Patricia Volk
Patricia Volk in her studio.
Patricia Volk is a sculptor and Fellow of the Royal Society of Sculptors and an RWA academician.
If you are interested in Patricia’s work, please contact the artist here.
Instagram: @patriciavolk
Artist Statement
As a sculptor I love working with the directness of clay, using all the techniques, coiling and slab building, making one-off pieces, which are fired then finished with acrylic paint. Classical sculpture was always highly coloured but we have this erroneous idea that they were all white and sterile looking.
Having said that, my obsession is catching a very simple form or line, primarily, then enhancing it with colour. Sometimes I use juxtapositions of two forms that I hope suggest contradictions of strength and fragility, stability and precariousness – like the relationships between human beings. But also other opposites, such as rest and activity, that I hope give my work a lively presence and a sense of each one having an individual character. But really all this is open to the eye of the beholder. I never want to be too prescriptive, and, in saying this much, I’ve probably said too much.
Biography
Born in Belfast, Northern Ireland, Patricia Volk is a Fellow of the Royal British Society of Sculptors and an RWA academician, confirming her position as an outstanding visual artist working in painted fired clay; a term she much prefers to “ceramics”.
Her sculptures feature in the collections of Swindon Art Gallery and Museum, best-selling author Anthony Horowitz, former BAFTA chairman Simon Relph CBE, the British Consul (Ivory Coast), Lord Carrington, and the television presenter Mary Portas. She was Regional Winner of the ING “Discerning Eye” prize in 2007, has been shortlisted for the prestigious Brian Mercer Bronze Casting Residency in Pietrasanta, and has exhibited nationally and internationally at venues such as Chichester Cathedral, and galleries including The Hannah Peschar Sculpture Garden, Arundel Contemporary, and the Beukenhof-Phoenix Gallery in Belgium.
In 2017 she was invited by the Trustees of the Designer Crafts Foundation to visit Israel as one of their guest sculptors, speaking at the symposium in Tel Hai, lecturing both in Jerusalem at the Israel Museum and at the Bet Benyamini Centre in Tel Aviv. In 2019 she was commissioned by ITV as part of the prestigious ‘ITV Creates’ initiative, making her sculpture visible on screen to millions of television viewers.
She has recently been included in 50 Women Sculptors, the first book to give an overview of women sculptors from 1880 to today, which explores the work of “extraordinary women artists who have forged a name for themselves in a male arena, as well as breaking rules, pushing boundaries and inspiring us with their visionary creations”. She lives and works on the border between Somerset and Wiltshire.
Selected Exhibitions
SOLO EXHIBITIONS:
Arundel Contemporary, Arundel (2019 & 2017); Kobi & Teal, Frome (2018); Oink Gallery, Swindon (2018); Chapel Arts Cheltenham (2017); William Benington Gallery Sculptural at Coombe Trenchard (2015); Chapel Lane Gallery, Tunbridge Wells (2015); The Art Room, Topsham, Devon (2014); New Craftsman Gallery, St. Ives; Beaux Arts, Bath; Bohun Gallery, Henley-on-Thames; The Open Eye Gallery, Edinburgh.
SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2019-2020: RWA Open, Bristol (2020, 2018, 2016, 2010, 2009, 2008, 2007); Bath Schools of Art & Design, Bath Spa University, Alumni Show, Locksbrook Campus, Bath; Royal West of England Academy,( shortlisted Academician Candidates Show), Bristol; RWA Sculpture Open Exhibition, Bristol; Blackwater Gallery, Cardiff; Creative Wiltshire, A Celebration of Art, Salisbury Museum, Salisbury; Sheridan Russell Gallery, Various Art Fairs, London; Beukenhof Pheonix, Belgium (2011-2020); The Garden Gallery, Hampshire every year from 2005; Hannah Peschar Gallery, Surrey every year from 1990; Arundel Contemporary, Arundel, Sussex (2017-2020).
2018: Affordable Art Fair Brussels, Hampstead & Battersea; VJB Arts in the Atrium of 10 Gresham Street, London; Urchfont Manor, Wiltshire, ‘Art in the Garden’ organised by The Friends of the Garden.
2008 -2017: Cavaliero Finn, Dulwich & Somerset & Royal Society of Sculptors, London; The London Group Open, The Cello Factory, London; ‘From Where I’m Standing’, Swindon Museum & Art Gallery; ‘Discerning Eye Winners’ Exhibition, Temple Church, London; Doddington Hall & Gardens, Lincoln (2012 & 2016); Tarpey Gallery, Derby; Lemon Street Gallery, Withiel, Truro (2014 & 2016); William Benington Gallery Sculptural at Coombe Trenchard (2012, 2013 & 2015); The Biscuit Factory, Newcastle: ‘Gravity’ (Special Exhibition); Denise Yapp Contemporary Art, Monmouth; Bohun Gallery, Henley on Thames (Regular exhibitor); Ceramic Art London (2013 & 2011); Quenington Sculpture Trust Fresh Air (2017, 2013, 2011 & 2009); Sculpt Gallery, Essex; Rococo Gardens, Painswick (Commissioned Artist); Shirley Crowther Fine Art; View Art Gallery, Bristol Chichester Cathedral, Sculpture in Paradise (2008 & 2006); The Himalayan Garden & Sculpture Park, N.Yorkshire; 18@108 Royal British Society of Sculptors, London; The Martin Tinney Gallery, Cardiff; ING Discerning Eye* (*Specially Selected Artist); Eye to Eye, Cork Street, London; The Scottish Gallery.
Press & Publications
'An overview of women making sculpture from the 1880s to today, this book explores the work of 50 extraordinary women artists who have forged a name for themselves in a male arena, as well as breaking rules, pushing boundaries and inspiring us with their visionary creations.'
Imagery courtesy of the artist.