Awards
Member of the
‘Society of Scottish Artist’
2021
Royal Cambrian Academy
Annual Open, Highly Commended , 2021
2020
Wales Contemporary
3-Dimensional 1st Prize 2020
THE CREATIVE
Process
Neild plays with this notion of protection and threat, growth and decay, through combining different natural materials in her sculptures.
Off-shoots of disintegrating leaf may spurt from a broken conker shell, dead roots may be reincarnated as a walking figure. These sculptural entanglements create complex networks of form and negative space, representing at once barriers and fears alongside pauses and potential. The gaps and interludes in the bronze create an unfinished quality, hinting at a life filled with loss, resilience, and possibility.
Sculpture cast from ivy vines
2022
Sculpture cast from ivy vines
2022
Standing Bird Unique solid
bronze cast from roots
Standing Bird Unique solid
bronze cast from roots
2022
2022
New Life unique solid bronze cast from fern trendil & seed pod
Close up of Spurt
2020
Close up of Spurt
2020
Walking Figure with Botanicals
Unique solid bronze
2022
Walking Figure with Botanicals
Unique solid bronze
Coastal Bird Unique solid bronze
2022
Coastal Bird Unique solid bronze
Walking Figure with Brambles Unique solid bronze
Walking Figure with Brambles Unique solid bronze
2022
Flower Bomb cast from daisies and seed pod
2022
Flower Bomb cast from daisies and seed pod
Shadow is the
queen of colour
Neild explores the mythic associations of her natural materials. Hawthorn, for instance, because its blossoms smell like decaying flesh, has been given connotations of death. In the Medieval era, it was considered unlucky to cut it down, as it was thought to be the home of sprites. As well as relishing the erratic shapes of the plant, the artist savours the duality: it represents pain and harshness, yet to animals it constitutes safety and protection.
Detail of botanical casting experiments displayed in butterfly case
Coastal walk discovering botanicals
Daphne’s Metamorphosis
Dungeness flora
Combining human form and the botanical
Journey
in nature
botanical figures
Exploring the flux of life
and nature
These sculptures are heavily influenced by the Nkisi Nkondi figures of central Africa, which were believed to spiritually protect their communities. They were embellished with feathers, shells, horns, textiles, and nails driven into the figures as part of a petition for help or healing. Natural materials, the human form, and the folklore of botanicals are combined to create a plea of protection or change.
further
Works
