An Exhibition of my work starts next week and will be running throughout February at Casespace, Bruton Museum, entitled ‘Precious and Primal’. It features a collection of my smaller pieces, including Cocoons, large Dung Beetle and Ball and some new work. There will be a Private View on Saturday 4th February, 12 – 3pm, so please come along!
See below for details:
A solo exhibition of my work is dawning soon at Casespace, Bruton Museum. An intimate space enclosed in a glass case and one corner of the Museum, the exhibition ‘Precious and Primal’ will show some of my smaller pieces – including cocoons and new work I’m making at present: New Beginnings is a series of egg forms with tentacles sprouting upwards. I’m experimenting with the kinds of media I used years ago – bandage, wax, bristles etc… to achieve the textures I’m after.
My ideas have been developing for a proposed show, for which I’d like to create a massive piece as the main focus. Concepts of ’a network of threads weaving through all things’ and Nature’s cyclical persistence keep re-emerging. Although one changes, develops and adapts in life – it’s strange how one keeps returning to old ideas. It’s that ‘cyclical nature of things’ concept again (or I’m like a goldfish swimming around.. and around….)
Sonja Klinger (glass artist) kindly gave me some beautiful large pink glass baubles, which she considered scrap. As I collect recycled materials she thought I could use them in my work. In a way, I’d like to keep them just as they are – objects d’art in themselves. They have been sitting decoratively in my garden over the winter, mulling over their next destiny. But I have a plan for them now. My Diatom drawings show the baubles encased as the heart within these sculptures. Diatoms are phytoplankton from the Jurassic Era. Significantly endangered, they’re responsible for over 40% of the ocean’s primary production – without which we all die. When I recently learnt that information, my obsession with these fascinating microscopic phenomenon grew all the stronger. We mustn’t kill them just as we mustn’t slaughter whales!
My work with the Scraptors sculpture group is accelerating once more. We are about to launch our IndieGoGo bid to help fund our next venture at the Magdalen Project and filming continues tomorrow to get our message across. See our blog for details: scraptors.blogspot.com S-J of Whitespace Productions has kindly made a shorter film version of our Scraptors’ Sculpture Trail at Stourhead to help with our IndieGoGo fund-raising launch.
A friend of mine – Jessica Rannachan – has been working on a series of paintings based on the Book of Revelation for 10 years. The drama and magnitude of the prophesies are depicted brilliantly in her paintings, which have a wonderful ethereal sense of colour and light. She recently had a Solo at Westminster City Hall and is currently showing at the Visual Arts Centre, Watford Girls Grammar School (see below). I admire her passion and faith – though feel I may be doomed if all this comes into being. Whilst passionate about the miracles of life, I would like to have a stronger belief in the existence of God – mine wavers from time to time…
Having wanted to visit Roche Court Sculpture Garden and New Art Centre, Salisbury for ages, I was very happy for the opportunity to accompany a group of students I teach from All Hallows Prep School on a trip there with Nick Somerville (Head of Art) this week. An amazing collection of contemporary sculptures set in beautiful grounds, we were all the more inspired through our personalised tour by Jo and Alice from Roche Court, who initiated a series of drawing exercises for students to get the most out of work by sculptors such as Michael Craig-Martin, Barbara Hepworth, Julian Opie and Peter-Randall-Page.
We met resident willow sculptor Laura Ellen Bacon, who was installing her massive nest forms on the buildings there, ready for a forthcoming exhibition ‘The Nature of Things’. I have a similar fascination with nest forms, and was intrigued by her process and scale of work. Students learnt how to make a fish-knot using willow sticks and we all came away inspired and eager to explore new ideas.
I will eventually add a Press page to my website, but until then here is some of the recent Press coverage (’09 – ’11) on projects I’ve been involved in, together with articles/blogs about my work:
Wildlife Artist of the Year Award ’09
Somerset Life Magazine article 2009:
garden beet - Sculptures for Gardens
Spaeda Magazine feature 2010:
bbc news - Glastonbury Festival’s Greenfields 2010 – Giant Spider
winkball.com - First 2 videos show me at work on Spider at Glastonbury
Mendip Times – Glastonbury Spider ’10
Somerset Life - Carymoor Environmental Sculpture Project 2010
bbc news - Somerset Art Weeks 2010
bbc news - Insect sculptures stolen from Dobbies entrance
Spaeda - featured school project
Wincanton Window - Art for Life – Sustainable Sculptures in Historic Venues (2011)
Central Somerset Gazette – Scraptors at Pylle scrapyard (’11):
Wincanton Window - Scrap - The New Alchemy
Warminster Journal:
TAAG - Devon Recycled Sculpture Trail 2011
Chronicle front page – Stackpool, Kidderminster – Community Insect Sculpture Project:
This is Somerset - Somerset Art Weeks 2011
Somerset Life Magazine - Art in the Garden, Somerset Art Weeks
Thinly Spread blog - Scraptors Stourhead Sculpture Trail
This is Somerset - Stourhead Sculpture Trail ‘Beyond the Garden Gate’
Wincanton Window - Stourhead Sculpture Trail
Had some time to think over the past couple of weeks – in between the throng of Christmas – and have decided to embark on a new series of BIG pieces all linked to the Taoist words (which have been rolling around in my head and sketchbooks for years): “…Man models himself on earth.. earth on heaven…” Will have to make the sculptures in sections, but it’s a challenge. Will post images of their progress.
