This document takes several forms: pdf, docx, pages, plus this is online at: https://www.charlottehumpston.com/dedicated-rwa-page.html
All relevant images can be found below or separately at this link: https://www.charlottehumpston.com/rwa-images-only.html
All relevant images can be found below or separately at this link: https://www.charlottehumpston.com/rwa-images-only.html
Charlotte Humpston - Application to become a member of the RWA
NOTE - all active links are in blue
1) Why do you want to become a member of the RWA and how can you contribute to the activities of the RWA. (max 150 words)
Recently Fibre Art has been accepted within the international practice of Fine Art (including the more conceptual areas) and as there are no other fibre artists in the RWA I shall champion this form to provide knowledge and also leadership in the area. Since studying at Central St. Martins and working within set & costume design I have embraced the 3 dimensional possibilities of fabrics and the armature, to fashion soft materials into sculptural installations. I realised these materials express something about the human condition that other materials cannot. I qualified as a teacher in fabrication and so would be able to offer courses to the RWA. Living in Somerset I am part of a network of artists and should I be accepted, with my own RWA accreditation I shall be a keen proponent of helping develop the RWA such that it evolves and flourishes on its onward journey.
2) CV of Exhibitions, Gallery representation, Commissions, Works in Public Collections (if applicable)
Upcoming Solo Exhibitions - UK and Abroad
2027 Grace Cathedral, Re: Formation Wrapped Columns, large Version
2026 Gloucester Cathedral, Re: Formation, large Version
2025 St John's Glastonbury, Re: Formation, small version
Solo Exhibitions - UK
2024 - Solo Exhibition, Orchard Studio, SAW event, September
2023 - Solo exhibition, Heritage Courtyard Gallery Somerset
2023 - Solo Somerset Open Studios - fibre art & paintings.
2022 - Somerset Open Studios - fibre art & paintings
2021- Somerset Open Studios - fibre art & paintings
2020 -Somerset Open Studios - fibre art & paintings
2019 - Alfred Gillett Trust Somerset, Cradlebridge Installation on the subject of Grief - for International Woman's Day.
2018 - Red Brick Building Gallery Solo show Installation of Pods
2017 - Alfred Gillett Trust Somerset Site specific installation Golden Bough (with screening of to To Stand and Stare: A Somerset Landscape)
2014 - Solo Exhibition at Centre Space, Bristol. Seven pieces of Fibre Art & Video/Textile installations- Moving Paintings
Group Exhibitions
2024 Group show SMartCulture Somerset
2022 Venice, (with Terry Flaxton RWA, Lucy Williams)
2021 ACE arts Somerton, 'Fifty Bees': ACE Group show
2019 - ‘Reformation’ Exhibition at Bishop’s Palace, Wells. Installation ‘Golden Exodus’ Fibre Sculptures
2019 ACE Somerton Dove Arts Printmakers & Calligraphy, Circle of Trees, Artists Books, Curated by Bronwen Bradshaw RWA
2019 'Hanging by a Thread', Heritage Courtyard Wells
2018 Bath Reclamation - Moving Paintings textile pieces in an exhibition with Terry Flaxton RWA
2018 Inside:Outside with Bronwen Bradshaw RWA, Terry Flaxton RWA, Emily Burridge, Cellist (Members of Avalon State Choir)
see Books, Scrolls, Calligraphy, Performance for description
2018 Heritage Courtyard Wells
2017 Heritage Courtyard Gallery Installation Fibre Sculptures ‘Pods’
2016 Heritage Courtyard Gallery, ‘Exodus’ Fibre Art installation
2011 Somerset Arts Exhibition of paintings & textile artwork.
2010 Bristol 204 Imaginists
2008, Imaginists, Venice
2011 Somerset Arts Exhibition of paintings & textile artwork.
2010 Bristol 204 Imaginists
2008, Imaginists, Venice
For 2008 - 2016 see Collaborative Exhibitions which included working in the USA, China, Italy, Sweden, Malta & the UK
Screenings of Moving Image Art Work
To Stand and Stare: A Somerset Landscape made by myself and Terry Flaxton.
2019 - Screened at Echo Park Film Centre, in Los Angeles
2018 The Watershed, Bristol
2017 Alfred Gillett Trust.
Collaborative Exhibitions
2019 Outside:Inside, an hour long performance with musicians, singers
2010, Imaginists 204 Gallery - Bristol
2009, Imaginists, Phoenix Project -Glastonbury, 2009.
