ART
A stunning local cast! In her final article for Village People, art writer Kristy Campbell interviews Suffolk sculptor Alice Ewing, who’s work reflects the local scenery
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utumn is upon us. Once again, the leaves on trees are beginning to turn and the cold weather is spurring on the fruit to fall. The days no longer measure quite as long, and we greet our woollen wears with open arms. This harvest season I have had the pleasure of interviewing accomplished and distinctive Suffolk sculptor Alice Ewing, whose work flourishes at the turn of each season with new and beautiful decorative items commemorating the organic and changing scenery of the countryside. Alice is a Cambridge University History of Art master’s graduate. She owns and runs a foundrystudio with her partner Freddy, in Brandeston, which they started in 2016. The pair practiced under
Laurence Edwards, who facilitated their learning of the casting process. Alice tells us of the freelance career trajectory within a rural arts scene, and issues meaning to the stunning exclusive designs created in their Riggle Street studio. Practice “The origins of my own foundry began whilst training in that atelier context. Myself and Freddy built a curious little foundry set-up out of an abandoned shopping trolley and an old steel bin — as soon as we clocked off in the main studio, we’d switch over to our own, running mini pours out the back in the evenings. “Sculpture isn’t a tremendously ‘portable' process. The studio is full of moulds, there are physical and
material ideas sat around waiting to be cast. A sense of rootedness and of place tends to come about quite naturally. You literally have to ground part of yourself to see an idea all the way through in this material. There’s a great quote by Roger Deakin which has always stayed with me in this respect, he describes it as ‘freewheeling around a fixed point.’ “I’ve gradually developed different ‘areas’ within my practice as some ideas or projects have taken on a life of their own. My series and now second design-studio, Pomarius, as an example. This studio began as a residency project; I was working with a heritage garden, casting the produce in bronze as a way of celebrating the longevity and dedication to the site. The work and the concept took on a life of its own, recreating itself in different locations. “I’ve since collaborated with fashion brand Loewe with Pomarius and it’s wonderful to still have a reason to visit beautiful gardens as part of this series. My other sculpture focuses on landscape and place too, but with a very different aesthetic in the outcomes — linear, ‘drawn’ works in bronze. Alongside my work, we continue to operate as foundry casting for other artists and running the occasional educational programme via The Portable Foundry Project…so, I’ve developed many hats to wear!”
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