About
Drawer • Sculptor • Painter • Educator
Alexandra Carus Bowker is a British fine artist, designer and creative educator, based between London and her home county of Lancashire. Her practice is rooted in observation, enthused with a love of exploring the fluidity of recording through drawn, painterly and sculptural materials and processes.
Born out of my love of life drawing, my works are a battle between playing with materials and my desire to create a well observed drawing. I am interested in the way we record using different types of marks, which cross these boundaries in the weights, spacing and pressures of different types of line. I work predominantly from life; my work is also informed by transcription, memory and imagination.
My drawing encapsulates my desire to create a well observed piece, whilst playing with the fluidity in my handling of the materials. I am particularly fascinated in the way in which tonal values, coupled with the use of form, create an intriguing interplay of light and space. My intention is to retain that fluidity in a playful and reactive manner: responding to the light and character of the subject, without becoming too rigid nor transfixed on absolute detail.
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The Heatherley School of Fine Art | Postgraduate Figurative Sculpture
The Royal Drawing School | Postgraduate Drawing Development Year
Goldsmiths College | PGCE Design
Enrichment Placement | Victoria & Albert Museum of Childhood, London
Lancaster University - ELIHE | BA Hons Fine Art Integrated Media
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2024
UPCOMING
Verrocchio Figurative Sculpture Residency | Laura Postle Masterclass, Casa d’Elsa Tuscany, August
CURRENT
Interim Show: Sculpture | The Heatherley School of Fine Art, April - May
RECENT
Drawing Beyond | Royal Drawing School at Breakers Gallery, Notting Dale, London, March
Interim Show: Painting | The Heatherley School of Fine Art, December - March
2023
SELECTED PREVIOUS
Fragments of Life | Brompton Chapel Gallery, London
Verrocchio Figurative Sculpture Residency | Laura Postle Masterclass, Casa d’Elsa Tuscany
Gyllian Foster Prize for Drawing
Diploma Show | The Heatherley School of Art Fine
Capture the Castle | Clitheroe Contemporary - Highly Commended
Clitheroe Contemporary | Holmes Mill, Clitheroe
Art Open | Blackburn Museum & Art Gallery
60 Years of Wildness! | Lancashire Wildlife Trust
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CURRENT
Victoria & Albert Museum | V&A Innovate Project Development Team
Drawing Studio 23 — Royal Drawing School Graduate Collective | Design, Promotion and Curatorial Teams
Queen Elizabeth's Grammar School Blackburn — Artsmark Platinum Award, Arts Council England | Teacher of Art & Design Technology; Gold Arts Award Advisor
PREVIOUS
Draw Clitheroe | Freelance Artist
Manchester Art Gallery | Workshop Artist and Learning Invigilator
The Couture Collective — Manchester Art Gallery | Table Discussion Leader
Lost Gardens of Manchester – National Trust at Manchester Art Gallery | Exhibition Gardener and Invigilator
Children’s University – Blackburn Museum & Art Gallery, The Whitaker, Rossendale Museum & Art Gallery and Towneley Hall Art Gallery & Museum | Workshop Artist
Spring into Action - Spring into Art, Oswaldtwistle | SEN Youth Workshop Artist
Action Factory Community Arts Blackburn, Lancashire | Workshop Artist, including for: 'Landgate Create' Turnpike Gallery; Blackburn Festival; Community Arts Facilitator; STUN Roadshow
NOISEFestival: NOISELab, Manchester | Exhibition and Event Assistant
Art in Unusual Spaces – Leeds Corn Exchange Drawing Extravaganza | Event Assistant
Blackburn Museum & Art Gallery | Workshop Artist; Arts Assistant