Materiality, Greening the Arts and more

Snakes and Ladders (detail). Photo (above) by Dominic Weston. Photo (left) by Geoff Dunlop

I’ve been working on several projects in schools along with prep for forthcoming exhibitions and new art projects. And pleased to have just recovered from my first bout of covid!

Materiality

I’m excited to be exhibiting with 3 other women artists whose work I admire. We met during our MAs at Bath Spa Uni.  The exhibition has been a long time coming, with cancellations due to lockdown etc…

Materiality (27 April - 1 May) is the first show at Walcot Chapel, Bath since it closed for lockdown 2020.  It features 4 women artists: Fiona Campbell, Kelly O’Brien, Kate McDonnell and Nicola Turner, and celebrates the importance of materials through contemporary sculpture and installation art. Large-scale objects and interventions will interact with the architecture of the Chapel.  We are each driven by our materials and engaged with sustainability in our practices. The exhibition runs  27 April - 1 May, 12-6pm daily at Walcot Chapel, Walcot St, Bath BA1 5UG. Private View Tuesday, 26 April, 6-8pm

Special Events: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/materiality-tickets-295143270467

Salon, Thursday 28 April, 7-10pm.  Join us in the candlelit Walcot Chapel to eat, drink and share thoughts on materiality, facilitated by Professor Alf Coles. Tickets: £10.

Sculpture Workshop with me, Sunday 1 May, 11am-1pm.  Focusing on flora and fauna, you will be creating a sculpture using recycled and found materials. For ages 10+ to adult. Tickets: £12.

Artist Talks, Sunday 1 May, 2.30-3.30pm. An informal, in depth look at the works and our practices.  Clare Whistler will be performing her work reflecting on the exhibition. Tickets: FREE!

Numbers are limited so book your place now! Hope to see you there:-)

SAW Greening Art Workshop: 

I’m leading a FREE workshop specifically for Somerset Art Works members, 22nd April (Earth Day), 10am-12.30pm, Somerset Earth Science Centre, Moons Hill Quarry, Stoke St Michael, Radstock, Somerset BA3 5JU. Parking on site, free teas/coffees.

The workshop will investigate artists’ environmental responsibilities, looking at key concepts of Climate Change and the role of the arts: how we can make our practice more sustainable. There will be a presentation, discussion and practical workshop covering a range of 2d and 3d activities using homemade, recycled and found materials.  You’ll be able to create something to take away, and have permanent access to an online resource pack full of relevant information around Greening the Arts. Funded by Somerset Skills & Learning.

It’s free of charge, but £15 deposit is required to secure your place. Full-refund after you attend the event. Book:  https://somersetartworks.org.uk/2022/03/saw-greening-art-project/ Do join me if you’re a SAW member!

International Biennale ‘Transfiguration' NCTRI, Taiwan

It’s the last couple of weeks of my exhibition in Taiwan, 12 Nov-12 April ’22.  I received 2 beautiful exhibition catalogues - see below and here. A short film about my work for the exhibition will be broadcast soon..

I’m still working on ‘Martyrdom of the Ten Thousand', inspired by the plight of pangolins, trafficked and slaughtered in thousands. The installation will be part of an exhibition Together We Rise at Chichester Cathedral with Royal Society of Sculptors members, 27June-6 September, curated by Jacquiline Creswell.

Here’s a film clip about the work:

Circle of Life

Circle of Life is a school project I’m involved in via SPAEDA. I’m working with primary schoolchildren making headdresses, masks and costumes using recycled and found materials, inspired by the Lion King production, African art and ecology. These will come together in a final story/dance performance later this week.

I’m taking part in the Artists for Ukraine exhibition and silent auction, at Black Swan Arts, Frome between 1 - 24 April. Do visit and bid!

New Beginnings, donated to Artists For Ukraine

Delighted to be featured on Art From the Heart winners in March: https://www.artfromheart.co.uk/post/artists-of-the-month-winners-march-2022

Do support by visiting and purchasing from my shop.

I hope to see you at one or more of these events, and in the meantime, warm wishes to you!

