Pensychnant is a special place. A 150 acre Victorian Estate nestled within the outstanding natural beauty of the Sychnant Pass, with unhindered walks to the summits of the Carneddau mountains and views across the North Wales coast. A place to really appreciate nature, and our place in nature. A great place to have my art on exhibition all of Summer 2024.
www.pensychnant.co.uk
Poetry Makes Me Smile
Delighted to be part of this exhibition to celebrate World Poetry Day 2023.
Worldwide Exhibition
Delighted that two of my pieces (The Flow of Time and Trip the Light Fantastic) have an honorable mention in Art Room Gallery’s worldwide Waters Exhibition. If you like water, head over to the online exhibition to see some beautiful pieces https://www.artroomgalleryonline.com/current_exhibition.html
A Welsh-Speaking Lamb
I’m developing my work with Larry and Andy and his friends as they still have a lot to say! I’ve been particularly mindful of Larry this week as the Royal Academy Summer Exhibition 2021 is in full swing and Larry was on those very same walls in 2019.
Larry has seen a lot of life and come to the conclusion that being able to find simplicity from complexity is the way to go, the way to be. Grandma made Larry a very long time ago. He is a Welsh-speaking lamb, strong and steady despite his slightly worn appearance. He doesn’t follow the flock and has a mind of his own.
Like some of his friends, Larry was inspired by Benjamin Hoff's book The Tao of Pooh. In this book, Pooh is described as the "uncarved block,'' a bear in tune with his natural inner self. Like Pooh, Larry is now able to experience living without complexity. Larry spends time with Andy and his friends who all have a story to tell.
Larry is keen to tell me more of his stories so….watch this space.
Royal Academy Summer Exhibition 2019
It feels so special that Larry is part of this year’s Summer Exhibition and hanging in Gallery III. The Summer Exhibition has run without interruption since 1769, it is the world’s largest open submission art show and brings together art in all mediums – prints and paintings, film, photography, sculpture, architectural works and more – by leading artists, Royal Academicians and household names as well as new and emerging talent. Around 1,500 works are on display from selected artists and Royal Acadamecians.
The varnishing day experience was particularly special, it felt great to be amongst such talented artists and to know that the greater artist community is large and strong and able to provide positivity and creativity in times when other aspects of life may seem turbulent and uncertain! It was both celebratory and emotional to see my work amongst all the other work on the walls of the Royal Academy.
The Summer Exhibition is open to the public and runs until August 12th.
https://www.royalacademy.org.uk/exhibition/summer-exhibition-2019
Larry can also be seen at www.fiburke.com
The Overdraught
Proud to have been a small part of the creative team who manifested Nottingham's newest craft beer pub in Canning Circus - The Overdraught. Formerly being a bank (and fancy dress shop!) gave me lots of scope to research the unique heritage of this building. I never knew that Nat West’s origins date back to 1658 with the foundation of Smith's Bank of Nottingham - just streets away from The Overdraught.
According to the British Museum, early reactions to the introduction of bank notes varied. A local note from East Anglia was inscribed with the following cynical verse:
The rage for banking now is grown
So great in country and in town,
That all our Rags, Shirts, Shifts and Coates,
Will soon be turned to One Pound Notes
There are also big links with local Derbyshire industries and the development of banking.
"The early mechanization of the textile industry and the applications of new technologies, including Richard Arkwright’s (Derbyshire) water frame for the cotton spinning wheel, revolutionized production in the textile mills. More efficient ways of weaving cotton helped Manchester become the most important British centre of the cotton industry (often called ‘Cottonopolis’) and the world’s first industrial city. Paper money issued in Lancashire shows the importance of the textile industry in the county."
If you are a craft beer fan, you are in for a treat.
Open Studios 24/11 to 26/11
Excited to be welcoming visitors to this annual event. New works mixed with old favourites.
Constable's Continuum - Work in Progress
Like many of us, my early exposure to the works of Constable were reproductions en mass on placemats - not particularly inspiring. His work has often divided opinion and been misunderstood though made familiar by these reproductions and I suspect many of us might have been put off taking a deeper look at his art because of this commerciality.
More recently, Constable came back into my life by chance via my work with windmills as his father ran a mill at Flatford. Because I believe that studying the work of other artist’s (in any art form) can take us somewhere we don’t even know we want to go to and can inspire us with new perspectives, I let the research lead the way!
Having already explored and researched ’Constable Country’ near his father's mill in Suffolk, I felt compelled this year to discover the other places Constable had painted, lived and frequently visited. This took me to Hampstead Heath with an open mind and open eyes to discover what links the artist of then to the artist of now i.e. me!
