Profile
Sally Fawkes

The nature of visual perception is rich and ambiguous and can stimulate extraordinary sensory experiences. Sally Fawkes’s glass sculptures explore the intersections between the intangible and the physically apparent, expressing the possibilities of experience as the boundaries of the visible and invisible blur.

The late Dan Klein described Sally’s work as “self-explanatory narratives full of feeling and content, communicating without any need for words, delighting the eye and setting thought processes in motion.”

Her research encompasses sensory response and interactions with places and spaces; physical space, and, or concepts in space. She records historical and contemporary interests through drawing, painting, photography and recently video.

Transparent optical casts of glass become the core of her three-dimensional narratives which she works to highly polished surfaces, adding layers of engraving, textures and deep carving to provide a richness of language that holds the attention and begs further investigation. Her trademark application of mirrored surfaces add a further layer of complexity and animation that delight in confusing and beguiling the eye whilst also giving her the opportunity to paint on a reverse surface. The resulting surface colours and textures are rich and associative giving voice to further layers of information. Each piece has its own distinct expressive narrative that captures the imagination in a journey of intense visual exploration.

The Latin word for mirror, ‘speculum’ giving us the verb to speculate. Her sculptures invite you to immerse yourself in the complex realm of what you see, what you think you see and so what is potential.

 

Sally holds a First Class Honours degree in 3D Design-Glass from Surrey Institute of Art and Design, UK and has received several awards for research and development from both the Arts Council and Crafts Council of England. She has worked as a professional artist since 1999 and is a member of the Royal British Society of Sculptors. Having lectured at UK universities she currently lectures at The Royal Danish Academies of Fine Art and Design, Denmark at their specialist glass and ceramics department on Bornholm. Most recently Sally has completed an artists residency at MusVerre, Sars Poteries, France and will have a solo exhibition at the museum opening in October 2018.

Sally has an international exhibition profile, recent exhibitions include London Art Fair, London, Art Shanghai, China, Coburg Glass Prize, Germany, and Salisbury Cathedral, UK. She also works to commission (often site specifically) for private, corporate and public spaces and has 15 years experience of creating artworks for marine vessels.  Her work is represented in numerous Museum and Public collections in the UK and abroad, for example,  V&A, London, National Museums of Scotland, Edinburgh, M.A.V.A., Madrid, Spain, and MUDAC, Lausanne, Switzerland.