Rosie Sherwood is an artist and writer whose interdisciplinary practise focuses on the environment. Her work sits at the vanguard of a growing movement that draws together environmental sciences and the arts. Operating at the axis of fine art, conservation, and the climate crisis, Sherwood’s work seeks to contribute to reshaping our personal and societal relationships with nature.
As the UK’s first Blue Carbon Artist in Residence (2022), Sherwood created The Seagrass Walk at the National Marine Aquarium. An immersive installation, it is informed by scientific research, and showcases seagrass- the oceans wonder plant. Launched in the wake of COP26 and funded by the Natural Environment Research Council, it was created in collaboration with Plymouth University, the Ocean Conservation Trust, Plymouth City Council, and Ocean Plastic Technologies.
Other, on-going projects include Forged: Somewhere Between…, a sculptural project examining the 6th mass extinction; An Ever Moving Now, a photobook exploring rewilding and our relationship with nature; and The Zennor Wildfire, a photographic examination of the increasing threat of wildfires in the UK, which will culminate in an exhibition at the St Ives Society of Artists in November 2023.
Sherwood has exhibited widely, and her work can be found in national and international collections including Tate, the British Library, and The National Art Library, Australia. She has taught and been published on a range of subjects, received funding from numerous bodies, and was a finalist in the National Sculpture Prize (2018). Sherwood was Artist in Residence at Plymouth Universities Marine Institute (2018-19) and Foundry Fellow at Chelsea College of Art (2020). In January 2023 Sherwood was selected as a finalist for the Aesthetica Art Prize.
EDUCATION
M.A. Visual Arts: Books Arts, Merit, University of the Arts London, Camberwell College of Art, 2012-2013 B.A. (Honours)
Photography, 1st with Hons, University for the Creative Arts Farnham, 2007-2010
Foundation Diploma in Art and Design, Distinction, University of the Arts London, Camberwell College of Art, 2005-2006
SELECTED GROUP AND SOLO EXHIBITIONS
The Zennor Wildfire, St Ives Society of Artists, November 2023
Aesthetica Art Prize 2023 Group Show, York Art Gallery, March-June 2023
The Seagrass Walk, National Marine Aquarium, July 2022-2024
The Seagrass Walk Satellite Exhibition, Plymouth Community Climate Centre, July-Nov 2022
An Ever Moving Now, The Marine Station, Plymouth, June 2019
Origami Open, 20-21 Visual Arts Centre, Scunthorpe, 16th June- 29th Sept 2018
Our eARTh, Kunthuis Gallery, Yorkshire, 24th March-16th Dec 2018
By Other Means, By Other Means Gallery, London December 2016
The Ellentree at Turn the Page, Norwich, June 2016
The End of the Poem: The 7th Poetry Library Open Day, Southbank Centre, November 2015
A Letter in Mind, The National Brain Appeal, Oxo Gallery, London, October 2015
Off the Shelf, I’klektik, Old Paradise Yard, London, May/June 2015
Art in a Bookshell, Milton Gallery, St Pauls School, London, March 2014
In the Gutter, Book Art Book Shop, London, Solo Show, October 2014
Sheffield International Artists’ Book Prize, Bank Street Arts, Sheffield, 2013 and 2015
Public Art
A Seagrass Meadow, Devils Point Plymouth, National Trust Blossom Together Project, to be installed 2023
Akin, Plymouth University, Installed 2022
Selected Book Fairs
turn the page Artists Book Fair and Symposium, Norwich, 2014-2019
BABE, Bristol, March 2019
Small Publishers Fair, Conway Hall, London, November 2014-2017
Pages, International Contemporary Artists’ Book Fair, Leeds, 2013-2017
BALTIC Artists Book Fair, Baltic Gallery, Newcastle, 2017
Counter, Plymouth, October 2015, October 2016, March 2018
MUSEUMS, SPECIAL COLLECTIONS AND ARCHIVES
British Library
Tate Museum and Archive
