Salisbury-based artist Frances Marr creates works that are rooted in the environment. Drawing on memories of growing up on the Isle of Wight, she takes inspiration from the coasts of the UK, battered by the elements, and the open landscapes of Cumbria.

Marr uses various different materials and techniques to produce such unique sculptures. She slowly hand builds each piece, allowing her time to change the direction of the work. She fires the works twice, first to 1000°c, followed by barrel firing with sawdust and found organic material from the surrounding environment.

Marr's ceramics are unglazed, she uses slips to add colour and stones to burnish the clay as it dries to achieve an incredibly smooth surface. The smoke from burning organic material creates the beautiful, unpredictable carbon marks on the surface of her sculptures. These shadows reflect the influence of the mist and dramatic dark skies of the UK coasts and Cumbrian landscape. Some of Marr's work contains stones either in the surface or within it's cavity, resulting from her magpie tendency to collect rocks and stones.

Frances Marr exhibits widely across the UK, including group shows at the Hepworth Wakefield, 2019, Florence Arts Centre, Cumbria, 2020 and more recently at the Willis Museum in Basingstoke.

Please contact us for more information on work by Frances Marr.