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Y GRÅ´P CYMREIG THE WELSH GROUP
Philippine Sowerby
 Philippine Sowerby |
|---|
 Falling apart and holding it together |
 Holding on lightly |
 Fragility IV |
 The Space in between |
 Radiant II |
 Sunne beam |
 Bench |
Philippine makes wood sculpture that is, increasingly, abstract and expressive of emotional and spiritual concerns.
Following a career path including engineering and supporting people with learning difficulties, she has, in developing craft skills, found fulfilment in releasing the creative potential in this readily-available material. She seeks to reveal wood's natural structure, texture and colour in balance with her interventions. With this aim in mind her process and design often evolve as the work progresses.
For Philippine, sculpture has an equivalence to poetry, expressing ideas and feelings which touch her while leaving enough for the viewer to interpret. Her current concerns are strength and power against fragility and vulnerability and these dichotomies may be reflected in contrasting physical characteristics. A hollow work, for example, may appear to be strong but is, in fact, wafer thin with silver-staple repairs acknowledging its fragility.
Philippine works in small and large scale, suitable for domestic settings and public places.
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Member of The Welsh Group
Member of Sculpture Cymru
Member of The Usk Valley Co-operative
​
Collections:
2016: Brecknock Art Trust ‘The tree that makes the paper’
2011: St Giles’church Oxford ‘Resurrection’
Awards:
2022: The Chaiya Art Awards ‘Impact'
2021: The Chaiya Art Awards 2020 ‘God is…’
2007: Welsh Artist of the Year St David Hall, Cardiff
Born: Liège, Belgium.
Lives: Abergavenny, Wales.
​
Education:
BEng Civ Eng. Cardiff,University of Wales
Cardiff School of Art and Design - Relief printing
Fine Art Trade Guild , Conservation Framing
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Two & three people exhibitions:
2024: The Usk Valley Artists Co-operative. Shared exhibition with Robert Macdonald.
2019: The Usk Valley Artists Co-operative. Shared exhibition with Hannah Firmin.
2018: The Usk Valley Artists Co-operative. Shared exhibition with Hannah Firmin.
2016: The Usk Valley Artists Co-operative. ‘Changing Nature’ shared exhibition with Jane Bennet and Alan Young.
2015: The Usk Valley Artists Co-operative. Shared show with Jacob Buckland.
2011: Between Darkness and Light. St Giles’church Oxford Shared exhibition with Mark Cazalet.
Selected Group Exhibitions:
2025: Championing Artist in Wales - 25 years of the Brecknock Art Trust, Y Gaer, Brecon Museum.
2025: Intersum, Oriel Canfas, Cardiff.
2024: The Welsh Group ‘Making Pace shaping Space’ West Wharf Gallery, Cardiff.
2024: Sculpture Cymru ‘Meeting of Minds’ Art Central Gallery, Barry.
2023: The Welsh Group ‘In Focus’ 75th Anniversary, Y Gaer, Brecon Museum.
2023: The Welsh Group ‘Celf Gwyrdd, How Green Is My Art?’ Mid Wales Art.
2022: Sculpture Cymru ‘Thinking’ The Courtyard Theatre, Hereford.
2022: The Welsh Group, Turner House, Penarth.
2021: Sculpture Cymru, ’20-20’ Aberystwyth Arts Centre.
2020: The Welsh Group, ’Twenty Twenty’ The Found Gallery, Brecon.
2019: Sculpture Cymru ‘Cordwood Sculpture’ Bleddfa.
2019: Makers Guild in Wales ‘Trees that Make’ Craft in the Bay, Cardiff.
2019: The Welsh Group ‘Diverse Imaginations’ The HeARth Gallery, Llandough.
2018/2019: The Welsh Group at 70, Museum Of Modern Art Machynlleth, Royal Cambrian Academy.
Cynon Valley Museum, Oriel Y Bont, Mid Wales Art Centre, National Assembly for Wales.
2018: Sculpture Cymru ‘Thinking’ Bleddfa.
2017: The Welsh Group, Tenby Museum and Art Gallery.
2017: The Welsh Group, Llantarnam Grange.
2017: The Welsh Group, Ceri Richards Gallery.
2017: Makers Guild in Wales ‘Myths and Legends’ Craft in the Bay , Cardiff.
2016: The Welsh Group, Taliesin Gallery, Swansea.
2015: The Welsh Group and BBK Dusseldorf ‘Here and There’ Dusseldorf.