Member Artists

I am a socially engaged artist and love to combine arts and nature to improve wellbeing, connection to ourselves and to others. I am also a director at ArtatWork CIC who use the arts to promote good mental health.

In earlier periods of my life I have painted, drawn and also sculpted, but not in the formal sense.  When I had small children, (before Jane Asher and her famous cakes!) I ran a novelty cake business designing and making sculptural cakes. I enjoyed putting together a unique and personal edible fantasy, for whoever was the recipient! From  the band members of Showaddywaddy to the Bay City Rollers and the Queen’s cousin.

I have lived most of my life in the countryside.  Married to a farmer with 3, now grown up children, I spend a lot of my time in the rural environment, observing both domesticated and non domesticated animals. I often find that something quirky, amusing, or characterful strikes me and I wish to capture it in form. I find I can express myself most freely with the three dimensional image. I work mainly in clay and sometimes in wax and will often do “sketch pieces” to see what seems to work from all angles, as essentially sculpture should work in the round.

I aim to develop a portfolio of work of individual pieces .Although animals are my primary subject I am not an animal or pet portraitist. I try to capture the spirit of the subject without always portraying it in a totally literal sense.  I hope that my work conveys a mixture of the essence of the subject and a little bit of me! It often has an element of humour in it, but this can often reflect a deeper meaning .I am concentrating now on making larger pieces for outside display in ceramic stoneware.

I have no formal art school training, (except O level art) but have been on many courses with ceramic artists including Brendan Hesmondhalgh, David  Cook, and James Oughtibridge. I also did over several years a number of courses in portraiture, life etc at Wensum lodge in Norwich.

I have exhibited for many years at the Royal Norfolk Show in the art exhibition  (it is a selected exhibition) I have mostly put in the invited maximum of 6 pieces and usually sell about half of them. I have also exhibited in the past at the wildlife gallery in Lavenham, the Aldeburgh Gallery, Picturecraft in Holt and Cork Bricks gallery in Bungay. where I have often sold my work. I exhibited at the WBA sculpture trails at the Otter Trust at Earsham for 3 years , selling my work in 2 of those 3 years .I am a member of HWAT, exhibiting at their group exhibitions and open my studio to the public each year. This year I am in a hub doing Suffolk Open Studios.

Such’s sculptural works take on both a light-hearted and metaphorical view of nature and culture. Beneath the veil of humour her work juxtaposes objects, situations, materials and ideas. Recent sculptures explore the physicality of time, gender roles, and the substance of items – altering their utility, challenging the viewer to consider and reassess the meaning and fabric of both the abstract, and the familiar.

Her exploration into the seductive, tangible nature of objects, materials and elements is paradoxical, as her sculptures often express the fragility of failure. Such’s choice of objects gives a discordant jolt to the viewer; symbolic meanings arise, surprising scenarios create an inharmonious friction. Her inventions and arrangements always amuse and question.

Since graduating from NUCA – Such has been involved in a vast array of creative endeavours, taking part in a Young Artists Residency at Wysing Arts Centre in 2012- where she was tutored by Turner Prize winning artists; as well as having the opportunity to and give a short talk at the Tate Modern. In 2013 she received a grant from the Eaton Trust for the making of her award-winning Lead Balloon sculpture.

In 2015-16 she worked as a freelance mould maker and assistant for established artists Raqib Shaw and Jason DeCaires Taylor. Throughout her artistic career Laura has worked as a freelance sculptor and prop maker in the events and theming industries.

In recent years- Laura has spent her time between enjoying travelling the world, and working as an organic gardener at idyllic settings on the beautiful Suffolk coast. Although this time has meant her practice was left to the wayside- she remains inspired by her travels and her experiences which feed her sculptural practice. For the past year, Such has been employed by the Bronze Craft Foundry in Attleborough where she specialises in mould making and wax work for well-known and famous artists and sculptors. Laura is currently working on a new body of works from her studio in Halesworth, Suffolk. Her works are kept in Private Collections throughout the UK.

Website: www.laurasuch.co.uk

Telfer Stokes (born 1940) is a Scottish artist and publisher.

The son of Margaret Mellis and Adrian Stokes, he was born in St Ives and studied at the Slade School of Fine Art. He pursued postgraduate studies at the Brooklyn Museum Art School after being awarded a Beckmann Fellowship. He taught at Reading Art School and the Bath Academy in Corsham and exhibited his paintings in London, including a show at the Serpentine Gallery. In 1971, Stokes founded publishing firm Weproductions, which produced artist’s books; from 1974, he operated in partnership with Helen Douglas. In 2002, Stokes moved to East Anglia to care for his mother. He redirected his focus to sculpture, which he exhibited at the Kettle’s Yard open house in 2008 and at shows in various galleries.

Website: www.telferstokes.com

Sara’s practice is defined as conceptual and research-based and consists of several strands. She combines serious issues with humour and playfulness materials are transformed into simple, quirky, often multi-sensory sculptures and installations. Some works are used as site-specific interventions, ranging from subtle experiences to the more extreme intrusion of public spaces.

My practice revolves around the materiality of sculpture. There is an engagement with tangible materials and an affluence of texture. By manipulation and forging out the plasticity of disparate materials, I create unexpected juxtapositions of coalescing assemblages that propose a tacit meaning and understanding but evade a single reading. I seek to engage the viewer and simultaneously disconcert the perception.

I have created several out-door, site-specific artworks, accessible to the public. In each case, there was minimal intervention with the immediate environment and all trace of a presence became absent upon removal.

Instagram: @sian_okeeffe

Facebook: @SianOkeeffeArtist

My main practice is in dyed and painted textiles, designing and making one-off scarves from silk, linen and velvet.

Originally inspired by traditional Japanese design and textiles I now find myself increasingly engaged with, and influenced by, the Suffolk coastal landscape.

This has led me to explore the use of mineral and plant dyes and to reference the natural environment in my work, while always being conscious of the need to re-use and recycle.

Zoe Martin explores the perennial conflict between the individual as a member of society and
the individual as a unique being. The desire to protect the fragile ‘self’ from contamination by
contemporary consumerist culture, Its refusal to be cloned reflects the absolute authority and
the inherent inner strength of the individual.

Website: www.saatchiart.com/zoemartin

Being somewhat of a rare breed of artists, a founder sculptor, Hudson’s practice is open to endless possibilities unlike few others. Having been through the whole casting process from birth to realisation, allows for a more intimate and creative aspect to his work. Hudson’s sculptures, concerned with the split between people’s interior emotional, psychological and bodily being and their exterior presentation,explore a fascinating space between being human, all too human, and the options for being human. His sculptures have varying disguises, from despairing to hopeful, both dark and vibrant, portray an unashamed loss of hope and disquieting perversions, with an all so distant joyful farewell. It’s not always pretty and fanciful but the reality is that it lives amongst us. Today, his sculpture suggests, post-human bodies are now the new normal, relevant in only a fantasy land.

Website: www.craighudsonart.com