ARTIST STATEMENT

Fiona uses photography, collage, poetry, and sculpture made from transformed objects to reconstruct the notion of place. She has always explored architectural and natural spaces, noticing minute details, making them visible, taking photographs, and finding intriguing, discarded items. Years ago, while using a 35mm film camera, she made an accidental double exposure, creating a captivating fusion of colour and place. Her approach is often research-based, responding to the idiosyncrasies of a place and the quest for its ‘fugitive essence,’ seeking to illuminate qualities that may go unnoticed.

In 2016, she was awarded two residencies: a British Council research residency in Venice to investigate the fluctuating tides and ‘Acqua Alta,’ and a University of Oxford-funded residency at Wadham College, where she examined weather classification systems, drops of fluids, and the fluid dynamics of the Isis. In 2017, she was awarded a new, prestigious, funded Hauser & Wirth residency in California (John Baldessari studios), where she created a series of sculptures responding to the ever-present threat of seismic activity in California.

Fiona loves to collaborate. In 2015, she worked with sound artists to create an installation, Sonic Sulis, for the Illuminate Festival, Bath. Situated outside the Roman Baths, the public were invited to interact with the mineral waters – this participation was then translated into a live light and soundscape, attracting over 20,000 visitors.

Fiona’s original career in health underpins how she thinks about materials and processes. She approaches her work with the same clinical precision and attentiveness as a health professional working with a patient’s vital signs. Just as a clinician adjusts the dials on medical equipment to achieve a desired outcome, Jane carefully manipulates reflective materials, their position, and colour to create orderly works that evolve. The reflective surfaces act as both a physical and metaphorical lens, encouraging the viewer to engage with the work as it changes in response to light and perspective. Each sculpture is carefully “titrated” through trial and error, adjusting its form and colour until the right balance is achieved. The result is a harmonious blend of colour, order, and fluidity, where each piece remains in a constant state of potential, reflecting both the environment and the viewer’s presence. Much like the medical field’s emphasis on precision and response, Fiona’s sculptures aim to provoke interaction, inviting both passive observation and active engagement with the ever-changing landscape of materials, colour, and light.

Fiona was born in Ireland and works as an artist in Bath. She received a Distinction in Masters in Fine Art from Bath Spa University.

In 2013, she was commissioned to make a sculpture for the Chelsea Flower Show, winning a gold medal. In 2014, she was awarded the Gane Travel Award to Iceland and the Porthleven prize.

Fiona has exhibited nationally and internationally, including at Saatchi Gallery in London, the Royal Geographic Society in London, Holburne Museum, Wells Art Contemporary, RWA Bristol, Premier Vision Paris, Venice Biennale, and in Mexico. Her work is held in the Fidelity International Collection, Bath Spa University, Oxford Castle Collection, Hurel Paris, and with private clients.

Since having a studio at Emerge, she has begun to write poetry and has performed her poems at: Chimes Poetry, Bath Royal Literary and Scientific Institute, Holburne Museum, Bath and the Theatre Royal, Bath.