Hampstead Heath is enjoyed by many visitors but is no longer the grazing land way above the city that it was in Constable’s day. Greater London has now surrounded this green oasis yet tranquillity can still be found there.
What struck me on the hills looking out to the same spots Constable once surveyed, was not the structures below but the clouds above and how they contain the waters of time. The vapours from the planes which travel form time zone to time zone, across latitude and longitudes. Navigating the seas of the sky.
In the graveyard of the 300-year-old Church of St John in Hampstead itself, I discovered Constable’s grave underneath the canopy of an old tree. This peaceful spot encouraged a longer than scheduled visit and an unexpected encounter with the grave of John Harrison. Unknown to me previously, Harrison’s genius ‘time machine’ (marine chronometers and many others) creations have inspired me to think differently again about time and how art can give us glimpses of times now passed and enable us to find the things that connect us, the things that we experience regardless of time. I am excited at the prospect of the new works I am creating as a result of this research, art which will bring together the works of 3 artists of very different output forms…Constable, Harrison and Burke!
Kant's Sublime Shortlisted
It has been a good year so far for Kant's Sublime as it was shortlisted for the Royal Academy Summer Exhibition and National Open Art Competition.
The Kant's Sublime was inspired by a lecture. Studying extracts from The Critique of Judgement by German Philosopher Kant I was fascinated by his theories on art; ways of seeing, interior and exterior mapping in the mind.
I became transfixed by the marks on the edges of the photocopied lecture handouts, making copies of these copies. I cut them up, collaged them and photographed them over again.
A simple photocopy sent me thinking about Kant’s philosophies in the everyday. These prints are a visual outcome of his theories on perception. Hundreds of years later his thoughts have both informed and become part of my landscape.
Road Trip
Last week took me on a road trip to Suffolk and Norfolk, I met some fab people and didn't give my camera a rest as I gathered source material for new works.
Exhibition at Déda
A large number of my prints will be on exhibition at Derby's fabulous Déda over the summer. The exhibition is free. For more information, please visit http://www.deda.uk.com/whats-on/fi-burke/
Featured in Inside Artists Magazine
Happy to be featured in Inside Artists print and online edition.
In the image of Kant
After attending a symposium about the German philosopher Kant, I became fascinated by his theories on art, ways of seeing, interior and exterior mapping of the mind.
Although intrigued by his theories, I also found myself transfixed by the physicality of his words; specifically the edges of the pages of his ‘Critique of Judgment’ manifested as parallel marks made by the photocopied handouts
I introduced these marks to my mapping process; collage, camera lens and software.
Two and a half centuries later his thoughts have informed both perception and representation by becoming part of my visual outcomes.
Crafty Sparrow Exhibition
Crafty Sparrow
Exhibition runs to the end of 2015 and includes a selection of my framed prints.
Since Sliced Bread Exhibition
I have been struck by the huge part a Miller once played in our lives, how his (or her) relationship with nature and the amazing engineering of the Mill (dating back to the 1200’s) put food on our tables through hard graft. To me, Millers and the people who work just as hard as them today to bring field to fork are unsung heroes; where would we be without them?
The Since Sliced Bread solo exhibition at Ayscoughfee Hall Museum is the culmination of an immersive year of artistic research into the Windmills and communities of Lincolnshire. This fresh body of work presents a unique way of looking at our relationship with the 'Field to Fork' journey.
Works include a field of hand made white windmills placed in an enigmatic grid, reflecting on the unsung roles of Millers and farmers, in our lives throughout history. The field adopts the standard layout of WW1 cemeteries in France. They are redundant, trapped in a windless Medieval brick Undercroft. A community ‘garden of wisdom’ and other pieces appropriate cupboards and nooks and crannies to infiltrate the architecture of Ayscoughfee Hall.
The exhibition runs from October 8th to December 14th, 2014. Wednesday – Sunday between 10.30am and 4pm. Admission is free.
The preview of the exhibition is on Wednesday October 8th from 6-8pm, this will include an artist’s ‘walk and talk’ at 6.15pm and 7.15pm
For tickets please contact Ayscoughfee Hall Tel: 01775 764555 or email museum@sholland.gov.uk
Ayscoughfee Hall Museum, Churchgate, Spalding, Lincolnshire PE11 2RA
Since Sliced Bread is a participatory visual arts project exploring and celebrating the culture and history of our regional windmills.
This project is supported using public funding by the National Lottery through Arts Council England. The project is also supported by the University of Derby and Banks Mill Studios.
