Faye Toogood

Faye Toogood MBE is a British artist and designer working at the boundary between functional object and sculpture. Her practice is rooted in the shapes and materials of the English countryside, from gnarled oak trees to ancient standing stones. It resists categorisation and is driven by contradictions: soft and hard, practical and poetic, handmade and industrial. Toogood begins with a hands-on process. Humble materials such as cardboard and clay are used to test and rework form, before being scaled up to the point of abstraction. Whether making a chair, a large-scale installation or a piece of public art, the result carries a sense of play and a directness of touch.