It's a privilege to visit an artist’s studio. A sacred space carved out for wild imagination, expression and deep emotion. I had the pleasure of meeting Alice Sheppard Fidler at a workshop Spike Island and the even greater joy of going to her Stroud studio. Walking down the garden path was like entering into a truly harmonised universe, as every inch of the land, studio and house was designed by Alice.
Alice’s socially concerned installation and performance work is highly engaging, though it’s her works on paper that sing to me personally. To look at an artist's drawings is to take a walk into their subconscious - their unvetted strokes committed to paper. Alice’s architectural mark making is full of the weight of intention, each one coming from a well walked avenue of thought. It was exciting to group them together to create conversations and fascinating to hear how they connect to her three dimensional works.
ALICE SHEPPARD FIDLER
You can see more of Alice's work at the Zabludowicz Collection later this month, where she will be exhibiting as a finalist in The Mother Art Prize presented by Procreate Project.
THE HIDE ARTIST RETREAT
You can also book an artist residency or event in her modernist utopia and hope to catch one of her Small Talks during your stay at The Hide Artist Retreat.
Her community minded approach drives her to open her garden to emerging sculptors to offer an alternative exhibition space. This beautiful kind of resource sharing gives me great hope.