruba costume with exquisitely decorated cloth lappets - all fascinating. I met with curators Lydia Gatundu and Betty Karanja, who offered their thoughts on the development of visual arts in Kenya. We discussed the success story of Ruth Schaffner’s Gallery Watatu, Ngeche art movement and Banana Hill group.

On show at NCAI (founded by Michael Armitage) is Mwili, Akili na Roho (body, mind and soul), a figurative exhibition ‘shaping the broader understanding… of East African Art.’ (↑) It features 10 artists of different generations and approaches through religion, landscape, human/natural environment, supernatural, sexuality and politics. Artists include: Sam Joseph Ntiro, Asaph Ng’ethe Macua, Elimo Njau, Jak Katarikawe, Theresa Musoke (fluid symbiotic relationships of humans, animals, landscape), Peter Mulindwa (confronts post colonial.. uses local narratives in place of western iconography), Sane Wadu, Chelenge van Rampelberg, John Njenga, and Meek Gichugu (interrelated plants, creatures..). The exhibition follows Haus der Kunst & Royal Academy of Arts with Michael Armitage. I found the book Thelatheni and had a good look through it.  Some of its artists were on show in the exhibition. It was interesting that the title of the show reflects a quote in the book: ‘The early Greek philosophers defined Man as body, mind and ‘thymos’. It was great to meet curator Don Handa.

Finally, at Ol Pejeta, Nanyuki (↑), I made paper casts of found baboon jawbone and antelope horn, best left in Kenya, and had a play with collected found objects on an acacia tree.  I drew acacia galls, which intrigue me. On the surface, the bulbous forms with long sharp spikes is a compelling mix. But deeper than that, the symbiotic relationship between acacia-ants and their host acacia trees is fascinating. Acacia trees produce hollow bloated structures to shelter and feed the ant colony, and the ants, in turn, defend the tree against herbivores. Other man-made African structures interest me too.  Patchwork mabati (corrugated steel), found sticks, plastic and sisal that make up shop stands and homes. And travelling, temporary structures, carried from place to place on the backs of cattle, bikes, donkeys and camels..

Graphite bark rubbings - handmade book

Throughout, I collected materials, documented with daily notes/drawings in a sketchbook, and made a few sound recordings.  I’ve gathered quite a collection of bark rubbings, which I’ve made into a book (↑). I’ll be thinking about this awesome Kenyan trip for a long time. There are many meeting points where new ideas converge with past, and I’m excited to see where it might lead me in my practice and future projects. I hope to return for a longer residency, perhaps an exhibition.

I’m very grateful to Arts Council England for supporting this trip, and to those who hosted and supported me in Kenya including Untethered Magic, Ian & Andrew Campbell and Jim Shamoon.  Also, thanks to all the artists, curators and galleries who’ve given their time and connected with me.

I’ll be making a film of the trip which will include video footage. I’ll also be developing work on the back of it in a residency & solo at Create@#8, Shepton Mallet (mid Feb-March ‘23). Watch this space, visit my instagram page @fiona_campbell_dycp which documents my DYCP work, and do sign up to my newsletter for monthly updates (↓).

Thanks for reading this long post!

On a Christmas note, you can still order from my shop in time for Christmas! I’m offering a 15% discount on my forthcoming sculpture course (9 Jan-12 Feb ‘23) for pre-Christmas orders, and you’re the first to know! Use code PREXMAS at checkout. Book now as places are limited!

Wishing you a very Happy Christmas and all the best in 2023!