About
Fiona Carruthers is a UK-based, disabled artist working across installation, performance, sculpture and photography.
My work draws on experiences of working and living in the rural county of Lincolnshire where, with large areas of land at and below sea level, the experience of climate change is personal, immediate, and ever-present. Physical disability and post-traumatic growth, outcomes of surviving local flooding, also lie at the heart of my creative decision-making. From this position, it is easy to see that adapting to survive drives all life forms, human and non-human.
In my work and practice, I am looking at situations in which viewers become more spatially and socially aware of themselves and their surroundings. Generating a sense of uncertainty, fragility and impermanence helps to slow viewers down and the creation of ‘on-the-point-of-collapse’ constructions ensures that they amend their speed and behaviour and engage in all their senses in a 360-degree awareness. Mutuality in and around the work is essential for the work to continue to exist and function. I am proposing this as a practical tactic for survival and a proposition for a better, not-quite-familiar future.
I want to acknowledge the land we stand on and present the world as it is while at the same time, embody an aesthetic that speaks of today’s uncertain political and ecological moment. In very small ways, I am exploring tactics for survival and wondering how to prepare for the not-known and for the accidental futures that go far beyond a human lifetime.
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
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
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.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