Fiona Fouhy: Discovering

About the artist:

Fiona Fouhy’s practice covers broad themes of place, geology and history, celebrating the resilience of nature over millennia.

Fouhy predominantly uses monotype techniques in her work using etching inks, extender, rags and large rollers to create fast, expressive images; processes, materials and chance inform and evolve her practice. She has developed a technique of layering ink to create a strong depth of field.

Using monoprinting, Fouhy explores how to work by intuition and emotional reaction to the forest environment. For her, the forest experience symbolises states of lostness, bewilderment and fragility in the face of the unknown. Simultaneously the forest is a place of healing both for the individual and for the planet; a fertile place for the imagination. ‘Woods have always been a place of inbetweenness - somewhere one might slip from one world to another or one time to a former’ (R.Macfarlane). Fouhy is influenced by nature writers such as Robert MacFarlane and Merlin Sheldrake, who open up ways of thinking about the stories, histories and science behind the seen and unseen world around us.

Fouhy studied at Central Saint Martins, London. She has won the Ironbridge Fine Art award (2022), Jacksons Visitors Choice Award (2022), RK Burt Award (2018) and the Thamesside Print Studio Prize (2017) at the International Original Print Exhibition as well as the RK Burt Award (2022) and Printmakers Council Award (2016) at the Festival of Print.

Her work is held in private collections throughout the UK, Europe and the USA and public collections in the UK including the V&A Museum and the Central St Martins College Contemporary Collection. She is a keyholder and tutor at East London Printmakers studio.