Victoria Fenn

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land marked 2024

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Victoria is an artist exploring memories and landscape motivated by her connection to the Cambridgeshire Fens. Coming from a farming family it has given her a unique insight into agriculture, not only the machinery and hand tools used and adapted over the centuries but also the lives of the people relying on this land to survive and prosper.

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Having studied Three Dimensional Design specialising in silversmithing and metalwork at Camberwell College of Arts, and garden design at the Pickard School of Garden Design, Victoria went on to become a successful garden designer. After moving from London to North Norfolk she spent the last 8 years building and renovating her home – a 17th Century farmhouse. It was this period of exploring new materials, such as concrete and working with tools on a daily basis, that instigated Victoria’s return to her practice.

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The simple forms of her work reflect the language of the landscape, the parallel lines of field structures, dykes, drains, hedges and tyre tracks. The form is derived from necessity rather than decoration. Often it pegs and slots together celebrating an honesty in the materials and holding tension within the piece.

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Victoria’s practice involves materials such as brass, copper and gilding metal juxtaposed against the dark hues of Fenland bog oak which dates from 3000BC. Sometimes she buries her work in soil from her fathers land to achieve a patination on the metal. She loves how this effect is unpredictable, determined by the salts and minerals in the soil and the length of time buried. You never know the outcome until unearthed.

Victoria’s family have lived and worked on this land for many generations. She feels a deep emotional tie to this area. The Fens are a constant source of contradictions, open yet closed, wide expansive landscapes are somehow dark and mysterious. The sky dominates your view and yet it is all about the land.

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The nearby archaeological sites of Flag Fen and Must Farm have greatly influenced her work. Artefacts unearthed include pottery, beads and metalwork (swords, sickles and spears). She is captivated by the hidden treasures and evidence of past settlements – so much of it yet to be discovered.

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Using basic hand tools and silversmithing techniques Victoria's work narrates the story of her ties to this land.

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Click images for details and if you are interested in any of Victoria Fenn's work please enquire below.