Lorna Graves (1947–2006) was a British artist who worked across a diverse range of media including

painting Painting is the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a solid surface (called the "matrix" or "support"). The medium is commonly applied to the base with a brush, but other implements, such as knives, sponges, and ...

drawing Drawing is a form of visual art in which an artist uses instruments to mark paper or other two-dimensional surface. Drawing instruments include graphite pencils, pen and ink, various kinds of paints, inked brushes, colored pencils, crayons, ...

printmaking Printmaking is the process of creating artworks by printing, normally on paper, but also on fabric, wood, metal, and other surfaces. "Traditional printmaking" normally covers only the process of creating prints using a hand processed techniq ...

and

sculpture Sculpture is the branch of the visual arts that operates in three dimensions. Sculpture is the three-dimensional art work which is physically presented in the dimensions of height, width and depth. It is one of the plastic arts. Durable sc ...

. Her artwork was deeply connected to

nature Nature, in the broadest sense, is the physics, physical world or universe. "Nature" can refer to the phenomenon, phenomena of the physical world, and also to life in general. The study of nature is a large, if not the only, part of science. ...

, the

Cumbria Cumbria ( ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in North West England, bordering Scotland. The county and Cumbria County Council, its local government, came into existence in 1974 after the passage of the Local Government Act 1972. Cumb ...

n landscape and ancient cultures.

Early life and career

Born in

Kendal Kendal, once Kirkby in Kendal or Kirkby Kendal, is a market town and civil parish in the South Lakeland district of Cumbria, England, south-east of Windermere and north of Lancaster. Historically in Westmorland, it lies within the dale of th ...

, Graves spent much of her childhood moving around Cumbria with her parents who were itinerant farm workers. This formative experience would inspire her deep connection to the landscape and animals. She studied earth sciences at London University from 1969 to 1972 before going to art school in

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a university city and the county town in Cambridgeshire, England. It is located on the River Cam approximately north of London. As of the 2021 United Kingdom census, the population of Cambridge was 145,700. Cambridge bec ...

, and in 1981 began studying at

Cumbria College of Art and Design The Cumbria Institute of the Arts was a further and higher education institution in Carlisle, Cumbria, England. History Founded as the ''Society for the Encouragement of Fine Arts'' in 1822, it proceeded as the ''Carlisle College of Art'', fro ...

. After this point she worked full-time as a painter and sculptor. An important early commission was to create studies of the

Ruthwell Cross The Ruthwell Cross is a stone Anglo-Saxon cross probably dating from the 8th century, when the village of Ruthwell, now in Scotland, was part of the Anglo-Saxon Kingdom of Northumbria. It is the most famous and elaborate Anglo-Saxon monumental ...

, an

8th Century The 8th century is the period from 701 ( DCCI) through 800 ( DCCC) in accordance with the Julian Calendar. The coast of North Africa and the Iberian Peninsula quickly came under Islamic Arab domination. The westward expansion of the Umayyad Empi ...

Anglo-Saxon The Anglo-Saxons were a Cultural identity, cultural group who inhabited England in the Early Middle Ages. They traced their origins to settlers who came to Britain from mainland Europe in the 5th century. However, the ethnogenesis of the Anglo- ...

monument just north of the

Scottish Scottish usually refers to something of, from, or related to Scotland, including: *Scottish Gaelic, a Celtic Goidelic language of the Indo-European language family native to Scotland *Scottish English *Scottish national identity, the Scottish ide ...

border in

Dumfries and Galloway Dumfries and Galloway ( sco, Dumfries an Gallowa; gd, Dùn Phrìs is Gall-Ghaidhealaibh) is one of 32 unitary council areas of Scotland and is located in the western Southern Uplands. It covers the counties of Scotland, historic counties of ...

. The stylised animal depictions of ''Christ standing on the heads of beasts'' would go on to inspire Graves' artwork. In the mid nineties she moved her studio to the

Barbican A barbican (from fro, barbacane) is a fortified outpost or fortified gateway, such as at an outer fortifications, defense perimeter of a city or castle, or any tower situated over a gate or bridge which was used for defensive purposes. Europe ...

in London but had returned to Cumbria by 2001. She continued to produce work, including important commissions such as a crucifix for Carver Memorial Church in Windermere and a collaboration with

Welfare State International Welfare State International was a British experimental theatre group formed in 1968 by John Fox and Sue Gill, Roger Coleman and others. It became "A collective of radical artists and thinkers who explored ideas of celebratory art and spectacle betwe ...

, for which she created a hand-painted coffin. Her work has been shown across the UK,

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

and the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

. Her artwork is held by collections including:

Tullie House Museum Tullie House Museum and Art Gallery is a museum in Carlisle, England. Opened by the Carlisle Corporation in 1893, the original building is a converted Jacobean mansion, with extensions added when it was converted. At first the building conta ...

, Abbott Hall Art Gallery,

Penrith and Eden Museum Penrith and Eden Museum is a museum in Penrith, Cumbria, England. The museum aims to collect, preserve and display material reflecting the history and culture of Penrith and Eden. The museum is owned and managed by Eden District Council. The m ...

and other public collections.

Artwork

Graves used simple forms in her work to represent

archetype The concept of an archetype (; ) appears in areas relating to behavior, historical psychology, and literary analysis. An archetype can be any of the following: # a statement, pattern of behavior, prototype, "first" form, or a main model that ot ...

s such as Cumbrian woman, beast, fish, boat, landscape,

angel In various theistic religious traditions an angel is a supernatural spiritual being who serves God. Abrahamic religions often depict angels as benevolent celestial intermediaries between God (or Heaven) and humanity. Other roles include ...

standing stones A menhir (from Brittonic languages: ''maen'' or ''men'', "stone" and ''hir'' or ''hîr'', "long"), standing stone, orthostat, or lith is a large human-made upright stone, typically dating from the European middle Bronze Age. They can be foun ...

. These stylised shapes express core elemental forms and are suggestive of

prehistoric art In the history of art, prehistoric art is all art produced in preliterate, prehistorical cultures beginning somewhere in very late geological history, and generally continuing until that culture either develops writing or other methods of rec ...

. Her artwork is instinctive and conveys a spiritual link with nature.

Sculpture

Her sculpture was typically

stoneware Stoneware is a rather broad term for pottery or other ceramics fired at a relatively high temperature. A modern technical definition is a Vitrification#Ceramics, vitreous or semi-vitreous ceramic made primarily from stoneware clay or non-refracto ...

ceramic and she used the Western style of Raku glazing in which, after modelling and firing, her sculptures were set amongst combustible material such as twigs and leaves. In burning, the smoke and remnants of these objects leave behind marks and traces on the body of the sculpture and give an aged and bone-like appearance. This held a ritual and spiritual significance for the artist and she included her father's ashes as part of the work ''Burial Ground''.

Painting

Graves also made use of simplified forms and recurring archetypes in her painting. As with her sculpture, she focused on recurring symbols such as simplified upland landscapes with strong horizons; angels, boats and animal figures.

Notable exhibitions and awards

* Oppenheim-Downs Memorial Award 2001 * ''Body and Soul June,'' Pyramid Gallery, June 2013 - July 2013 * ''Lorna Graves (1947-2006): Memories of Belonging,'' Penrith and Eden Museum, March 2018 - June 2018

Works in public collections

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Graves, Lorna British women ceramicists English women sculptors 20th-century British artists 1947 births 2006 deaths English sculptors English ceramicists 20th-century English women 20th-century English people