2008, Imaginists, Scarabocchio Graphic Gallery Venice,.
2005 The Hotel Group show occupying the Ashley Court Hotel in Bristol.
2010 to 2017 Installs of In Other People's Skins OPS and the Intersection of Dreams, which I designed for Terry Flaxton: USA New York Cathedral -(St John the Design) 5 separate installs, Vasteras Cathedral, Sweden, Fabbrica del Vapore Milan, Italy, Malta, Valetta Contemporary Arts Centre, Xi'an China, Academy of Fine Art + 7 UK Cathedrals, as well as Bath Abbey & Southwell Minster
3) Prizes, awards, publications, etc.
2019 ACE Award - Dove Arts commission for Ogham Book
2011 Heritage Lottery Grant for Portraits of the Working People of Somerset 4 Exhibitions in Somerset (Glastonbury Abbey, Bath Museum of Work, Rural Life Museum Glastonbury) - and an experimental art documentary
1990 BAFTA nomination for Star Test
1989 Edinburgh Fringe First Award for Frida and Diego
1988 Edinburgh Fringe First Award for Le Misanthrope
1987 Edinburgh Fringe First Award for The Duchess of Malfi
4) Teaching/ lecturing experience, workshops, residencies undertaken.
2015, Artist’s Lecture given in Vancouver, at the International. Symposium for Electronic Arts on the Cradlebridge project.
2009 Talk at Bath Abbey – artist’s contribution to the installation In Other Peoples Skins.
2002-2007 Design & Technology Teacher - A Level & O Level Textile Design at The Blue School, Wells.
5) Other relevant work experience and employment.
2016 Brisons Veor Residential Artist Studio, Cape Cornwall
2008, Co- founded The Imaginists an artists group who created projects and
exhibited in Venice in 2008 & 2022 and in Somerset 2009 & 2018.
1982 - 1992 A variety of Theatre & Film Design of Sets & Costume - within this period, Co-founded Red Shift Theatre Company and designer costumes & sets for 10yrs.
6) Have you exhibited at the RWA (give exhibitions and dates) and/or been involved in its activities
I have been concentrating on redeveloping my relationship to art via a set of new practices and exhibitions for the last ten years. I now feel confident in my direction and I will next apply to the 2025 RWA Open regardless of the outcome of this application. Should I become an academician I will help with spreading the word on the possibilities of fibre art and the prominence of the RWA, not only in the South West of the UK, but further afield.
7) Qualifications, training, courses attended
MA Fine Art Bath 2014 - 2016
PGCE in Fine Art, Bath Spa University 2002
PGCE in Design & Technology, Bath Spa University 2001
BA Hons in 3D & Theatre Design – Central St. Martins, London 1977 - 1980
Arts Foundation Diploma High Wycombe 1976 - 1977
8) Artists StatementI make installations using fibre, textiles and ubiquitous or re-cycled materials to create a dialogue with the audience, so that contemporary issues are challenged and long running themes in human experience are examined. My sculptural and installation works use materials specifically linked to concepts, such that the materials are recognisable as having meaning through the audiences own experience of them. For example an old cardigan, knitting yarn, a survival blanket, or copper wire, all have a common meaning around insulation: the retention of heat in an environmentally sustainable way.
In my project Exodus which was a response to the Syrian refugees crisis, I focused on embodying the idea of people having to escape from terrible situations carrying very few possessions - essentially the clothes on their backs - where on meeting the European climate they then shed them for a survival blanket and eventually European clothes. Through felting together re-cycled clothes, wool & yarns, I created large sculptural works using recognisably domestic materials with vibrant colours and strong textural qualities. I next continued this strategy in an Alfred Gillett Trust commission: in Golden Bough I wrapped trees in a Somerset orchard with gold survival blankets (used by first responders to stem hypothermia) and wool. My point being that there is an environmental crisis affecting nature too. On a more aesthetically discrete level, where the material and the concept are entwined, in my Pods project, where insulation & mindfulness is the theme - I use similar materials, though more in keeping with the pod becoming a metaphor for enfoldment.
From 2025 forwards I begin the first phase of Re:Formation, the wrapping of church columns with gold survival blankets and wool to re-emphasise the refugee crisis. In my practice I attempt to make clear to the viewer the materials I’ve chosen have significance, generating shared meaning.
9) Maximum of 10 digital images of your work which can include videos of installation and time-based work. It is important that you state the medium or materials used, dimensions or scale and dates when made.
