THOMPSON BELL, Sarah (b.1967 )

Sarah Thompson Bell : The Distance, 2012

My Personal Myth

In the 1950’s my mother was in Canada, working at Banff Springs Hotel. There she bought a hand painted Mexican skirt and was photographed wearing it. As a small child I thought the skirt was a wonderful object and I wore it to school. It was a long skirt on me.

Mum.jpeg

When I was an even smaller child – about 3 or 4, I was attending a convent school. One day I brought home a caterpillar outfit, a green cap and smock which the mothers were supposed to sew brown patches onto. My mother, who hated sewing, instead painted brown spots onto the cloth, using my poster paints. I was excluded from the school photograph of the event! I have used this key influence a lot in my art work over the years, painting on fabric, making ‘art garments’ and making paintings which look like fabric.

Education:

1993 – 1994 Bournemouth University: MA Computer Visualisation and Animation

1986 – 1989 Leicester Polytechnic:  BA(Hons) Fine Art  2:1

1985 – 1986 Leicester Polytechnic:  Foundation Course in Art & Design

Art Practice

Productions:

2021 The Art Object as Data

2015 Elik – animation

2013  The Word Machine

2010 A Human’s Chaography – e-literature piece 

2010 Erth – animation

1999 Sig.Nature – work for the net  

1998 Jan Spindolls  CD-Roms – funded by Southern Arts

1996-97 Spindolls – interface environment

1995 The Changing World of Aurora Lovelock – interface environment

Exhibitions:

2017 May The Art of Wellbeing Russell Cotes Museum, Bournemouth

2016 May The Art of Wellbeing Russell Cotes Museum, Bournemouth

2014 Sept BYOB event screened animation Erth, Bournemouth

2009 Sept Second Salon : Group show at Kube Gallery, Poole

1998   March New Currents :  Portsmouth Arts Centre: Shockwaves festival

1992 – 1993 Fyfes Revenge : Group Touring Exhibition

Ikon Gallery, Birmingham

Commissioned to design an accompanying educational project

1992 June Group Exhibition, Woods Gallery, Leicester

1990-91 Solo Touring Exhibition, Nottinghamshire County Council

1989-90 Group Touring Exhibition, Nottinghamshire County Council

1989 Dec Open Exhibition, Bonnington Gallery, Nottingham