Sculpture
About
I was born in north London where I studied primarily at Hornsey and Harrow Colleges of Art.
From an early age I loved to draw the figure and to construct things. I worked as an illustrator and teacher.
I moved to Cornwall in 1995 when family commitments eased. Cornwall fulfilled a longing to experience nature more fully, and I welcomed being able to immerse myself in saltwater, spending time in the strange China Clay landscape and in the stream-fed woodlands around Truro. My mark-making shifted into collaging and became more three-dimensional, through papier mache, Plasticine and into clay, landing on porcelain.
During this time, an interlude with watercolour and plasticine lightened my sometime-labouring creative spirits - and in 2010 an alter ego ‘Eliza Freespirit’ gradually emerged. This work embraced a growing, creative community connection. Social media was used to widen Eliza’s profile and Plasticine ‘Eliza’s’ travelled worldwide. The ‘Freespirits' workshops built on Eliza’s growing profile.
Over this period, I was also becoming increasingly curious about citrus peel. What intrigued me initially were the various peeling methods that people adopted as routine, and as a result the various three-dimensional forms taken on by the peel when the fruit within was removed, as the peel aged and as the peel dried.
Exploring ways of working with citrus peel, this sturdy, usually discarded material, has since become central to my art practice.
Following a recent exploratory visit to the orange harvest in Andalucía, I wrote in my diary;
‘CITRUS – those familiar but gorgeously-exotic fruits that sway seductively in the sun from sagging branches; fruits that hold deep within, tiny purses of piquant liquid, which are encased by layer upon layer of nature’s ingenious packaging…’
LIZZIE STEVENS
Born Hampstead, London 1949
Moved to Cornwall 1995. Currently living in Truro, Cornwall UK
2019
Home Truths Byre Gallery, Lower Barn, Millbrook, Cornwall. Installation/ paintings
A to B via C CMR Redruth, Cornwall, Installation/painting/sensory performance/talk
CARPET (Tres Culturas) touring exhibition, Lisbon, Seville, N Morocco, sculpture
Bright Sparks/Feast researching introduction of citrus in UK/Cornwall, orangeries Krowji Open Studios, Installation/paintings/multi-sensory performance Research visit Fez. Traditional distillation of citrus blossom
2018
Krowji Open Studios Xmas. Suspended installation/paintings
Research visit (Citrus) to Andalucia for general material
Krowji Open Studios Spring. Sculpture on plinths
Reintroduced Eliza Freespirit (Instagram) environmental campaigner
2017
Eliza on the Rocks. Installation Porthgwidden Beach hut. St Ives Festival
2013 - 17
Delivering Freespirits Workshops (various art/health/leisure groups)
Regular postings of Eliza on social media (FB), merchandise
2013/14
Freespirits of Penryn I&II. Arts for Health collaboration (see vimeos)
2013 -15
Eliza Exhibiting (x4) with Guerilla Galleries, Daniel Libeskind Building, London N1
Eliza residency, Gingko Building, Truro College
2012
Eliza City of Lights telephone kiosk installation, commission, Totally Truro
Eliza Beach Hut Installation Porthgwidden Beach. St Ives Festival.
Installation Eliza is Here, Cornwall Studies Library, Redruth
Eliza on the Buses installations. Open Studios Cornwall
Eliza/Andrew Lanyon collaboration (time lapse film, poetry, song)
2011
Eliza short film Britain in a Day Mounts Bay.
2001 - 99
Journey with Orange 1. Exhib/perform/collaboration with Writers Ink. Truro
Creative Advisors’ Scheme (6 months) with Arts Council SW
Shared exhibition Figure & Landscape Morvah School House
Shared exhibition Derived from Trees Penzance Arts Club
Three shared exhibition. Wheal Martyn shared exhibition
Up Close shared exhibition. Pydar Gallery, Truro
Set up Pydar Artists Studios, Truro
Shared Group exhibition. Unit 11 Group, Morvah School House
1995 -
2001
Shared exhibition, large figure works Old Friends Penzance Arts Club
Regular exhibiting Victoria Studios, Penzance
Group Show, Whiteleys London
1990 - 95