Tessa Farmer (born 1978, Birmingham, UK) is an artist based in London. Her work, made from insect carcasses, plant roots and other found natural materials, comprises hanging installations depicting Boschian battles between insects and tiny winged skeletal

humanoid A humanoid (; from English ''human'' and ''-oid'' "resembling") is a non-human entity with human form or characteristics. The earliest recorded use of the term, in 1870, referred to indigenous peoples in areas colonized by Europeans. By the 20t ...

s. Farmer studied at

The Ruskin School of Drawing and Fine Art The Ruskin School of Art, known as the Ruskin, is an art school at the University of Oxford, England. It is part of Oxford's Humanities Division. History The Ruskin grew out the Oxford School of Art, which was founded in 1865 and later became ...

, Oxford, receiving her Bachelor of Arts in 2000 and her Master of Arts in 2003. Subsequent awards include the

Vivien Leigh Prize Vivien may refer to: * Vivien (name), variant spelling * Vivien, Western Australia, an abandoned town in Australia * , a British destroyer launched in 1918 and sold in 1947 for scrapping See also * Saint-Vivien (disambiguation) * Vivienne * Viv ...

, a sculpture residency in King's Wood, Challock, Kent, and a Royal British Society of Sculptors Bursary Award. Her work is in the collections of the Saatchi Gallery and the

Ashmolean Museum The Ashmolean Museum of Art and Archaeology () on Beaumont Street, Oxford, England, is Britain's first public museum. Its first building was erected in 1678–1683 to house the cabinet of curiosities that Elias Ashmole gave to the University of ...

among others. In 2007, Farmer was artist in residence at the Natural History Museum and was chosen for the final shortlist of The Times/ South Bank Show Breakthrough Award. In 2015, she won the

BSFA Award for Best Artwork The BSFA Awards are given every year by the British Science Fiction Association. The BSFA Award for Best Artwork is open to any artwork with speculative themes that first appeared in the previous year. Provided the artwork hasn't been published be ...

2014, for an installation inspired by The Wasp Factory from Iain Banks.

Family

Her great-grandfather is Arthur Machen – author of

The Great God Pan ''The Great God Pan'' is a horror and fantasy novella by Welsh writer Arthur Machen. Machen was inspired to write ''The Great God Pan'' by his experiences at the ruins of a pagan temple in Wales. What would become the first chapter of the n ...

, and

The White People "The White People" is a horror short story by Welsh author Arthur Machen. Written in the late 1890s, it was first published in 1904 in ''Horlick's Magazine'', edited by Machen's friend A. E. Waite, then reprinted in Machen's collection ''The Hou ...

. Tessa was unfamiliar with Machen's work until a member of

The Friends of Arthur Machen Arthur Machen (; 3 March 1863 – 15 December 1947) was the pen-name of Arthur Llewellyn Jones, a Welsh author and mystic of the 1890s and early 20th century. He is best known for his influential supernatural, fantasy, and horror fiction. H ...

drew her attention to similarities between some of Machen's stories and Tessa's own work. Since then, Machen has become an influence in her artwork.

Selected exhibitions

* 2018

Anima Mundi The ''anima mundi'' (Greek: , ) or world soul is, according to several systems of thought, an intrinsic connection between all living beings, which relates to the world in much the same way as the soul is connected to the human body. Although ...

St Ives, 'Out of the Earth' * 2018 Leeds Arts University Leeds, 'Zsofia Jakab :Beckoning' * 2017 bo.lee gallery London, 'Nature's Alchemy' * 2016 Griffin Gallery London, 'Perfectionism (Part III): The Alchemy of Making' * 2016 Studio 3 Gallery, Kent London, 'Curio: Sites of Wonder' * 2015

Viktor Wynd Museum of Curiosities The Viktor Wynd Museum of Curiosities, Fine Art & Natural History is a museum and bar in Hackney Central, situated in a former call centre on Mare Street in the London Borough of Hackney. It is operated by Viktor Wynd and part of The Last Tues ...

London, 'In Fairyland' * 2015 Leeds College of Art Leeds, 'In Fairyland' * 2014 The Holburne Museum Bath, 'Unwelcome Visitors' * 2012 Spencer Brownstone Gallery New York, 'ISAM: Control Over Nature' * 2012 Millennium St Ives, 'From the Deep' * 2011

London, 'The Coming of the Fairies' * 2011 Crypt Gallery London, 'ISAM: Control Over Nature' * 2011 Danielle Arnaud Contemporary Art London, 'Nymphidia

References

External links

Tessa Farmer
''Tessa Farmer: Home Page''

''Miniature Worlds''

{{DEFAULTSORT:Farmer, Tessa English artists English contemporary artists 1978 births Living people Alumni of the Ruskin School of Art BSFA Award for Best Artwork winner