Image from British Art Network website
sovay berriman
Arts Design Architecture, Community and Voluntary Action, Environment
Suggested by Val Stanley
Val writes, “Sovay Berriman is a brilliant and innovative artist who deserves her work to be recognised and valued. Sovay is born and bred in Cornwall and a great supporter of Cornish Culture and Heritage.”
From the British Art Network website:
Sovay Berriman makes artwork through sculpture, installation, drawing, text, and event; developing projects and programmes that bring people together using visual art as a structure and prompt for action and discussion.
Sovay sets-up situations of collaboration and learning, enabling the opportunity to ask questions, seek alternative viewpoints, and forge new connections. They approach their practice as practical research and create artworks around subjects that they want to learn more about and better understand.
The use and evolution of the natural landscape, particularly in relation to human activity, for instance archeological and industrial sites, alongside performance platforms, such as stages and dance floors, inform the abstract and semi-fantastical structures and situations they build. Sovay’s work is rooted in their experience of being neurodivergent and Cornish, their culture’s shifting identity, and the mutability of a sense of place.
Sovay has been committed to championing artist-led activity throughout their work, having spoken at and represented artists at several forums including as Vice Chair for Turning Point South West (now Visual Art South West) and as a Director of ALIAS (the Artist Led Initiative Advisory Service). For 2023/24 Sovay is now undertaking the Clore Visual Art Fellowship supported by a-n The Artists Information Company.