About
I was born in London into a seemingly conventional family. We lived in Nottinghill, which as a child in the sixties was a brilliant, bohemian and exciting place to be. My parents were extremely supportive of the arts and encouraged every aspect from acting to drumming to clay sculpture. In the basement of our house there was a large room, in which we were allowed to play havoc . So we painted the walls, made up plays, used plaster of paris and bags of clay (supplied by my mother). In this room we also had a vervet monkey, a bush baby, twenty one white mice and a couple of gerbils. Every Sunday my father would drop me and my brothers and sister at the zoo while he vanished to follow other pursuits. This is when I became immersed in the beauty of animals and birds.
Before going to college I did evening classes with a sculptor called Jean Gibson and this experience gave me the confidence to apply to Art School. I got a first class honours degree at St Martin’s School of Art in 1979. St Martin’s opened my eyes to abstraction, serendipity and spontanaeity. During this time I discovered steel and have never looked back. I enjoy it’s flexibility and strength. It is the material of my choice for the subjects that I want to create. This period was inspirational and explosively creative. I then went on to do an M.A at the Royal College of Art 1980- 1983. Here I received the Special Melchett Award for work in Steel, the Fulham Pottery Award and a travel scholarship to Carrara.
I have produced many public and private commissions and am in collections in the US , France, Switzerland, Italy and the UK. A large commission in collaboration with Levitt Bernstein Architects on the redevelopment of the Old Royal Free Hospital in Islington in 1993 won the Europa Nostra Prize. In 1995 I won an award from The Jackson Pollock-Lee Krasner Foundation for work to date.
Artist Statement
My practice as a sculptor is central to my identity. Sculpture allows me to express how I feel and so connect with others and the world around me. It keeps me in touch with my earlier unselfconscious self where the world had a connectedness: the birds to the trees to the sky. It is a way of losing myself in that world again. A world of shapes, light and texture.
One of the biggest influences in my life is a small town in the Pyrenees called Begur. I went there often as a child. I loved the steel balconies and sculptures around me, and spent many hours in a forge in the small town of Palafrugell, watching the blacksmith. From an early age I could see that steel could speak and create a feeling of drama and beauty. I still return there often and this area and landscape informs my practice as a sculptor.
Last year and this year I have been working on two large commissions for a development north of Chelmsford. I worked at Benson Sedgwick Engineering in Dagenham with their team to produce seven large deer, two stags and five does. Three are already installed and the next four will be installed on December 10th (Please see current projects) Following on from this I have been artist in residence at Bensons in Dagenham. I have been using scrap bronze and scrap stainless steel from their bins and skips. It has been an exciting challenge learning to tig weld and use both bronze and stainless steel. The new work is largely abstract but with the feel of landscape: the feel of rivers, wind, sea and mountains. I am also exploring using colour with these pieces. I want the work to be informal, loose and bold.
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CV
Jane Ackroyd MA RCA FRBS
Education
1975-1979
St Martin’s School of Art: BA Honours First Class
1980-1983
Royal College of Art: Master of Arts Sculpture
Awards
2015-2016
Artist in Residence, Benson Sedgwick Engineering, Dagenham, UK
2010
The Oppenheimer Award
1995
The Jackson Pollock, Lee Krasner Foundation Award
1992
The Europa Nostra Prize
1983
Fulham Pottery Award
1983
Special Melchett Award for work in Steel
Solo Exhibitions
2022
Review, Winton Avenue, London
2019
Chantegrenouille, The Lund Gallery, University College School, London
2015
New Work, Winton Avenue, London
2012
New Sculpture, New Hall Collection, Murray Edwards College, Cambridge
Clyde & Co, International Law Firm
2011
Adventures y Conclusiones, El Centro Cultural, Begur, Catalunia, Spain
2007
Running Wild in The Tea Room, The Royal Geographical Society
2004
Celebration Exhibition, Lynne Slattery, Whitgelands, Chelsea, London
1997
Major Retrospective, Provost’s Garden, Worcester College, Oxford
1991
Solo Show, Anderson O’Day, Portobello Road, London
1989
Solo Show, Anderson O’Day, Portobello Road, London
1986
Solo Show, Gainsborough’s House, Sudbury
Group Exhibitions
2023-2024
Small is Beautiful, Flowers Central, London
2023
Perspectives, Petronilla Silver
Summer Exhibition, Royal Society of Sculptors, London
2022-2023
Small is Beautiful, Flowers Central, London
2022
Summer Exhibition, Royal Society of Sculptors, London
Fresh Air Sculpture, Quenington
2021-2022
Small is Beautiful, Flowers Central, London
2021
Summer Exhibition, Royal Society of Sculptors, London
2020-2021
Small is Beautiful, Flowers Central, London
2019-2020
Small is Beautiful, Flowers Central, London
2018-2019
Criminal Ornamentation, UK travelling Exhibition curated by Yinka Shonibare MBE
Attenborough Arts Centre, Leicester; Royal Albert Memorial Museum, Exeter; Longside Gallery, Wakefield; Southampton Art Gallery
2019
Wildlife Artist of the Year, Mall Galleries, London
Parallel Lines, Lightbox Gallery, Woking
Summer Exhibitionat, The Royal Society of Sculptors, selected by Greville Worthington
2012
Summer Exhibition, The Royal Academy and also in 2011, 2010, 2009, 2008, 2006, 2005, 2002, 2000, 1995-1998
Bongo Beep, The Forge and Foundry, Camden, London
2010 Small is Beautiful, Flowers Central: also in 2003, 2007, 2008
2009 From The Same Mould, Toucan Gallery, London
2008 Skill and Serendipity, Kingsgate Gallery, London
1998 British Figurative Art, Flowers East, London
1995 The Discerning Eye, Mall Galleries, London
1996 The Royal West of England Academy: also in 1993
1986 Anti Thesis, Angela Flowers
1984 Recent Acquisitions, Arts Council of Great Britain
Major Commissions
2019
Wyvern, Burgess Hill, Sussex, Croudace
El Garbi, Bronze Sculpture, Private Client
2018
Hop Stringers, Maidstone, Kent, Croudace
2017
Palamos, Commissioned for Madame Poutrel, Normandy, France
2016
Spring Watch, Countryside Plc., Beaulieu, Chelmsford, UK
2015
Autumn Watch, Countryside Plc., Beaulieu, Chelmsford, UK
Memorial gate for Lesley Silver, Maida Vale, London
Bird Wall for Coteford Infant School
Los Balcons, Catalunia, Spain
2012
Frog Family, Dominic Orr, California
John Donne, St Paul’s Cathedral, short listed
Amber and Jade, Dominic Orr, California
2008
Duma, Private Client
2006
Gate for Selina Lo, California
1998
Sheep for Victoria Wood
1994
Herring Gull, London Docklands Development Corporation, London Docklands
1992
Architectural Steel work, Old Royal Free Development , Islington, London
1992
Moonlight Ramble, Haymarket, London, Land Securities
1985
The Little Prince, Greater Manchester Council
Numerous private commissions completed between 1983-2016
Public Commissions
The Arts Council of Great Britain
The Contemporary Arts Society
London Docklands Development Corporation
Greater Manchester Council
The Harlow Arts Trust
Leicestershire Education Society
Lloyds Bank
Peterborough Development Corporation
The European Bank for Reconstruction
The King’s Fund
Private Collections
Many Private Collections in the UK, USA, France and Switzerland