Nature is not only used as inspiration but also as the source material for these artists who, with plant fibres, wood, bronze and print, celebrate the quiet, secretive world that surrounds us.
During the show, we will also be presenting Alice Fox's book, Wild Weave.
A poetic dialogue between Alice, Jamie and Juliet and nature started in the exhibition Still Life in Yorkshire last year. This exhibition deepens that collaboration presenting unique pieces that the artists have made in wood, plant fibres and stones, echoing the natural world as they intertwine, thread, wrap and shape ideas and organic materials.
Sustainability is at the heart of Alice Fox’s practice. The desire to take an ethical approach has driven a shift from using conventional art and textile materials into exploring found objects, foraged materials and natural processes. She gathers the materials that are available to her - dandelion, applewood, bindweed, stones, gardening tools - testing, sampling and exploring to find possibilities using her textiles-based skill set and techniques borrowed from soft basketry. Her sculptural works bring different materials together to form tactile surfaces and structures.
Juliet and Jamie Gutch’s mobiles are created from different undulating leaves of wood or painted metal, often centered around a stone. The different elements of each sculpture are in perfect balance, they glance past each other, always intending to, but never touching. Juliet and Jamie each developed their artistic style and direction independently before meeting in 2001. From that time, they have been working in partnership on commissions and exhibitions. In 2023 Juliet and Jamie won a local competition run by the charity Improving Ilkley to design a sculpture for a newly restored fountain at the centre of the town where they live. The fountain was originally made in the1860s and had fallen into disrepair. Their design is inspired by Sphagnum Moss, a tiny plant which is found on Ilkley Moor. The new sculpture has now been erected and stands proudly in the centre of Ilkley.
Robyn Neild’s sculpture is interested in nature’s tipping point, finding the transformation of decay more beautiful than the symmetry of bloom. Robyn enjoys the impression of fingerprints left behind in the modelling wax, dictating a journey of where her hands have fluidly shaped the forms, and even this fine detail can often be perceived in the finished work. The intricate modelling, combined with the ‘lost wax’ casting technique the artist practices, forces the metal to take on even the most delicate aspects, while retaining the technique’s uniquely unpredictable dynamism: gaps and pauses in the flow speak to the ephemeral individuality of each piece.
Patricia Swannell worked predominantly with print, drawing as well as creating fluid large scale abstract watercolours. Her works are inspired by the beauty of nature and the dark threats to the natural world. Patricia used willow branches and leaves, ferns and grasses on the printing press so that the paper becomes embossed with their shapes and textures. From large trees, to tiny seeds and fragile grasses, Patricia transformed flotsam and jetsam into works of beauty and resonance. Her work started from the idea of time, with the ever-moving present providing the only vantage point to the past and future. The works focus on moments of exquisite balance and beauty in nature that are receding from experience to memory, perhaps forever.
