Sarah Davis is a multi-media artist using hands on sculptural techniques to explore the cyclical nature of recovery and renewal. Davis’ approach to making is informed by a love for historic crafts such as carving and gilding. Her carving is very sculptural and contemporary but rooted in the language of ornament.
In 2012 Davis graduated from Chelsea College of Art with a BA in Fine Art. She returned to education in 2015 to study woodcarving and gilding at the the City & Guilds of London Art school. She graduated with a distinction in 2019. Since then Davis has set up her studio in South London.
EDUCATION
2015 -2019, Diploma in Ornamental Woodcarving & Gilding, City & Guilds of London Art School, London
2009 – 2012, BA (Hons) Fine Art, Chelsea College of Art & Design
EMPLOYMENT
2020 – present, Part-Time Assistant Collections Manager, Coins & Medals, British Museum, London, UK
AWARDS, GRANTS AND COMPETITIONS
Grinling Gibbons 300 Emerging Carvers Award, 2nd prize, 2021
GCDC Gold Award, Modellers category, 2021
De Lazlo Prize for Gilding & Decorative Surfaces, 2019
Art Histories Prize, 2019
Drapers Company Grinling Gibbons Scholar, 2018 – 2019
Surveyors Club Drawing Prize, 2017
York Consortium Bursary for Conservation & Craftsmanship, 2017
SELECTED EXHIBITIONS, PUBLICATIONS AND COMMISSIONS
Centuries in the Making, Bonhams, New Bond Street & Compton Verney, Warwickshire, 2021
Day Zero, BBC New creatives, spoken word audio commission for BBC Sounds, 2021
POTHOLES, SET, Lewisham, 2020
Strange Loop, St Augustine’s Tower, Hackney, 2019
Degree Show, City & Guilds of London Art School, 2019
Tempting failure 2018: Fractured bodies, durational performance, 2018
Degree Show (INTERIM), City & Guilds of London Art School, 2018
Art In Romney Marsh 2016, site specific art festival, St Clements Church, Old Romney + St Thomas a Becket Church, Fairfield, 2016
A Journey, The Institute of Mental Health, Nottingham, 2016
London Craft Week, Exhibition of Master Woodcarving, City & Guilds of London Art School, 2016
The Now and Not yet, featured artist in the Holy Biscuit 5 year anniversary publication, 2015
8 minutes, 20 Seconds, Holy Biscuit Gallery, Newcastle, 2015