Spring Blog

Martydom of the Ten Thousand (detail), work in progress. Photo by Martyn Sheppard

I invited Martyn Sheppard for a studio visit recently to document my pangolin-inspired installation, in progress.  The work will be part of a group exhibition Together We Rise with RSS members at Chichester Cathedral, 27 June-6 Sept, curated by Jacquiline Creswell.

Martydom of the Ten Thousand is inspired by the plight of pangolins, trafficked and slaughtered in thousands. Multiple forms will suspend, rising and pouring. Stifled, vulnerable, ghostly, they suggest pain, loss, death, but also resurrection. There is hope in their elevation. I’m using recycled materials that are wrapped, hand-sewn, tie-dyed with home-made plant inks, and waxed over woven structures. Stitch by stitch, the labour-intensive process speaks of care and repair.

Not only are Pangolins the most trafficked mammal in the world for their scales and meat, but they are also being killed through mis-understanding about their behaviour and ecology. Pangolins are ‘the politest of all wildlife species!’ (SWARA magazine). Pangolins are gentle and shy, they roll into a ball when under threat, and only eat ants and termites, but many people fear them. Awareness and education about them is vital for their survival, along with farming practices that promote healthy soils - non-toxic to insects - to support bio-diversity. There is no evidence that the keratin in their scales have any medicinal value.

I’m excited to be working with SPAEDA (Alice Crane) again for Circle of Life, a project at Churchstanton Primary, inspired by the Lion King production, which the whole school will be visiting. We will be making collaborative costumes/headdresses, and there will be dance and music. 

I’m also delighted to have been selected as a creative practitioner for Lifebeat's Art in Somerset Schools project later this month, with an arts and wellbeing focus.

Giant Snowdrops, Collett Park, Shepton Mallet, Snowdrop Festival

Last month my giant Snowdrop sculptures were installed for a week at the entrance to Collett Park, Shepton Mallet for the Snowdrop Festival. Thanks to Shepton Snowdrops for the commission, Gill and Steve Sakakini for helping me install them, and Jack Robson and Euan Wilmot for helping with the de-install.

I used recycled plastic, fabric, copper and steel for the 3 giant structures, addressing environmental issues of waste, over-consumption, and our plastic oceans.  

During the storms the wind and branches lashed against the bud, causing a bit of damage. But they survived fairly well and shone in sunlight.

As part of the snowdrop festival, I ran a workshop at the Art Bank with some amazing results from participants - most who’d never tried wirework before.
I was thrilled with responses to my sculptures in Gill Sakakini’s‘s Drawing On community drawing session. Gill introduced Georgia O ‘Keeffe to the group, so drawings were influenced by her work (and mine).

It was a pleasure to share my practice in an online talk with students at Art Academy London. I chatted about the trajectory of my art career to date - particularly residencies - and how they’ve impacted ongoing work.

Workshops coming up include one focusing on Greening the Arts via Somerset Art Works.  I’m looking into taking key steps to move my practice forwards in terms of sustainability, and in relation to Postgrowth and Degrowth. More news on this soon.

I visited Louise Bourgeois: The Woven Child at the Hayward Gallery recently and loved it! I spent a long time at the exhibition looking, thinking and sketching. Bourgeois’ juxtaposition of soft and hard materials and her tactile marks of making - particularly stitch, are so expressive of vulnerability, anger, pain. I was interested in her use of the needle as metaphor - sometimes gigantic.  And works that captured a pregnant pause:

I’ve always had a fascination with the needle… used to repair the damage… it is never aggressive (Bourgeois). 

My work is currently on exhibition at International Biennale, Paper Fiber Art 2021/22, Change: NTCRI, Nantou 54246, Taiwan; 12 Nov-10 April ’22.

Keep in touch with me via social media: 

Instagram @fionacampbellartist

Facebook @fionasculpture

Twitter @fionasculpture

Finally, as a valued follower, I’m offering you a special Spring discount of 10% off any item in my shop.  Use code FISPRING22 at checkout to claim your discount. Hurry - it expires on 31st March 2022!

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!

Highlights 2021; Looking Ahead 2022

Happy New Year!

