Fiona Carruthers is a UK-based, disabled artist working across installation, sculpture, performance and photography to explore sustainability and survival.
Her creative motivation and ambition are profoundly affected by her experience of living in the remote coastal region of Lincolnshire. Almost forty per cent of Lincolnshire’s land is at or below sea level and the consequences of the changing climate on human and nonhuman ecologies across the area, are easy to see. Physical disability and post-traumatic growth, outcomes of having survived local flooding, have furthered her understanding of how inextricably linked we are to nature, technology and other species.
“Uncertainty in these vulnerable landscapes is ever-present and personal. That the world is not things, but processes of transformation and mutuality is plain to see. Survival, I realise, is an unsought, unspoken and powerful imperative that drives all forms of life.”
Carruthers’ fragile and precarious, ephemeral works rely on the cooperation of all of their parts, including viewers’ amended behaviour, to exist. Sustainability is expressed as a dynamic process dependent on the web of human and nonhuman relationships that she has choreographed. Inclusivity and mutuality are offered as a practical and positive tactic for survival and a proposition for a better, not-quite-familiar future.
"My work is offered as an invitation to slow down, to step out of the day-to-day business as usual and to engage in the process of heightened sensing. A physical connection between my work and its viewer remains crucial to my desire to (re)connect human physiology with the environment."
BIO
Recent Qualifications
2022 MA Fine Art: Digital (Distinction) Central Saint Martins, London
2020 PG Diploma Fine Art (Distinction) University of Lincoln
Recent Exhibitions
Solo
Sep.22 ‘Below the Radar’, North Sea Observatory, Lincolnshire
Jul.19 ‘Uneasy Calm’, Sam Scorer Gallery, Lincoln
Group
Nov.24 'Fragility and Connection: An Artistic Exploration of Sustainability', Department of Architecture & Design, University of Mining and Technology, (CUMT), Xuzhou, Jiangsu Province, China
Nov.24 'Aproximity', Cyphermunk House, John St, London, UK
Jun.24 'Our Stories are Wild', Derby Cathedral, UK
Jun.24 'Drawing Articulations' Conference. Leeds Beckett University, UK
Jun.24 'Let's Talk' SO Festival International Outdoor Arts Festival, Lincolnshire, UK
Feb.24 'Future Perspectives' Multi-disciplinary Symposium. The Barbican Creative Hub, Lincoln Arts Centre, UK
Oct.23 'Artists in the Now'. A UK New Artists-MashUp exhibition, Lincoln, UK
Sept.23 'MarksSpacesThings'. SafeHouse 2, Copeland Park and Bussey Building, Peckham Rye, London
Sept.23 'Method Lab'. Trace Gallery, Nottingham, UK
Jun.23 'Berm'. UAL Alumni Showcase, South London Festival, Tension Fine Art, London
May-Jun. 23 'Points of Return'. The Umbrella, Concord, Massachusetts, USA [1st May to 25th June]
May.23 'Showcase'. Martin Hall Gallery, Loughborough University, UK
Sep.22 'ArtHouse MK6' A group exhibition for Milton Keynes Heritage Open Days, UK
Aug.22 'Bookmark'. A pop-up at the Bluecoat Arts Centre, Liverpool, UK
July.22 'Tension Graduate Show', Tension Fine Art Gallery, London
Jun.22 'The Rehearsal’, Central Saint Martins, London
May.22 ‘Renewal’, Doddington Hall and Garden’s, Lincolnshire, UK
May.22 ‘MayShow.22’, x-church, Gainsborough, UK
Feb.22 ‘Merch’, Lethaby Gallery, Kings Cross, London
Nov.21 ‘One Step Greener’, Project Space Plus Gallery, University of Lincoln
Jun.21 ‘Eccollective’, The Usher Gallery and Collection Museum, Lincoln
Jan.20 ‘My River’, Cross-disciplinary symposium/workshop. Mansions of the Future, Lincoln
Jun.19 ‘Collision’, Courtyard Gallery, Museum of Art and Archaeology, Lincoln
Awards, Prizes and Memberships
Jan.24
East Midlands Contemporary Visual Arts Network (CVAN EM) Artist Platform
Jan.23
Member of Primary, Nottingham: an artist-led visual arts organisation prioritising artistic research, studios and residencies. It runs a free public programme of exhibitions and events
Oct.22-Jun.23
AA2A Residency, Loughborough University Creative Arts
July.22
TENSION ART PRIZE Central Saint Martins
Jun.22
FINAL PROJECT PRIZE UAL, Central Saint Martins
Jun-Jan. 22
‘Sounds of the Outmarsh’, Arts Council England (ACE) DYCP Grant
Mar-Jun. 21
Environment and Sustainability Artist in Residence Award. The Usher Gallery and Collection Museum, Lincoln
Feb.21
UK New Artists + No Jobs in the Arts Commission
Jul.19
Regional ArtEscape Award with solo show ‘Uneasy Calm’, Sam Scorer Gallery, Lincoln, Lincolnshire, UK