Finally completed my piece for the Walcot Chapel MA residency after a week making and installing. There's lots of other work too - come along tomorrow 6-8pm for our Open Eve!
For more information about my MA work visit: fionacampbellblog
Current and Forthcoming Exhibitions 2017 /
I will be taking part in the following exhibitions this year: Bath Spa University MA Open Studios, Dartmouth Ave, 25-27 January
Walcot Chapel MA Fine Art Residency. 13-20 Feb. Open Eve Mon 20 Feb, 6-8pm, Walcot Chapel, Walcot Gate, Bath BA1 5UG
'The Future Can't Wait', MA Show, Long Gallery, Black Swan Arts Centre, 2 Bridge St, Frome, Somerset BA11 1BB, 18 March - 5 April. Preview Fri 17 March 6-8pm
Wylye Valley Art Trail, 26 May - 4 June
Fresh Air '17, Quenington Old Rectory, Quenington, Cirencester, Gloucestershire GL7 5BN, 11 June - 2 July, open daily 10am-5pm, £5 Adults, children free
Bradford-on-Avon Sculpture Garden, 'Lynchetts', 15, Woolley Street, Bradford-on-Avon, 24 June - 2 July, 11am-6.30pm, closed Mon
Fifty BEES: The Interconnectedness of All Things, ACEarts, Somerton, 1-22 July, open Tues - Sat, 10am-5pm
Summer Sculptures, Glastonbury Abbey, Somerset, BA6 9EL, 1 July - 1 October (normal admission applies)
Evolver Prize '17, Thelma Hulbert Gallery, Honiton, 8 July - 26 August
NGS Open Garden, Benter, Somerset, 23 July, 10am-5pm
'Form and Fascination', Courts Garden National Trust, Holt, Nr Bradford-on-Avon, Wiltshire, BA14 6RR, 9 September - 15 October (closed Wednesdays). Last entry to garden 5pm. My work will be shown alongside Ian Turnock's. Private View Fri 8 Sept 6-8pm
Somerset Art Weeks Festival 'Prospect'. I will be taking part in 2 exhibitions with Angela Morley, spanning East and West Somerset. 'Ephemeral and Eternal', Round Tower Gallery, Black Swan Arts, 2 Bridge St, Frome, Somerset BA11 1BB, 16 September - 7 October, 10am–4pm, Mon to Sat, (open Sun 1 Oct); Preview Fri 22 Sept 6-8pm and Clayhill Arts, Clayhill Farm, Charlynch Lane, Bridgwater TA5 2PH, 23 September - 8 October, 11am-6pm, Wed-Sun
As part of Somerset Art Weeks Festival we will be running workshops: Black Swan Arts: ‘Organic Forms’: Wed 4 Oct, 1-3pm (Angela Morley); Sat 7 Oct, 10-12 or 1-3pm (Fiona Campbell); book via www.eventbrite.co.uk; Clayhill Arts: ‘Organic Forms Found Materials’ Sun 8 Oct, half day or full day (Fiona Campbell); or ‘Organic Forms Willow Weaving Sun 8 Oct, half day or full day (Angela Morley), or combination of each: book via www.eventbrite.co.uk
MA Degree Show, Bath School of Art & Design, Sion Hill, Bath, BA1 5SF, 23 - 27 Sept, 10am-5pm. This will be an interim show for me, being my first year of two, part-time
Black Swan Arts Open, 2 Bridge St, Frome BA11 1BB, 2-29 Nov, 10am-4pm, Mon to Sat
More details to follow on these and other exhibitions.
Lead Lines /
Months of research and writing for research methodologies on my MA is now finally over and I am looking forward to focusing more on developing my practice. I have been looking at worms. I studied an earthworm through a magnifying glass. Its semi-transparent body enabled me to view its internal organs which buckle and coil as it moves. I am intrigued by a pulsating deep pink artery that runs centrally through the length of their bodies, delineating this coiling movement. My ideas are revolving around lead lines, reinforced with steel rod in parts, that suggest huge 3d worm forms, skeletal, with linear coiled pink innards made from copper wire, heated red glass, orange twine and plastic strands. This may change, perhaps it will seem too representational, although the expansive forms meandering through space could be quite breathtaking.
As an experiment, I have created a small worm colony in an old fish tank, with dead leaves for them to munch. In a few weeks I plan to remove the worms by attracting them to the top, then cast their tunnels. If it works, it will be interesting to see what their tunnels look like, how they interconnect.
I have cast some more 3d lead lines, using routed wood blocks as moulds, made with a friend (Nick Weaver)’s help. The wooden lines were gouged with 4 different router cutters, so that I have a range of curved and v-shaped lines. The process was slow, as the lead didn’t melt properly on my studio electric hob, until I directed a gas blowtorch flame into the hot pan too. When I poured, the slag remained in the pan, so the lines were smooth, clean lead. I am considering how these might become more 3d, or whether they don't need to, and how to convey message with method and materials, creating forms that carry natural associations, bridging the gap between science and art.
Questionnaire /
I have created a brief questionnaire as part of my MA research (see images below). If you have the time to download the document (link below), fill it out and return it to me via email (e: fionacampbell-art@sky.com) by 1 January 2017, that would be fantastic! To download click here: questionnaire
(Photo credits:1: Yellowtrace; 2: Amanda McCavour; 4: Laurie Lax; 5: Tate)
Thank you in advance!
Research /
My MA continues to absorb me. Research is a main focus this term, I have never got through so much literature in such a short time! I am looking at the 'expanded fields' (Krauss) and blurred boundaries in drawing and sculpture, doing alot of thinking, writing, visiting exhibitions, listening to talks and making samples. I love the alchemy. Inspired by artists such as Eva Hesse in the 60's who defied categorisation, Cornelia Parker (exploded shed; melts down and ‘draws’ the object/s (eg a lead bullet) into wire), Monika Grzymala (see image below: theatrical explosions with tape and paper), Chiharu Shiota (immersive stretched installations) and critics/philosophers e.g. Rosalind Krauss and Peter Osborne, new ideas are slowly formulating.
This month, I will be taking part in the Quartz Visual Arts Festival ’16, ‘Outside In’, 15-22 December at Queens College, Taunton TA1 4QS. This involves a collection of work based on the rural landscape and natural world from over 40 artists and makers in the South West.
I’ve been involved behind the scenes at Black Swan Arts, Frome. The winter exhibition ‘30 Years/30 Artists’ is now running until 24 Dec, our final 30th anniversary celebration of 30 years at Black Swan. Postcard artworks have returned to the Gallery (displayed on a strange pink/silver/pearl tree I cobbled together), this time in secret envelopes at just £10 each - Christmas bargain!
I am also working towards a large piece for ‘Fresh Air ‘17’ in Quenington, Gloucestershire. More news on this later.
Very best wishes for a happy festive season!