Sally Fawkes MRSS

Vice VERsa at MusVerre, France | Sally Fawkes solo exhibition of glass sculpture

Interview of glass art sculptor, Sally Fawkes, by Craft Hub EU. Sally talks about her creative practise of nearly 30 years. Craft Hub is a European project co-funded by the Creative Europe Programme focused on Craft in the context of cultural heritage and its continuing relevance in contemporary practice.

My ‘Eternal Exchange’ sculptures are sublime experiences of earthly, unearthly places. Working with the notion that everything is part of a continuous sensitive system of interactions, Sally explores interactions of visible and invisible possibilities, the place where the physically apparent and the intangible meet. This pair of sculptures are an expression of the continuous exchange of energy the universe, from the physical inspiration of the continuous passing of time between day and night, dark and light, to atomic exchange in space. The outside of this pair of sculptures are painted in blues reminiscent of the atmosphere from pale sky blue to the deep midnight blue of a dark clear night. The continuous passing of time is alluded to with associations of day to night on one and night to day on the other. The form reaches up, tapering to a point where the mirrored plane offers a point of infinity. Video by Sally Fawkes jacksonfawkes.com Music : On Things Invisible to the Eye (Act II) by Lloyd Rodgers chosic.com/free-music/all/

The glowing optics of Sally Fawkes’s glass sculpture, ‘Plotting Dimensions’, connects with us through its immediate association with snow globes or a clock on the mantlepiece, homely, safe places in our memories. Closer observation reveals a space, larger and deeper than the three dimensional form witnessed. Sally created ‘Plotting Dimensions’ in response to the idea that humanity may well will need to start leaving Earth in the not too distant future and establish colonies elsewhere in the Universe in order to survive. In 2017 at the Starmus science festival in Norway, Professor Stephen Hawking delivered a speech in which he said... "Spreading out into space will completely change the future of humanity. It may also determine whether we have any future at all.” "It is clear we are entering a new space age. We are standing at the threshold of a new era. Human colonisation of other planets is no longer science fiction, it can be science fact.” "… If humanity is to continue for another million years it relies on boldly going where no one has gone before. I hope for the best. I have to. We have no other option." Lines scored over the arcing outer transparent plane of ‘Plotting Dimensions’ stirs associations of navigation paths on nautical charts, or between celestial co-ordinates. Looking closely they appear to repeat and expand inside. How is a map of interstellar space created? The lens is divided in two by earthy colours of green and blue guiding the way through vast dimensions to previously unknown places. Video by Sally Fawkes jacksonfawkes.com Music : Ambient Hope by Komiku chosic.com/free-music/all/

Sally Fawkes and Alex Ho have collaborated to create a 20 minute inter-disciplinary artwork that explores the entwined relationship between humankind and nature. The mesmerizing experience combines video captured by Sally at sea in the Arctic waters of Norway and music composed by Alex in response to its rhythmic movements and interplays. Through experimentation with notions of space and distance and a deep examination into the intersection between visual and sonic art forms, Mining Perceptions offers an adventurous yet meditative journey into the complexity of existence. Sally Fawkes is a material based sculptor whose primary material is glass. Her work explores the intersections between the intangible and the physically apparent, expressing the possibilities of experience as the boundaries of the visible and invisible blur. Her work is represented in numerous Museum and Public collections including Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge, National Museums of Scotland, M.A.V.A., Madrid, Spain, MusVerre, France, MUDAC, Switzerland and V&A, London. Alex Ho is a composer from London and one of Sound and Music’s ‘New Voices’, Alex (b.1993) views composition as a means of unifying individuals, discourses and disciplines through a sonic medium. His work attempts to engage with social phenomena and looks to create a space of meditation and evaluation for the listener. Alex has had compositions performed by the likes of the Shanghai Philharmonic Orchestra, Psappha Ensemble, Ensemble Paramirabo, Unassisted Fold, Roderick Williams, Sholto Kynoch, and the choirs of Christ Church Cathedral and Merton College, Oxford. Alex was awarded joint-winner of the Philip Bates Composition Competition in 2016 and is an associate of the LSO Soundhub scheme for 2017/18. Video by Sally Fawkes Music by Alex Ho

Working with the notion that everything is part of a continuous sensitive system of interactions, I explore interactions of visible and invisible possibilities, the place where the physically apparent and the intangible meet. I often research at sea around the Arctic coastline of northern Norway recording the complexities of the constantly shifting mood of the environment and the entwined relationship between humankind and nature. My ‘Eternal Exchange’ series has evolved from my voyages, experiences of earthly, unearthly places. In this series of cast glass objects, various forms and scales have emerged. Hand carved internal protrusions have subtle variations, some are pronounced, some eroded, others disappear from sight. Mercurial space, always in motion, created by hand mirroring on polished curved planes opens up new dimensions, at times remote, that seemingly were not there before. Layered, textured outer polychromatic painted surfaces, rich in their visual absorption are alluringly tactile. Each piece is a timeless, associative narrative, with many possible outcomes. Eternal Exchange XVIII was selected for the Coburg Prize for Contemporary Glass 2022. The competition is open to professional artists living in, or who originate from, Europe and who work with glass as a material creating one off artworks. Video by Sally Fawkes jacksonfawkes.com Music : Adrift Among Infinite Stars by Scott Buckley | scottbuckley.com.au Music promoted by chosic.com/free-music/all/ Creative Commons CC BY 4.0 creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/