Arts Council England
Since Sliced Bread
Since Sliced Bread has started! It is a participatory visual arts project exploring and celebrating the culture, place and history of our regional windmills using the staples of bread and flour to make artworks. During Autumn/Winter 2013, I will be working with community groups, schools and families at Mills in Lincolnshire to discover what we can find when we bring history, creative learning, words and art together.
My artistic responses to these ‘food for thought’ conversations will be exhibited in the Mills during National Mills Weekend in May 2014.
Ayscoughfee Hall and Boston College in Spalding will be the sites for a unique solo exhibition of further works created throughout 2014.
Participating Mills include Heckington, Moulton and Alford.
This project is supported using public funding by the National Lottery through Arts Council England. The project is also supported by the University of Derby and Banks Mill Studios.
Arts Council England
Andy and his Friends Exhibition Review
Published April 2013 http://airarts.net/2013/04/11/evolve-artist-review-fi-burke/ "Fi’s charming series of photographs in the exhibition feels right at home in the hospital corridors. Stuffed toy subjects Larry, Henry, Wellington and friends appear in simple sitting portraits tumbling along the corridor from frame to frame. Their positions strongly refer to actions within play; Ellie Phant leans on her side as if discarded after a busy afternoon playing in the garden, while tired Andy wearily props himself up with his right arm after being tossed on the carpet. Short, narratives for each character are paired with their portraits giving you a small insight into their worlds.
“Ellie Phant is ever present, small in stature and ego but big on memory and personality. She used to join us in bed on a Sunday morning and we all listened to Peter Rabbit stories.”
Viewing the exhibition you aquaint yourself with each character and perhaps make up your own stories, forming unconscious connections with Andy and his Friends. The memories you had with your own toys start to reappear, warming you as you rekindle relationships with your own Andy, Bunny or Drowsy. The photos are uplifting and comforting, you can see that Fi wants to have fun yet still connect and encourage the viewer and their interpretations.
When I interviewed Fi for this article, it was the first time we’d met, but it felt like I’d known her for years. I understood her and connected to her inspirations and thoughts quickly. I also met Andy, Fi’s inspiration and starting point for the series. I mention that my Mum had a bear when she was little, very similar to Andy, and how he was passed on to me when I was young. Fi lights up; this is her buzz, this is what drives the project; new stories and new friends. Writing this now, it becomes obvious why I felt such a natural connection to Fi, her work allows for these comforting relationships to form and create long lost reflections. The characters capture the viewer in so many ways, triggering memories and allowing stories to be shared. The energy created not only validates the work but encourages continuing conversations and developments for the artist, viewer and project".
Beyond the Material World
International Association of Quantum Artists (IAQA)Present their first Visual Arts Exhibition ‘Beyond the Material World’ at: BAR LANE STUDIOS 1 Bar Lane, York, YO1 6JX.
IAQA unites artists whose work intuitively explores alternative visions and possible realities. It aims to transform human understanding of the world in which we live. At present these include theories and philosophies incorporating sustainability, quantum theory, parallel worlds, Multiverse, higher dimensional spaces and cosmology.
Fi and the other artists have been selected to build an interactive space around their work’s focus. Each acts as a separate ‘world’, but is integrated with other exhibits occupying the same space. Together these therefore act as parallel worlds occupying the same space, but which are perceived in different ways. The audience is invited to participate and sometimes, to intervene within these different artistic spaces. Exhibits move away from static or fixed theories and viewpoints. The works considered depict transformation towards positive alternative futures: they consider change as an ongoing transformational process.
Beyond the Material World runs from 22st October- 2nd November 2012 with the Private View on 20th October 7-9pm 2012.
Being British
Fi will be exhibiting new work at the Being British Contemporary Art Event: June 29th A temporary gallery space will be created for a gala evening event in The Ballroom at Stamford Arts’ Centre, Lincs. Showcasing contemporary and conceptual art from regional and London-based artists, pieces will include portraits of Ricky Gervais as Charlie Chaplin by renowned photographer Jay Brooks, alongside works from 12 other artists. The artworks will explore the eccentricities that underscore our nation and the iconography that has grown to represent it. Tickets are £10, entry includes a glass of wine (18+) and canapés.
This charity event takes place from 7-10pm on June 29th, 2012.
Details of the exhibition can be found here
Exhibition in Berlin
Several works have been selected for this year's Candid Arts Trust exhibition in Berlin. The exhibition will take place between 3rd - 18th May 2012 at Universität der Künste Berlin, Hardenbergstrasse 33, Berlin-Charlottenburg.
The private view is on Thursday 3rd May and the closing party is on Friday 18th May.
Underground and Metro: Stop: S+U Zoologischer Garten. Lines: S5, S7, S9, S75, U2, U9
