"Liz Clifford's practice amalgamates found objects, flora and detritus in caged durational sculptures that resist being contained. These socio-geological studies speak directly to the climate crisis and the effect of the Anthropocene on our Earth. Through spillages onto the spaces they inhabit, the works remind us of the fallacy of controlling the land, as it seeps through the hands of its controller." Ricardo Reverón Blanco. Curator and Programme Manager at Aspex Portsmouth.
"Liz Clifford's practice amalgamates found objects, flora and detritus in caged durational sculptures that resist being contained. These socio-geological studies speak directly to the climate crisis and the effect of the Anthropocene on our Earth. Through spillages onto the spaces they inhabit, the works remind us of the fallacy of controlling the land, as it seeps through the hands of its controller." Ricardo Reverón Blanco. Curator and Programme Manager at Aspex Portsmouth.
https://www.ricardoreveronblanco.org/
The work is concerned, on a micro level, with a narrow locale and specific objects. However, on a macro level it is engaged with discourse about geological time, climate change and environmental breakdown.
Central to my practice is the daily act of walking in the landscape of the South Downs National Park. It is where materials and subject matter are found. The walk is an act of self-care as well as care for the place, clearing litter as I go. The human-made detritus I collect, the materiality of those objects, the act of walking and the hill itself are my subject matter.
This repetitive focus on landscape and geology has allowed me to explore concerns around fossil-fuelled recreation, plastic-waste, and erosion in the work.
Debate around the politics of litter, explored by rural sociologist Rosemary Shirley, have prompted a closer look at my own reactions to what I find. Litter in a rural context is not tidied away but has a striking and enduring presence that often throws up ironic juxtapositions.
I have experimented with placing rubbish-filled gabion baskets, which are themselves associated with the geo-engineering of flood defence in the face of rising sea-levels, on the site of the littering and have made works that tidy it all away inside the structures. The 1:10 ratio of biomass to human-made detritus in the work is a reference to that outlined by field geologist Jan Zalasiewicz in his essay The Anthropocene Square Meter which helps to visualize the enormity of human impact on the earth.
The most recent sculptures explore tensions between the natural and the manmade with particular reference to the ability of trees to grow around human-imposed constraints. The materials, salvaged from the landscape and the domestic sphere, are both soft and hard. The soft forms are bound with rusty fencing wire and break free of the steel gabions at the core of the pieces, hinting at evolving hybrid beings. Reference is made to the human body through scale and the grouping of pieces. Their potential for movement is expressed through the materiality of the discarded items including the springiness of salvaged steel rod.
2021 - M.A. Fine Art, University for the Creative Arts, Farnham
1985 - B.Ed.(Hons) Fine Art and Education, Homerton College, University of Cambridge
Member of Splynta Collective
Associate Artist, Chapel Arts Studios, Andover, Hampshire
Group Exhibitions and Projects.
2023
Little Forest Land Art Competition, Boarhunt, Hampshire.
Splynta/s p l i n t e r, Black Box Project Space, UCA, Farnham, Surrey.
2022
Transient Traces, UCA Farnham Sculpture Garden, Surrey.
Boundaries, Hampshire Sculpture Trust at West Downs Gallery, University of Winchester.
Gallery No.32, Sculpture park, Bexley, London.
2021
Haus a Rest, Land Art. Curated online exhibtion.
Alt-terior, 2021 MA Fine Art Graduates, James Hockey Gallery, UCA Farnham, Surrey
Bedrock, The Oast House, Farnham, Surrey
Forgotten Thought, MA Fine Art UCA Farnham Exhibition, Safehouse 1, Peckham, London
Unsettled Focus, MA Fine Art UCA Farnham Exhibition, South Molton St Gallery, London
Artists Responding To A.R.T. online zine Issue 7
The Sky Has No Surface. Curated online exhibition.
Beyond the Boundaries. University for the Creative Arts, Farnham and online @undertowprojects
2020
Haus a Rest. The Environment. Curated online exhibition.