10 IMAGES DIRECTLY BELOW - scroll down
OR CLICK HERE TO SEE 10 IMAGES On another Page
or type this URL into a browser:
https://www.charlottehumpston.com/rwa-images-only.html
Website charlottehumpston.com
NOTE - all active links are in blue
1) Why do you want to become a member of the RWA and how can you contribute to the activities of the RWA. (max 150 words)
Recently Fibre Art has been accepted within the international practice of Fine Art (including the more conceptual areas) and as there are no other fibre artists in the RWA I shall champion this form to provide knowledge and also leadership in the area. Since studying at Central St. Martins and working within set & costume design I have embraced the 3 dimensional possibilities of fabrics and the armature, to fashion soft materials into sculptural installations. I realised these materials express something about the human condition that other materials cannot. I qualified as a teacher in fabrication and so would be able to offer courses to the RWA. Living in Somerset I am part of a network of artists and should I be accepted, with my own RWA accreditation I shall be a keen proponent of helping develop the RWA such that it evolves and flourishes on its onward journey.
2) CV of Exhibitions, Gallery representation, Commissions, Works in Public Collections (if applicable)
Upcoming Solo Exhibitions - UK and Abroad
2027 Grace Cathedral, Re: Formation Wrapped Columns, large Version
2026 Gloucester Cathedral, Re: Formation, large Version
2025 St John's Glastonbury, Re: Formation, small version
Solo Exhibitions - UK
2024 - Solo Exhibition, Orchard Studio, SAW event, September
2023 - Solo exhibition, Heritage Courtyard Gallery Somerset
2023 - Solo Somerset Open Studios - fibre art & paintings.
2022 - Somerset Open Studios - fibre art & paintings
2021- Somerset Open Studios - fibre art & paintings
2020 -Somerset Open Studios - fibre art & paintings
2019 - Alfred Gillett Trust Somerset, Cradlebridge Installation on the subject of Grief - for International Woman's Day.
2018 - Red Brick Building Gallery Solo show Installation of Pods
2017 - Alfred Gillett Trust Somerset Site specific installation Golden Bough (with screening of to To Stand and Stare: A Somerset Landscape)
2014 - Solo Exhibition at Centre Space, Bristol. Seven pieces of Fibre Art & Video/Textile installations- Moving Paintings
Group Exhibitions
2024 Group show SMartCulture Somerset
2022 Venice, (with Terry Flaxton RWA, Lucy Williams)
2021 ACE arts Somerton, 'Fifty Bees': ACE Group show
2019 - ‘Reformation’ Exhibition at Bishop’s Palace, Wells. Installation ‘Golden Exodus’ Fibre Sculptures
2019 ACE Somerton Dove Arts Printmakers & Calligraphy, Circle of Trees, Artists Books, Curated by Bronwen Bradshaw RWA
2019 'Hanging by a Thread', Heritage Courtyard Wells
2018 Bath Reclamation - Moving Paintings textile pieces in an exhibition with Terry Flaxton RWA
2018 Inside:Outside with Bronwen Bradshaw RWA, Terry Flaxton RWA, Emily Burridge, Cellist (Members of Avalon State Choir)
see Books, Scrolls, Calligraphy, Performance for description
2018 Heritage Courtyard Wells
2017 Heritage Courtyard Gallery Installation Fibre Sculptures ‘Pods’
2016 Heritage Courtyard Gallery, ‘Exodus’ Fibre Art installation
2011 Somerset Arts Exhibition of paintings & textile artwork.
2010 Bristol 204 Imaginists
2008, Imaginists, Venice
2011 Somerset Arts Exhibition of paintings & textile artwork.
2010 Bristol 204 Imaginists
2008, Imaginists, Venice
For 2008 - 2016 see Collaborative Exhibitions which included working in the USA, China, Italy, Sweden, Malta & the UK
Screenings of Moving Image Art Work
To Stand and Stare: A Somerset Landscape made by myself and Terry Flaxton.
2019 - Screened at Echo Park Film Centre, in Los Angeles
2018 The Watershed, Bristol
2017 Alfred Gillett Trust.
Collaborative Exhibitions
2019 Outside:Inside, an hour long performance with musicians, singers
2010, Imaginists 204 Gallery - Bristol
2009, Imaginists, Phoenix Project -Glastonbury, 2009.
2008, Imaginists, Scarabocchio Graphic Gallery Venice,.
2005 The Hotel Group show occupying the Ashley Court Hotel in Bristol.
2010 to 2017 Installs of In Other People's Skins OPS and the Intersection of Dreams, which I designed for Terry Flaxton: USA New York Cathedral -(St John the Design) 5 separate installs, Vasteras Cathedral, Sweden, Fabbrica del Vapore Milan, Italy, Malta, Valetta Contemporary Arts Centre, Xi'an China, Academy of Fine Art + 7 UK Cathedrals, as well as Bath Abbey & Southwell Minster
3) Prizes, awards, publications, etc.
2019 ACE Award - Dove Arts commission for Ogham Book
2011 Heritage Lottery Grant for Portraits of the Working People of Somerset 4 Exhibitions in Somerset (Glastonbury Abbey, Bath Museum of Work, Rural Life Museum Glastonbury) - and an experimental art documentary
1990 BAFTA nomination for Star Test
1989 Edinburgh Fringe First Award for Frida and Diego
1988 Edinburgh Fringe First Award for Le Misanthrope
1987 Edinburgh Fringe First Award for The Duchess of Malfi
4) Teaching/ lecturing experience, workshops, residencies undertaken.
2015, Artist’s Lecture given in Vancouver, at the International. Symposium for Electronic Arts on the Cradlebridge project.
2009 Talk at Bath Abbey – artist’s contribution to the installation In Other Peoples Skins.
2002-2007 Design & Technology Teacher - A Level & O Level Textile Design at The Blue School, Wells.
5) Other relevant work experience and employment.
2016 Brisons Veor Residential Artist Studio, Cape Cornwall
2008, Co- founded The Imaginists an artists group who created projects and
exhibited in Venice in 2008 & 2022 and in Somerset 2009 & 2018.
1982 - 1992 A variety of Theatre & Film Design of Sets & Costume - within this period, Co-founded Red Shift Theatre Company and designer costumes & sets for 10yrs.
6) Have you exhibited at the RWA (give exhibitions and dates) and/or been involved in its activities
I have been concentrating on redeveloping my relationship to art via a set of new practices and exhibitions for the last ten years. I now feel confident in my direction and I will next apply to the 2025 RWA Open regardless of the outcome of this application. Should I become an academician I will help with spreading the word on the possibilities of fibre art and the prominence of the RWA, not only in the South West of the UK, but further afield.
7) Qualifications, training, courses attended
MA Fine Art Bath 2014 - 2016
PGCE in Fine Art, Bath Spa University 2002
PGCE in Design & Technology, Bath Spa University 2001
BA Hons in 3D & Theatre Design – Central St. Martins, London 1977 - 1980
Arts Foundation Diploma High Wycombe 1976 - 1977
8) Artists StatementI make installations using fibre, textiles and ubiquitous or re-cycled materials to create a dialogue with the audience, so that contemporary issues are challenged and long running themes in human experience are examined. My sculptural and installation works use materials specifically linked to concepts, such that the materials are recognisable as having meaning through the audiences own experience of them. For example an old cardigan, knitting yarn, a survival blanket, or copper wire, all have a common meaning around insulation: the retention of heat in an environmentally sustainable way.
In my project Exodus which was a response to the Syrian refugees crisis, I focused on embodying the idea of people having to escape from terrible situations carrying very few possessions - essentially the clothes on their backs - where on meeting the European climate they then shed them for a survival blanket and eventually European clothes. Through felting together re-cycled clothes, wool & yarns, I created large sculptural works using recognisably domestic materials with vibrant colours and strong textural qualities. I next continued this strategy in an Alfred Gillett Trust commission: in Golden Bough I wrapped trees in a Somerset orchard with gold survival blankets (used by first responders to stem hypothermia) and wool. My point being that there is an environmental crisis affecting nature too. On a more aesthetically discrete level, where the material and the concept are entwined, in my Pods project, where insulation & mindfulness is the theme - I use similar materials, though more in keeping with the pod becoming a metaphor for enfoldment.
From 2025 forwards I begin the first phase of Re:Formation, the wrapping of church columns with gold survival blankets and wool to re-emphasise the refugee crisis. In my practice I attempt to make clear to the viewer the materials I’ve chosen have significance, generating shared meaning.
9) Maximum of 10 digital images of your work which can include videos of installation and time-based work. It is important that you state the medium or materials used, dimensions or scale and dates when made.
10 IMAGES DIRECTLY BELOW - scroll down
OR CLICK HERE TO SEE 10 IMAGES On another Page
or type this URL into a browser:
https://www.charlottehumpston.com/rwa-images-only.html
Website charlottehumpston.com
Website: CharlotteHumspton.com