sarahdavisart@gmail.com
Sarah Davis uses hands on techniques to investigate the cyclical nature of illness and the complex dynamics of our internal bodily processes. She uses traditional approaches with a deep historical resonance, such as wood carving, wax modelling and illumination. These laboured works are often combined with functional elements, leading to deeply layered art objects. Via these contrasting approaches, Davis’ work confronts the body in relation to sickness and health. The almost archaeological search for answers within Davis’ work highlights the precariously of recoveries truth and the fragile space left for desire, care and agency
In 2012 Davis graduated from Chelsea college of art with a BA in Fine art. She returned to education in 2015 to study woodcarving and gilding at the the City & Guilds of London Art school, where she now teaches on the woodcarving BA.
Sarah works from her studio in South London. Since 2020 she has been practicing the endangered art of illumination and teaches widely on the subject.
EDUCATION
2015 - 2019: Diploma in Ornamental Woodcarving and gilding. City and Guilds of London Art school.
2009 - 2012: BA (Hons) Fine Art. Chelsea College of Art and Design.
SELECTED EXHIBITIONS + PRIZES + RESIDENCYS
2025: A Goodly Company. The Handbag Factory. London
2025: A literary man: William Morris and the Book. Kelmscott Manor
2025: Medieval Relics. Gallery Green & Stone. London
2024: Kelmscott Manor Maker in Residence.
2024: MK Calling. MK Gallery. Milton Keynes.
2023: Baggage Claim. Staffordshire street Gallery. London
2023: Goldsmiths Craft & Design Council Awards. Bronze award in the Senior modellers category
2022: BAMS New medallist 2022 - 2023.
2022: (Shortlisted) - V&A Shifting perspectives Residency.
2022: Art & Ornament. Dalkeith Palace. Edinburgh
2022: Worshipful Company of Educators’ Trust Award for Art and Design
2022: Current Transmission. ICA. London.
2021: Lost Wax for lost species. Founders Hall, London & Vittoria Street Gallery, Birmingham
2021: Centuries in the Making. Bonham's, New Bond Street & Compton Verney, Warwickshire
2021: BBC New creatives. Day Zero. Spoken word audio commission for BBC Sounds.
2021: Goldsmiths Craft & Design Council Awards. Gold award in the junior modellers category
2020: POTHOLES. SET Lewisham.
2020: POTHOLES. Alternative online residency.
2019: Strange Loop. St Augustine’s Tower, Hackney.
2019: City and Guilds of London art school graduate show.
2019: De Lazlo Prize for Gilding + decorative surfaces.
2019: Brian Till Prize for Art History Writing
2018: Tempting faliure 2018: Fractured bodies - Durational performance
2018: City & Guilds of London Art School graduate show (INTERIM).
2017: Surveyors Club drawing prize.
2016: Art In Romney Marsh 2016. Site specific art festival, St Clements Church, Old Romney + St Thomas a Becket Church, Fairfield.
2016: A Journey, The Institute of Mental Health. Nottingham.
2016: London Craft week 2016. Exhibition of Master Woodcarving, City and Guilds of London art School.
2015: The Now and Not yet, featured artist in the Holy Biscuit 5 year anniversary publication.
2015: 8 minutes, 20 Seconds, Holy Biscuit Gallery. Newcastle.
RECENT PRESS & PUBLICATIONS
The Art of Wax by Elsa Tierney. 2024. Art Matter. London. With Contributions from Sarah Davis and Robert Worley.
Pygmalion 1: Provocations in Contemporary Carving. Jan 2024. To Carve is to Love. Edited by Micheal Paraskos.
Elephant Magazine. Chloe Ashby, Aug 2021. Road to Recovery: The Women Turning Illness Into Sick Art. Read here
Stylist Magazine. Alex Simms, Nov 2021. Picture of health: the women turning chronic illness into empowering art. Read here