Francesca Tomlinson United Kingdom
My practice centres on ceramics. Clay is mineral, elemental and millions of years old. A humbling material - it has a memory, just like us. I am inspired by the chaos of oxides, the magic of a kiln opening and leaning into the unknown.
My recent work investigates borders, drawing from memories of the Welsh/English borderlands where I grew up. I’m interested in working with ancient artefacts, buildings, spaces, archives and objects to uncover forgotten cultural histories. Flitting between the role of observer, creative archaeologist and ethnographer, I create work that tells stories of long ago, but connects them to contemporary issues today.
Projects and exhibitions
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The Breathing Building [Out Of Place Exhibition]09/12/2025 Photography series exhibited at the Ruskin Gallery |
Ruskin Gallery, Cambridge | Details |
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Leper Bells Series18/09/2025 This project comprises a series of site-responsive ceramic ‘leper’ bells originally developed for the Leper Chapel of St Mary Magdalene, one of Cambridge’s oldest surviving buildings. These works engaged with the building’s history as a space of both isolation and connection, using casts and rubbings from its flint walls to embed... [Read more] |
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Multisensory installation: not an exhibition28/03/2025 Multisensory installation including sound piece, digital projection, ceramic vessel, audience participation questionnaire |
Ruskin Gallery, Cambridge | Details |
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Borderlands01/01/2022 — ongoing Practice-based research guided by question: “How can my artwork capture memories of life on the Welsh / English border and address wider themes of rural identity and the passing of time?”. Using analogue photography, digital sketching, animation and ceramics processes to respond to the unique borderlands of Herefordshire, Powys and Shropshire. |
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