Open Wednesdays-Saturdays, 12-3pm
Free and open to all
Please note, the gallery will be closed on Saturday 25 November and between Friday 22 December 2023 and Saturday 6 January 2024 inclusive
Folde - Old and Middle English term for earth, land, ground, soil, clay
Alchemy - a process of transforming the ordinary into something extraordinary
Join us to take notice of nature in the depth of winter, as Fiona Pickles explores the alchemic transformation of botanic shapes and forms in her first solo exhibition, From the Folde.
Through a variety of art forms, including installations, photography and handmade paper, this exhibition celebrates and repurposes imperfections in nature by giving new attention to the unwanted and celebrating the unexpected.
Fiona will be working in the space throughout the exhibition (usually on Wednesdays), which means that the exhibition will be growing as it goes. Already been? Make sure you pop in again in a few weeks’ time to see what has changed, and check out our In Conversation event and closing party.
We’re excited to be offering a range of ways for you take home your very own treasured part of the exhibition.
You can pre-order the catalogue for £15, or take a browse of some of our special supporter gifts.
Plus check out our exclusive range of prints of artworks by Fiona Pickles - only available here!
Did you know? Lots of the artworks on display are for sale - just ask one of our friendly volunteers next time you’re in the gallery. Check out the full list of artworks and their prices here.
Practical Information
For directions and access information, please click here.
Opening Times
The exhibition is open from 12 to 3pm on Wednesdays, Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays from Wednesday 1 November 2023 to Saturday 24 February 2024.
Please note, the gallery will be closed between Friday 22 December 2023 and Saturday 6 January 2024 inclusive.
Events
We’re excited to be holding several events during this exhibition - please click on the below links for more information. Do you have an event or project that you think links well with this exhibition? Let us know by emailing sammi@theartworks.org.uk.
About the Exhibition
The Everybody Gallery is thrilled to be hosting the first solo exhibition by international floral designer Fiona Pickles. With a focus on sustainability and using plants from her garden or foraged locally, Fiona’s installations and paper-based works explore new ways for us to take notice of the possibilities of artistic practice with botanics.
Light is just as much a part of each artwork as its natural material, with the position of each artwork chosen precisely and carefully. Ranging from handmade paper to large botanical installations, each object has been handcrafted to reveal its grounded identity as an imperfect and often unconventionally beautiful part of nature that has been transformed into new shapes and forms. Irregular and highly impractical, the transformation process reveals the magic of creating with nature.
We’re delighted to have Fiona returning to the gallery after her residency in 2022, and she will also spend some time in residence during this exhibition. Rather than a fully fledged show, the residency will allow Fiona to continue adding to and shaping the exhibition as it and the natural materials it uses evolve over time.
Held over the winter of 2023/2024, the exhibition will draw attention to botanics at a time of year when most are dead and appear to have little value. Whether it’s rusty and twisted metal, gnarled bark or dried out contorted blooms, the movement, texture and patina all work together to create a wonderful narrative in the melding of botanics and intriguing objects in Fiona’s work.
About the Artist: Fiona Pickles
After almost twenty years working in the printing industry Fiona created Firenza Floral Design (later Firenza Flowers) in 2005, designing mainly contract flowers and weddings.
In 2012, guided by the love of her garden and determined to further embrace her natural aesthetic, Fiona started growing a few herbs and flowers as well as using local, artisan flower growers, when there were very few small-scale cut flower growers in the UK.
In 2015 Fiona started a new journey embracing her love of the imperfect and unusual and at the end of 2020 she finally started working under her name.
In January 2022 Fiona fully embraced being a creative and an artist by starting her residency here at Artworks. Still working with florals and botanicals, Fiona is also developing other disciplines, techniques and ways to embrace imperfection and nature.
To find out more about Fiona’s work, visit www.fionapickles.com or follow Fiona on Instagram.
Check out this video of Fiona talking about her work during her 2022 residency with us.