You Are Here. Curated online exhibition.
Under(cover) - Art made during lockdown. Instagram. mafineartucafarnham
2019
Objections, Linear Gallery, University for the Creative Arts, Farnham
2017
Inspired by the Word, Petersfield Museum, Hampshire
2015
10 days Chalk, The Winchester Gallery, Winchester School of Art, Winchester, Hampshire
2014
Mottisfont Open, National Trust, Mottisfont Abbey, Romsey, Hampshire
2011
Under The Beeches, public woodland, rural Hampshire
2009
Hampshire Sculpture Trust, The Winchester Gallery, Winchester School of Art, Hampshire
In To Land, Arlington Arts Centre, Newbury, Berkshire
2008
Auf Europaïsche Art, Historischen Rathaus, Warendorf, Germany
Hampshire Sculpture Trust, Winchester Gallery, Winchester School of Art, Hampshire
2007
PAinT Arts Trail, Open Studio, The Avenue, Petersfield, Hampshire
2000
Art in the Garden, Beatrice Royal Gallery, Eastleigh, Hampshire
Little Gems, Beatrice Royal Gallery, Eastleigh, Hampshire
1999
Women's Work, Willis Museum, Basingstoke, Hampshire
1998
Open Dialogue, Forest Arts, New Milton, Hampshire
Voyage around George Staunton, Staunton Country Park, Havant - Hampshire Sculpture Trust
1997
Hiding Places, Red House Museum, Christchurch, Dorset - collaboration with Kate Miller
1996
Angels and Mechanics - Touring to Riverside Studios, South Hill Park Arts Centre, Tullie House - London, Bracknell and Carlisle
Touchables, Blackfriars Arts Centre, Boston, Lincolnshire
Unfamiliar Familiarity, Winchester Contemporary Art, Hampshire
1994
Sculpins, Dartington Arts, Devon - collaboration with Jilly Sutton
Whitechapel Open, Whitechapel Gallery, London
1993
London Group, Barbican Centre, London
Feast, Hardware Gallery, London
1992
Barbican Arts Group Trust, Sutton House, National Trust, London
1991
Lyth Arts Centre, Caithness, Scotland
Princes Trust, Fifteenth Anniversary, Windsor
1990
Beast, Submarine Gallery, London
1989
Barbican Arts Group Trust, Metropole Arts Centre, Folkestone
Reactivart, Submarine Gallery, London
Solo Exhibitions and Projects.
2021
Byway 745 Observatory, Wheatham Hill, Hampshire
1999
Forest Arts Centre, New Milton, Hampshire
1992
Academy Literary Club, London
High Water, Omphalos Arts, Sandwich, Kent
1991
St Bartholomew's Hospital, London
1990
Burial at Sea, Windsor Arts Centre, Berkshire
Submarine Gallery, London
1988
Hardware Gallery, London
Residencies, Talks and Workshops
2023 Artists' talk, Little Forest Land Art Competition
2022 Artists’ Walk & Talk, Gallery No.32, Bexley, London
2021 Artist’s talk and tutorials, Fine Art Foundation Course, University for the Creative Arts
2021 Digital Residency @undertowprojects
2020 Artist’s talk and tutorials, Fine Art Foundation Course, University for the Creative Arts
1997 Workshop leader for Hiding Places, Red House Museum, Christchurch, Dorset
1996 Workshop leader, Andover Museum, Andover, Hampshire
1994 Barbican Arts Group Trust, St. Dominic's Junior School, Hackney, London
1991 Artist in Residence, Lyth Arts Centre, Caithness, Scotland
Awards
2023 Winner, Little Forest Land Art Competition
Curatorial Projects
Forgotten Thought, MA Fine Art UCA Farnham Exhibition, Safehouse 1, Peckham, London
Work in Collections
Clare College, Cambridge
St Thomas' Hospital, London