Do please join me on @fionasculpture (Twitter), Fiona Campbell Art (Facebook) and Linkedin. I’ve also added two new sculpture films to my YouTube channel, so have a look! And finally, my website is regularly updated: www.fionacampbellart.co.uk
HAPPY NEW YEAR:-)
Looking back at 2011, it’s been a busy, hard-working year and despite the financial slump I’ve survived and been involved in various fresh, exciting creative ventures. Had some great Exhibitions with other inspiring artists (eg: ’Mystery and Mutability’ alongside Kitty Hillier, Bridgwater Arts Centre & Gallery4Art’s Binham Grange Summer Art Show, Minehead); founded the ‘Scraptors‘ with Paul Boswell, Rachel Macleay & Anthony Wilson – creating our first Scraptors Sculpture Trail at Stourhead National Trust Gardens, Wiltshire; completed several interesting commissions - some with community participation (eg: Insects at Stackpool Park, Kidderminster); awarded a prize for Nestling Cocoon (Millfield Summer Show, Atkinson Gallery); ran numerous workshops with children and adults (including Larmer Tree Festival); took part in Somerset Art Weeks at Stoberry Park, Wells and now preparing for our next ‘Scraptorzoic Era’ landscape with the Scraptors at the Magdalen Project, Somerset/Dorset – planned for 2012.
Other projects for the coming year include a Solo Exhibition ‘Case Space’ at Bruton Museum (Feb) and the Summer Exhibition at Bishops Palace Gardens, Wells. More Exhibitions are in the pipeline – to be confirmed soon.
Below are some images of work created in 2011 (for further details visit www.fionacampbellart.co.uk):
WISHING YOU A VERY HAPPY CHRISTMAS AND ALL THE BEST FOR 2012!
I went to a social media session through ‘DisussandDo’ in Frome this week. Great speakers including Guardian writer Sally Shalam and blog celeb Christine Mosler gave witty, inspiring talks convincing me that I need to engage even more via new media channels. A website isn’t enough, nor is the odd blog. Tweeting, facebook, linkedin, Youtube and now google+… Sometimes it feels like we’re running up a down escalator, trying to reach the top. I’d like to fly above it all, or recoil into my cocoon, but I will try harder to engage…
This new wave of social engagement has a symbiotic quality, which reminds me of nature’s own “scratch my back and I’ll scratch yours”. All around, life cycles function through helping, sharing and feeding off each other. The bird on an eland’s back feeds on nuisance ticks – both supporting each other. And so it is with many other areas in life.
Recycling, for instance. One person’s trash is another’s treasure. It’s wonderful to think materials and objects can go through many lives, not just to the dump, the sea or China at a cost to us all. I’ve always enjoyed using recycled materials in my sculptures – giving them a new life. Finding discarded bits to re-use is very satisfying. It’s a cleaning up process, which helps the environment and leads to something creative. The fun bit is transforming the rubbish into something valid, even poetic, to take up the merry dance of life once more. And then inviting others to engage in this vitalism.
Our Scraptors group are gearing up for our next planned Sculpture Trail at the Magdalen Project in Somerset/Dorset. This is now taking priority over a Quarry Trail, which is on hold for the moment. A gorgeous green charity-owned environmental centre, lake, woodland and farm, our creation of a Scraptorzoic Era will be a fantasy fusion reminiscent of Jurassic and a new Eden. We hope to gain funding to enable the Trail to go ahead. More news as it develops… below is some work in progress for it:
Today (Saturday 26th) is the last day of the BANA ‘New View’ Exhibition, Walcot Chapel, Bath BA1 5UG – open 11-5. Try to visit if you are in the area.
Just read a good blog about how to blog and realised I’ve been neglectful of my own… I also have a lot to learn about blogging! So, just a quick update on what’s happening. November’s a strange month and for me it’s been a juggling act of keeping my son happy over half-term and his birthday, planning new Trails, seeing old friends, teaching/running workshops (did one this week at Southmead Hospital for staff as part of their Fresh Arts programme), completing commissions, updating my website, installing work (my Heron sculpture’s got a new home) and now about to embark on a fresh piece of work tomorrow, which will hopefully feature in our next Scraptors‘ Trail. Tomorrow is indeed the dawn of a new era as the work will be my first offering for our planned ‘Scraptorzoic Era’ in a huge local disused Quarry. More news as it develops… but here’s a drawing for my Bulbous Anthills on Spikes:
A recent wire workshop I ran at the Ginger Fig Gallery resulted in some lovely delicate pieces by a small group of dedicated, hard-working participants. See below examples of the decorative, layered outcomes:
