Studio Secrets with Phoebe Cummings

What does a typical day in the studio look like for you?

My days rarely look the same, there is so much planning and preparation that goes on before the making stage.  I may work on components in the studio but the most intensive part of the process happens on site.  I love working directly in the space where the work is shown and that there is no separation between where the work is made and where it is experienced by the viewer.

Do you have any rituals connected to your practice?

I have a candle given to me by Turkish artist Candeğer Furtun a few years ago, she has worked with clay for over 60 years. I like to light it when I begin a project, so it often comes in my suitcase when I travel for work too.

What can’t you live without in your studio?

I have only had a studio space at home for the past 5 years and I like the freedom of not relying on too much in terms of equipment and space.  The essential elements for me are clay, a bucket of water and time - beyond that I can work anywhere.

How did you come to work with the unique wet clay medium your works are so recognised for?

I studied a mixed materials course at BA but I found myself increasingly drawn back to clay, I love the immediacy of it, that it responds to every touch.  It is very direct. Whilst studying I still fired the work in a kiln, though I was always considering how what I made interacted with its environment rather than being a contained object.  After studying I began to work only with raw clay as a very practical solution to being unable to afford a studio or equipment. However, the raw state quickly became embedded conceptually in what the work is. I think a lot about how objects and materials perform over time, how the material breathes, how both the human body and clay share water.  I am interested in sculpture as an experience and atmosphere, not just as a solid object.  

What do you love most about the medium?

There are so many things I love about clay as a material, but its ability to be infinitely dissolved and reformed is particularly special. It offers endless potential in its raw state.

What themes inspired Deepfake Eden?

Nature is a big inspiration within this work, and all of my work, considering how we relate, care, belong and attempt to control it. Often the work is composed of botanical elements, sometimes this relates to the histories of specific plants or places, or sometimes it explores the shifts between nature and design (and back again). I enjoy that clay has arrived from the weathering of rocks or other natural processes, it is organic and inorganic, it is the land and earth.  Fiction is always an important aspect within the work, here there is a questioning of the boundaries and gaps; between reality and fiction, past, present and future, object and performance, growth and ornament, what we see and what we know.

How do you think Arcual's Digital Dossier feature can help artists?

The Digital Dossier is an interesting feature which enables artists to amplify the storytelling around their artworks, to set out how it has come to be, and to outline how it might best be presented in the world.  I think it supports the collection of ephemeral work and allows an archive to grow around a piece.

Which artist/s working today most inspires you?

That’s such a tough question, as there are so many, but Cassils, Nina Cannel, Anne Hardy, Richard Wright, and Anya Gallacio to name a few.

What are some of your career highlights?

I have been fortunate to make work in a lot of amazing locations and I love building the work directly on site, it always has an impact on the work. I particularly enjoyed a six-month residency at the V&A.  It was so inspiring to spend time with the collection daily for that period of time and to make ephemeral work in the context of the museum which has such a deep commitment to preservation and stability.

What would you be if you weren't an artist?

I am obsessed with books and fascinated by plants so I imagine something connected to those areas, though by the time I was 5 I was sure I wanted to be an artist, even though I had never actually met one.

What does a typical day in the studio look like for you?

My day’s rarely look the same, there is so much planning and preparation that goes on before the making stage.  I may work on components in the studio but the most intensive part of the process happens on site.  I love working directly in the space where the work is shown and that there is no separation between where the work is made and where it is experienced by the viewer.

‍

Subscribe to our monthly newsletter for the latest art and technology news and more stories from Arcual's community of innovators.

‍