Sadie Brockbank
“Throughout my life I have been fascinated by the otherness of animals. My work has focused on this search for understanding about how we connect with other life forms on this planet, how we treat them, and how we can learn from them.
I am not a ‘representational’ artist, though the beings that inhabit my work are recognisable in general if not in specifics. My work has a narrative approach, often with elements working together or beings engaging with or merging with other life forms.
My work is an expression of what I feel is the inseparable nature of the natural world of which we are an intrinsic part and to which, unfortunately, we pose the biggest threat. I like to bring a positive energy to this dilemma, expressing my love for the natural world and the intricate web of life in which we dwell.”
Sadie Brockbank graduated with honours from Falmouth School of Art in 1987, where she studied Painting. However her paintings rapidly became more and more three dimensional, with birds and beasts protruding from the canvasses, and in the following years Sadie moved more and more towards making free standing three dimensional works.
Sadie has always been an experimental maker, and continues to use a wide variety of mediums; principally ceramics, bronze, mixed media, including paper pulp and textiles: “Moving between different mediums helps me to maintain a feeling of discovery and immediacy when I am working. It keeps play alive, which I have found to be essential for my creativity”.
Drawing inspiration from many forms of ancient art Sadie’s work explores themes of journey, cooperation, and our relationship to the environment. It is deeply concerned with how we interact with the other life forms with whom we share our environment. The work is an expression of connectedness and her love for the natural world.
Sadie is a member of the Royal British Society of Sculptors, and has shown at the Royal Academy’s Summer Exhibition, most recently in 2013. In 2015 Sadie was a finalist in the Royal British Society of Sculptors Public Art Award, ‘First @ 108’, one of five runners up.
She has exhibited widely and has work in private collections in the UK, The Netherlands and in the United States.