Cornucopia

About

Curated by Jacquline Creswell. 

Visitors entering the newly refurbished lobby of One Canada Square will find the expanse transformed into a lively, vivacious and uplifting environment, surrounded by a Cornucopia of vibrant colours and shapes. Sculptor, ceramicist and painter, Patricia Volk fills the space with carefully placed arrangements of dynamic sculptures which challenge the viewer to find their inner child. Jeremy Deller says, “We need to see more playfulness in our cities and public spaces.” However, in reality her work is more complex and on further reflection we see that Patricia’s forms artfully combine strength with fragility and stability with a surprising precariousness. Volk likens this to our own relationships and the complexities and challenges we face in our journey through life. 

The artist admits that she is obsessed with form, line and colour, playfully implementing these in her one-off ceramic creations. Working in clay she uses a variety of techniques including coiling and slab building. After the pieces are fired, she painstakingly mixes shades of acrylic paint to finish each element before combining them to create the structure of each sculpture.  Every piece is a unique and individual work of art that surprises and delights. This mid-career retrospective comprises over 40 sculptures which span three decades of the artist's work, including a selection of sculptures that have never previously been exhibited. 

Patricia is a Royal West of England Academician and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Sculptors. She studied at Bath Spa University receiving a BA in Ceramics and has won many awards.  Her work can be found in private, national and international collections including the Swindon Museum and Art Gallery.