Lizzie Cannon

Using textiles sculpturaly in conjunction with hard urban materials, Lizzie Cannon fabricates species that appear to have found their niche in the urban environment. Driven by a dark optimism, the works are a real-life manifestation of a fantasy in which plants thrive, nourished by concrete and tarmac as a substitute for soil. Camouflaged with their urban substrate and staged as living species through installation and photography, the plants have seemingly evolved in response to relentless building. Cannon imagines that under the sterile concrete surface of the city, lays a tangled abundance of fecund plant life. The pavement is the interface at which these biological forces interplay with the human desire to keep them under control. Drawing upon notions of the abject, the hybrid species sit uncomfortably in between the naturally occurring and artificially created.

After graduating with a B.Sc. in Geography, Lizzie Cannon refocused a passion for the natural environment into her art practice, completing a BA in Textiles (Fine Art) at Goldsmiths in 2006. In 2007 she was short-listed for the Jerwood Drawing Prize and continues to exhibit regularly within the UK and internationally.

Education:

BA Textile Art, Goldsmiths College, 2003-2006
Foundation in Art and Design, Central Saint Martins, 2002-2003
B.Sc. Geography, University of St. Andrews, 1998-2002

Exhibitions:

Effuse, Deptford Town Hall, London June/July 2008
Jerwood Drawing 2007, touring to London, Cheltenham, Glasgow, Bristol, Cardiff, Newcastle Upon Tyne, September 2007 - May 2008
Down to Earth, Colchester, February 2008 Down to Earth, Oxford House, London, November 2007
Outskirts, Brighton Festival, Brighton, May 2007
'Life Cycles' The Crypt, St.Pancras Church, London, March 2007
Mail Art (a collaboration between Wupadoopa and Engine Chatchat)
First of Four: Orbis Opifex, The Foundry, London, Jan/Feb 2007
Textile Collective, Truman Brewery, London, June/July, 2006
Goldsmiths Textiles 2006, Goldsmiths College, London, June, 2006
The Garden of Earthly Delights, Brockwell Park, London, July, 2004

,

Persona Art Festival
4th - 8th May
The Rag Factory , 16 Heneage Street, London E1 5LJ

Voting & Awards Wed 4th
PV Thurs 5th

http://www.personaartfestival.com/