Photo credits from top: Snakes and Ladders (I) - Barry Cawston; Hope of a Tree - David Bird; All The Colours, ArtFirst - Laura Hylton; Octopus - Steve Richardson; Loft Residency - Dan Hopkins; Glut - Paul Tucker, Courtesy of The Ingram Collection & Unit 1 Gallery; Pyre - me; Hope of a Tree - Linda Ashe; Me installing Snakes and Ladders (I) - Kathryn Sewell

A few highlights from 2021.  It was a tough year, but with plenty of highs. I met and worked with some wonderful people, and grateful for all the support from friends, family, buyers, organisations and followers. 

It was great to have a short film made about my practice, commissioned by Art UK in partnership with Culture Street and Royal Society of Sculptors.  Aimed at secondary schools, it’s one of 10 films about sculptors’ techniques. 

I was delighted to be awarded first prize for Round Lemon’s anniversary exhibition ONE. I gave an artist talk and interview as part of it.

Thanks to Chris Greenwood Red Line Art Works for inviting me to give a Zoom talk.

Touring Inch by IN:CH was hard work but fun along the way. Collaborating with 10 other artists, we showed in some amazing spaces over 4 months, got funding, found new ways to show art and involve the wider community. I worked with Shirley Sharp on performative window drawing and shadow drawing events, and led workshops.  The research and development of work was as exciting as the final outcome. Thanks to all venues and funders including Somerset Skills and Learning, Somerset Art Works, The Arts Society and many other supporters.

It was wonderful to be selected for Wells Art Contemporary at Wells Cathedral. Snakes and Ladders (I) was suspended in the South Transept. Thanks to excellent curators Simon Periton and Robin Sewell.

I was thrilled to be a finalist for the Ingram Prize 2021.  My selected piece Glut was shown in a beautifully curated exhibition at Unit 1 Gallery along with some brilliant artists. Thanks to Jo Baring, Stacie McCormick and Alison Price.

My short film Life in the Undergrowth was part of In Pursuit of Spring at Black Swan Arts.

I loved my Loft Residency, which gave me a chance to explore, develop, make new work and document pieces in an incredible space. My solo exhibition was open during Somerset Open Studios.  Thanks to Heritage Courtyard Gallery and Studios for inviting me and for their support! 

Thanks to Spaeda Arts and Eastover School, Bridgwater for the Octopus and Sea Life wall commission. It was lovely to work with primary school children in the making of it and see their reactions when it was installed.

I enjoyed chatting to Polly Hall about my work for her Procrastination Station podcast.

I’m grateful to Seed Sedgemoor for commissioning All The Colours for Art First. It was a big learning curve: I designed a lenticular (holographic/moving) image of a chameleon changing colours for Buses of Somerset, made up of the community’s images, some created in workshops I led. 

I was really delighted that Pyre was selected for the International Biennial Exhibition Transfiguration: From Nature to Art in Taiwan, which is on exhibition at the National Taiwan Craft Research and Development Institute until 10th April 2022.

Thanks to Sculptors Drawing Space and Royal Society of Sculptors South West for ongoing zoom meetings led by Simon Hitchens.

I ran my second sculpture course last year, got to know some great artists through it, and am about to run my third (10 Jan - 13 Feb). I still have a few spaces so if interested, see this showreel for details.

Images: Martydom of the Ten Thousand (working title), for Chichester Cathedral

In the studio. Photo by Jack Robson

Sketch: ideas for installation

I have some exciting exhibitions lined up for this year including Together We Rise at Chichester Cathedral with Royal Society of Sculptors curated by Jacquline Cresswell, and Materiality with Kate McDonnell, Kelly O’Brien and Nicola Turner at Walcot Chapel. Fingers crossed it doesn’t get cancelled again.

I’m working on a large installation for Chichester, inspired by the plight of pangolins. Stitch by stitch, forms are emerging and a growing collection of bodily forms are gathering in my studio.  I’m using recycled materials that are hand-sewn, wrapped, tie-dyed with home-made plant inks, and waxed over woven structures.  It’s going to take me a few months, but I’m enjoying the labour-intensive process.  Louise Bourgeois said ‘The act of sewing is a process of emotional repair’. 

Here’s to a greener year in 2022 full of love, kindness and creativity!  

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!