‘THOUGHT BAREFOOT'
PREFACE :
Anima Mundi is delighted to present ‘Thought Barefoot’, a solo exhibition of new works by Phoebe Cummings taking place on one floor of the gallery. ‘Thought Barefoot’ is Cummings' second solo exhibition at Anima Mundi.
The exhibition draws together different elements of Cummings’ practice, from ephemeral sculptures and objects, to works on paper and text. Through these different manipulations of material and time, attention is brought to the solace of gentle observation: toward the tenderness of shoots and the weight of fruit, growth and rotting, the hum of amorous insects and ultimately, silence. Attention shifts scale, it augments and magnifies, stretches and compresses, offering both a mirror and an escape, acceptance and hope. The title of the exhibition is taken from a fragment of writing by the Greek poet Sappho, whose words and their fractured material legacy, bring attention to the gaps where myth and lived experience touch.
The exhibition draws together different elements of Cummings’ practice, from ephemeral sculptures and objects, to works on paper and text. Through these different manipulations of material and time, attention is brought to the solace of gentle observation: toward the tenderness of shoots and the weight of fruit, growth and rotting, the hum of amorous insects and ultimately, silence. Attention shifts scale, it augments and magnifies, stretches and compresses, offering both a mirror and an escape, acceptance and hope. The title of the exhibition is taken from a fragment of writing by the Greek poet Sappho, whose words and their fractured material legacy, bring attention to the gaps where myth and lived experience touch.
EXHIBITION INSTALL IMAGES (CLICK TO ENLARGE) :
EXHIBITION ARTWORKS (CLICK FOR FULL DETAILS) :
BIOGRAPHY :
Phoebe Cummings is a British artist born in Walsall, England in 1981. She currently resides in Stafford.
Cummings sculptural work builds on an ongoing interest in time and nature and how this has been represented and stylised through design. She works predominantly using unfired clay to make poetic and performative sculptures and installations that emphasize materiality, fragility, time, creation and decay. Cummings' impressive interventions are constructed directly on site, allowing an instinctive development of tensions between object and location.
Phoebe Cummings studied ceramics at Brighton University in 2002 before completing an MA in ceramics and glass at the Royal College of Art in 2005. She has undertaken a number of artist residencies in the UK, USA and Greenland, including a six month residency at the Victoria & Albert Museum in 2010. In 2017 she won first place at the inaugural Woman’s Hour Craft Prize with work exhibited at the V&A Museum, before touring to venues around the UK. Cummings was selected as the winner of the British Ceramics Biennial Award in 2011 and awarded a ceramics fellowship at London’s Camden Arts Centre (2012–13). ‘Supernatural’ was her first solo exhibition at Anima-Mundi. In addition, Cummings’ work has been featured in numerous group exhibitions, including '60|40 Starting Point Series’ at Siobhan Davies Studios, London, 'Formed Thoughts' at Jerwood Space, London; and 'Swept Away: Dust, Ashes, and Dirt in Contemporary Art and Design' at the Museum of Arts and Design, New York. In 2013, she had a solo show at the University of Hawaii Art Gallery in Honolulu and The Newlyn Art Gallery.