An Outstanding Conversation with Sally de Courcy
Sally de Courcy is a British sculptor, installation artist, and doctor. Sally is interested in the repetition of cast objects and works in different mediums including bronze. Her use of objects is re-assembled to reveal a narrative. Recently her work concerns humanitarian aspects of the COVID19 pandemic. Her past medical experience of working with refugees as a young doctor has influenced her work, which often stands for those who are treated as less than human. Her art has been exhibited both nationally and internationally in art spaces and galleries such as the ROOM Contemporary Art Space, the Espacio Gallery, the Menier Gallery, the Fold Gallery, and elsewhere. Sally’s art is also published widely. She is represented by the Florence Contemporary Gallery and the Vacant Museum as a Next-generation artist. I had the pleasure and honor to ask Sally what does she enjoy most about creating art, what are the differences between her life as a doctor and now her life as an artist, and what art means to her.
UZOMAH: What is a typical day like when creating a work of art?
SALLY: I work in my studio which is a small garden shed. My artistic practice involves mould making and casting objects repeatedly that when combined into an overall arrangement, the whole becomes greater than the sum of its parts. I often cast many objects from many moulds all at the same time, such that my studio looks like a small factory. I repeatedly cast from the moulds that I make, over and over each day. Other days are spent researching my work either by going to institutions such as the British museum and art galleries or by reading philosophical texts and academic papers. I have recently found the papers produced by Oxford University at the refugee research center particularly helpful in making my new work, called The Colour of Mourning.
Colour of Mourning 300cm diameter Cast driftwood and objects in jesmonite 2021
U: Have you finished The Colour of Mourning? Where will it be exhibited? Can you explain more about the project?
S: I have just completed The Colour of Mourning, which is being exhibited in the Fold Gallery, London 9th to 14th August and 13th August, Private view in the Saatchi Gallery. It is being exhibited at Fresh Air Sculpture, Gloucestershire in June 2022. The Colour of Mourning uses contextual cast objects to reflect the hazardous movement of refugees crossing the English Channel in escalating numbers to seek asylum in the UK after fleeing from war and persecution.
It is not possible to apply for asylum outside the UK. In 2020 the closure of air and lorry routes to the UK during the pandemic increased four-fold the numbers crossing in small boats, one of the most dangerous shipping channels in the world. At least 8,400 people crossed in 2020, 10% of whom were children. Since 1999 three hundred asylum seekers have died including 36 children.
Metamorphosis 300cm x 300cm x 120cm Jesmonite, calico, grate polish. 2014
U: You have experience in medicine and working with refugees. How does that influence your outlook when you create art?
S: Like many artists, my work occupies a liminal space between conscious representation and subconscious influence. Having been a witness to human suffering I find that my work often revisits this. I would like my work to stand for those who have no voice and are treated as less than human as defined by Butler in her text Precarious Lives. My work is often decorative but hides more sinister subjects, such that the viewer may be drawn in by the aesthetic but then is confronted by the reality of the subject matter.
The overall arrangement of the work often reflects the subject. My most recent work The Colour of Mourning, about the escalating number of refugees crossing the hazardous English Channel, is arranged as an ironic mandala which reflects not only the pattern of life repeating but is also a circle, reflecting wheels and cogs and movement because of the actions of others.
Three Hundred, Still Counting. 60cm x 300cm x 5cm Cast driftwood, jesmonite 2021
U: Have you been creating art your whole life or was it something you just pursued after your experience in medicine?
S: Early on in my life any interest in social justice took me away from a potential career in art to study medicine. While practicing as a doctor, sadly I had little time to be creative. Sudden and serious illness meant that I had to retire early, and I decided to return to art and art school. This was a challenging time learning new skills but allowed me to rebuild myself as a conceptual artist.
Walked Over 500cm x 500cm Plaster, vermiculite, pigment, cast objects in jesmonite. 2016
U: Are there any differences between your life as a doctor and now your life as an artist? How did you make the switch?
S: There are similarities between the diagnostic process and the creative process. Both require an initial idea about diagnosis or artistic outcome, both require investigations or artistic research and then re-visiting the initial idea before a final diagnosis or artwork is created. Although having an illness and retiring from medicine was upsetting at the time, I am in many ways so privileged to be able to pursue another career that I feel equally passionate about and can revisit past experiences both medical and personal.
Dream or Nightmare? 50cm x 50cm x 50cm Cast Driftwood, bones and objects, in jesmonite. 2020
U: How have you adjusted to the pandemic? What have been some of the most difficult things you have faced in terms of getting your art displayed?
S: During the pandemic, because I am immunocompromised, I was shielded and not allowed to leave my home for six months. This presented challenges but also opportunities. I used this time to make work reflecting my feeling of being stranded at home by using objects combined with driftwood, which was symbolic of being beached, stranded. These works were called beached and Dream or Nightmare? I used Instagram to communicate with other artists and to explore exhibition opportunities. I found that the art world adapted by virtual exhibitions. I also spent time writing articles for Deviation Street Magazine, Flux Review Magazine, and Artist Talk Magazine and will be published in several books later this year. My most difficult problem was transporting works to actual exhibitions, I was in the Borders exhibition in Venice and had to use DHL for transport. It was also sad that I was not able to attend private views because of the risk with my medical condition. I am now vaccinated so I’m looking forward to going to galleries again!
Ceiling Rose 200cm diameter Cast objects in Easiflow 100 2015
U: What do you enjoy most about creating art?
S: I enjoy manipulating the cast objects that I make to experiment with how they can articulate together. These experiments I call my 3-D drawings. Often, I have no preconceived idea about the final outcome, and it is only when I experiment with these objects that I get ideas about how they can come together. I find this exciting particularly when the outcome is reached.
Evolution 170cm x 70cm x 70cm Jesmonite, marble resin, bronze, calico. 2015
U: What does art mean to you?
S: Art for me is about narrative. I use these contextually linked objects to express my ideas and concerns to the viewer. The objects are often hidden within the arrangement and when reassembled create dissonance and confront the viewer to the sometimes disturbing reality of the narrative. I like my work to create a dialogue about subject matters that could be conceived as difficult or uncomfortable to talk about.
For more information about Sally’s artwork please visit her site. More information can be found on Sally’s Twitter, and Instagram.
