Enriching the creative learning environment of the College, the
Artist-in-Residence programme sees a series of professional artists
living and working onsite, amongst Visual Arts students. They offer
tutorial sessions with students as well as public presentations on
the work produced during the residency and their wider
practice.
Previous resident artists include the dancer and choreographer,
Florence Peake, who spent three-weeks in the
Edward James Studios as part of a series of residencies organised
in collaboration with Cass Sculpture Foundation. West Dean College
also partnered with the De La Warr Pavilion for the 2017 Caroline
Achaintre residency project, during which she made a
series of ceramics works for the exhibition 'Fantomas' at the DLWP.
Yelena Popova, a Russian artist based in the UK,
focused her residency on developing natural ceramic glazes using a
variety of materials sourced from the West Dean Estate and local
area. The 2018 programme was selected via an Open Call with
selected resident including Gabriele Beveridge, Katie
Schwab, and Ross Taylor.
During 2017, leading sculptor Eva Rothschild,
undertook an open residency, collaborating with West Dean Visual
Arts tutor and Master Weaver Phil Sanderson at the West Dean Tapestry Studio. This project was the
result of the 2016 Tapestry Commission Open Call which has
led to a new Rothschild work, handwoven at West Dean, the final
design titled Thefallowfield is on show at Collect 2018.
Image: Work in progress by Florence Peake CASS Sculpture
Foundation/West Dean College Artist-in-Residence 2017. From her
body of work inspired by Igor Stravinsky's musical score The Rite
of Spring. Supported by Arts Council England.
Gabriele Beveridge has just completed her artist-in-residence here and has shared images from some of her recent explorations. The darkroom and Tapestry Studio featured during her stay along with ceramics work. Her darkroom images were inspired by both the landscape and her tapestry induction. For Gabriele the residency at West Dean offered an opportunity to study in a unique environment, suffused with the rich history of the Surrealist movement. Her work explores the "peculiar pleasures" and frustrations of contemporary life within a commodity driven world. See more of Gabriela's work here