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Alice Fox: Flaxen

21 June - 31 August 2025

Saturday 21 June public opening – all welcome!

Sustainability is at the heart of Alice Fox’s practice. The desire to take an ethical approach has driven a shift from using conventional art and textile materials into exploring found objects, gathered materials and natural processes. Flaxen (21 June – 31 August, 2025) is an exhibition that showcases the artwork Alice has made with materials collected and grown at Kestle Barton over the last two years.

During the growing season of 2024 a crop of flax (Linum usitatissimum) was grown in the almost enclosed circle at the end of the meadow at Kestle Barton. This was a communal activity, overseen by Alice, with help from Kestle Barton staff and a changing team of volunteers. Sowing, tending, harvesting, retting, and processing were undertaken, resulting in fibres for spinning, as well as flax plants dried at different stages for use later on. See Flax in the Round for more about this project.

Alice visited Kestle Barton in each season, spending time in residence. Each visit added to Alice’s experience and understanding of the place and the materials available for weaving and construction of surfaces and structures. Alice gathered materials in each season to make sculpture with; and made botanical inks during each visit as well, building up a place-based colour chart and a library of materials with which to work.

Alice received funding from the Theo Moorman Trust for Weavers to buy flax processing equipment and towards developing this new body of flax focused artwork.

As part of our Summer Solstice celebrations, a public opening for Flaxen will take place on Saturday 21 June at 1pm, including an Artist Talk and demonstrations of the flax processing and spinning.

Earlier in the day, (11:30am start) the local St Keverne Band will perform Double Brass in the wild flower meadow. All are invited to join us in these festivities. There is no admission fee.

The last weekend of the exhibition, on Saturday 30 August, Alice will be offering a workshop on Botanical Inks at Kestle Barton. It is currently sold out but for more information, or to be added to the waiting list click here.

Image:
Flax Root Weave by Alice Fox, 2024
Flax (Linum usitatissimum) stems with hand processed and spun flax/linen weave.

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Flaxen: Installation images

Photographs by Nick Cooney.

Flaxen: individual works

Limited edition print of 'Kestle Barton Colour Chart'

Kestle Barton Colour Chart by Alice Fox. Lithographic print limited edition of 70.
Botanical inks made using plants and mud gathered during 2024 at Kestle Barton.

Paper size 70cm x 50cm

Unframed £95

Includes an A4 Colour Chart key

Contact Kestle Barton to purchase.

'Flaxen' publication

A5 landscape 80 page book to accompany Alice’s exhibition at Kestle Barton, Cornwall June-August 2025. Includes an essay by Dr Ryya Bread, Curatorial Director at Kestle Barton, as well as a diary of the residency periods spent on site with images and details of work in progress.

This Flaxen publication, along with Plot 105 and Findings are available to purchase at Kestle Barton during the duration of the Flaxen exhibition (21 June – 31 August 2025).

Alternatively, you can purchase these and other publications by Alice Fox directly through her website: https://alicefox.co.uk/

Alice Fox

My process-led practice is based on personal engagement with landscape and has sustainability at its heart. I am fascinated by the detail of organic things and my work celebrates and carries an essence of what I experience in the natural world. My background in physical geography and nature conservation underpins my artistic practice.

I work with natural fibres and gathered materials, employing natural dyes, stitch, weave and soft basketry techniques. These elements come together in different combinations to create grouped surfaces and structures. Found items form the focus of my response to a landscape, forming tangible links to the places they were gathered from. I take an experimental approach to these found objects: by engaging with the materials that I find, manipulating them and experimenting, I learn about their properties, boundaries and possibilities. This exploration becomes a collaboration between object and artist. My allotment plot forms the focus of my work, providing an abundant source of materials. Read more about Plot 105 in Projects.

I studied Contemporary Surface Design & Textiles at Bradford School of Arts & Media and completed an MA in Creative Practice at Leeds Arts University. I work from the allotment and my studio in Saltaire, West Yorkshire, UK. I exhibit, lecture and teach workshops nationally and internationally.

Click here for more information

Open Tuesday - Sunday 10:30am - 5pm. Closed Mondays but open for Bank Holidays

Supported using public funding by Arts Council England. Lottery funded. Supported by Cornwall Community Foundation.

Kestle Barton, Manaccan, Helston, Cornwall. TR12 6HU. Telephone 01326 231 811. info@kestlebarton.co.uk