WORK OF THE WEEK: Olivia Bax, Home Range, 2021

Olivia Bax
Home Range, 2021
Steel, polystyrene, newspaper, PVA, household paint, epoxy clay
82 x 46 x 18 cm
32 ⅕ x 18 ⅕ x 7 in.

In Olivia Bax's practice linkage and connection are referenced in not only form, but also in pigment. Paint is mixed throughout the pulp at an early stage in her process, and she applies the colour as though it were clay. In Home Range (2021), yellow meets green, armature meets flesh and movement meets gesture. The work's title also suggests domesticity which is reflected in its scale.

In Home Range the armature emerges from the textured body, twisting around and back on itself. The sculpture is brimming with the possibility of movement as our eyes climb, hold, and pull their away around the work.

Based in London, Olivia Bax gained a BA in Fine Art from Byam Shaw School of Art, London (2007-2010), before completing her MFA in Sculpture at the Slade School of Fine Art in 2014-16. During her studies, Bax became proficient in welding, and worked as Anthony Caro's studio assistant in her early twenties, and subsequently for Phyllida Barlow. She is the recipient of The Mark Tanner Sculpture Award (2019/20) and Kenneth Armitage Young Sculptor Prize (2016). She has recently exhibited at Holtermann Fine Art, London (2024); Bo Lee and Workman, Bruton (2024); Mead Gallery, Warwick Arts Centre (2023-24); Southbank Centre, London (2023); Hatch, Paris (2023) and Lustwarande, Platform for Contemporary Sculpture, Tilburg (2023). Bax’s work was acquired by the 2020-21 UK Arts Council Collection, and is also in the Ingram Collection and Tremenheere Sculpture Park.

Olivia Bax's Home Range is currently on display in our gallery at Roche Court as a part of Olivia Bax: Handrailing, a solo exhibition of new sculpture in collaboration with Sid Motion Gallery. The exhibition is open until 10 November.