WORK OF THE WEEK: Olivia Bax, Cairn, 2022

Olivia Bax
Cairn, 2022
Mixed media
355 x 125 x 141 cm
139 x 49 ⅕ x 55 ½ in.

Olivia Bax’s Cairn (2022) is a 3.5 metre tall, monumental work which exemplifies her curiosity in combining industrial, synthetic structure with organic form. The sculpture makes reference to the view from her studio space in London, where unfinished construction sites fill the skyline with exposed concrete storeys and mazes of steel rebars. Cairn exudes a sense of expansion, growth and change, as Bax said, Rebar vertical lines were part of the horizon: illustrating the constant potential to add another floor.

Based in London, Olivia Bax gained a BA in Fine Art from the 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's work is currently being shown alongside Virgina Overton, Holly Stevenson and Frances Richardson. amongst others, in Mary Mary at The Artist's Garden, London.

Cairn is 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.