The Saison Poetry Library
Chelsea College of Art Library
Artists’ Books Collection State Library of Victoria, Australia
Australian Library of Art, State Library of Queensland
ARTIST RESIDENCIES AND FELLOWSHIPS
Blue Carbon Artist in Residence, October 2021-Oct 2022
Foundry Fellow, Chelsea College of Art, 2020 (ended without completion due to Covid-19)
Artist in Residence, Marine Institute, Plymouth University- January 2018 - June 2019
Competitions and prize
Finalist, Aesthetica Art Prize, 2023
Finalist, National Sculpture Prize, Broomhill Sculpture Garden, 2018
Shortlisted, Sheffield International Artists’ Book Prize, 2013 and 2015
AWArds, scholarship and funding
Natural Environment Research Council, 2021/22
a-n The Artist Information Company 2021/22
Gane Trust, 2020
Arts Council COVID-19 Emergency Grant, 2020
Plymouth University Marine Institute, 2019
Eaton Fund, 2019
Arvon Writing Grant, 2018
Kickstarter, As Yet Untitled Campaign, 2015
Rector’s Scholarship, University of the Arts London, 2012-13
Selected teaching and workshops
Supervising Artist, Professional Placements Module, BA Fine Art, Plymouth University, 2021-2022
Visiting Tutor, Tutorials, MA Visual Arts: Book Arts, UAL, Camberwell College of Art, 2013-2020
Visiting Tutor, Tutorials, MA Visual Arts: Fine Art Digital, UAL, Camberwell College of Art, 2015-2017
Visiting Tutor, University of West England, Bristol, 2016-2018
Comic Books and the Artists’ Book, Seminar, Bournemouth University, December 2014, March 2016
The Quick Brown Fox Jumps Over the Lazy Dog: Type and Typography, M.A Publishing Module, UEA, 2016
Comic Books and the Artists’ Book, Seminar, Words and Images Module, Literature and Creative Writing Department, University of East Anglia, March 2014, April 2015, April 2016
As Yet Untitled and Elbow Room: Independent Publishing Seminar, Winchester School of Art, April 2015
Sequential Narrative, Cross course seminar, M.A. Visual Arts, UAL, Camberwell College of Art, 2015
As Yet Untitled and Elbow Room: Independent Publishing Seminar, B.A. Publishing, UAL, LCC, January 2015
conferences, talks, and Podcasts
The Seagrass Walk, An Installation, The Saltwater Songlines, Podcast, Sept 2022
Rosie Sherwood and The Climate Change Superhero, The Sustainiacs, Podcast, Aug 2022
Blue Carbon through Ocean Art, Speak up for the Blue, Podcast, Jan 2022
An Ever Moving Now, Art Work Exeter, Online talk and Podcast, Sept 2020
Walking Towards Rewilding, Walking’s New Movements, Plymouth University, Nov 2019
An Ever Moving Now, Land/Water Collective, Plymouth University, October 2019
Can Art Speak of Rewilding, Environmental Arts Practice Research Conference, Plymouth University, April 2019
Un-Flattened: Book Arts and the Artists Map, turn the page Artists’ Book Fair and Symposium, May 2018
Un-real Photography, Bath Royal Literary and Scientific Institution, June 2017
New Readings: The Comic as Artists Book, Livres de Artistes: the Artists’ Book in Theory and Practice, Cardiff University, December 2015
Why Call It A Comic?, Transitions: Mapping New Directions in Comic Studies, Birkbeck, October 2015
Un-real Photography: Imagined Other Worlds and Fantastical Fictions, Reading the Fantastic: Tales Beyond Borders, University of Leeds, Leeds, April 2015
Artists’ Talk, Sussex Book Arts Collective, March 2015
Comic Books and the Artists’ Book, Transitions: Mapping New Directions in Comic Studies, Birkbeck, Oct 2013
publications
The Seagrass Walk, aetla Magazine Vol.3, 2022
Home Scar, Elsewhere Journal, 2021
Experiencing a Map. Experiencing a Place, turn the page Collected Essays 2018, Collected essays edited by Rosie Sherwood, published 2019.
Un-Flatten: Book Arts and the Artists’ Map, The Artists Book Yearbook, 2017
Not a World Apart: Comic Books and the Artists’ Book, Art Libraries Journal, Volume 40, Number 1, 2015