This conversation between artist Jacob van der Beugel and students from Andover College, ruminates on the language of ceramics, and how his practice has incorporated unexpected materials such as concrete, to communicate new meanings. This diverse discussion addresses topics such as the potential of partnerships between art and science; and explores the ideas presented in his work, including his interest in genetics and DNA, the relationship between determinism and self-determination, and in what ways his works might be seen as ‘portraits’.

Jacob van der Beugel’s solo exhibition ‘Wherever the Two Shall Meet’, located in the gallery of Roche Court, was the starting point for this episode, with the students visiting the exhibition and also enjoying a virtual visit to the artist’s studio as part of their research into his work.

There is a lot here to interest anyone from an art or science background, especially young people who may be considering a career in the arts.

Find out more about Jacob van der Beugel here: https://jacobvanderbeugel.com/

Thanks to: Dan Coggins for producing this episode. Thanks also to the New Art Centre, Carlie Windows and students from the art department at Andover College and especially, Jacob van Der Beugel for generously giving his time. 

This podcast has been funded by The Arts Society

Image Credit:
Jacob van der Beugel
Wherever the Two Shall Meet
2023, Ceramics, wooden frame 170 x 130 x 5 cm

Students from Salisbury Sixth Form College explore a diverse range of subjects in this conversation with Charlotte Verity. These include the exactitude of oil painting, the importance of observation, and issues inherent in her work such as memory and the passing of time.

‘Charlotte Verity’s practice is ultimately concerned with mapping the ephemerality of her immediate surroundings. The way nature fluctuates, the seasons, the weather, the light – the life cycle of the plant life around us. As Verity works from her garden and studio, her subjects, taken from the natural world, are painted slowly over weeks and months. Vanishing moments are captured permanently. Each painting or print holds a narrative about the passage of time, an appreciation for the small marvels that can be found in nature. The curve of a stem, the colour of a flower, the formation of its petals, the matrix of branches and mass of leaves, all these delicate ecosystems of life that are moving through cycles that are both colossal and invisible.

Charlotte Verity (b. 1954), until recently worked and lived in London, and since 2022, in Somerset. After studying at the Slade School of Fine Art she was awarded the Slade Prize and Boise Travelling Scholarship. Her work resides in major private and public collections that include Arts Council England; Derby Museum and Art Gallery; the British Museum; Government Art Collection; Deutsche Bank; Garden Museum, London; Museum of Contemporary Art, San Diego; Sir John Soane’s Museum, London; Tate, and University College London. She has exhibited widely, most recently two solo exhibitions, Echoing Green at Karsten Schubert in London, and The Season’s Ebb at the New Art Centre in Salisbury.’ (Source, New Art Centre website https://www.sculpture.uk.com/charlotte-verity)

Find out more about Charlotte Verity here: https://www.charlotteverity.co.uk

The Roche Court Educational Trust works with over 6,000 children, young people and specialist groups annually, at both the Sculpture Park and elsewhere. We encourage an exploration of modern and contemporary art through our specialist looking, thinking & speaking approach.

As an independent charity, we rely on donations to deliver our program. For further details of how to support our work, please visit our website here.   

Follow us on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/_ilovesculpture/ 

Thanks to: Dan Coggins and Zach James for co-producing this episode. Thanks also to the New Art Centre, Karsten Schubert Gallery and especially, Charlotte Verity, for generously giving her time. 

This podcast has been generously funded by RSA Catalyst Award and The Arts Society Wessex.

Image credit;
Charlotte Verity
Ponder (Plumbago), 2020
Oil on canvas
90.3 x 150.5 x 3.1 cm
2ft 11 ½ x 4ft 11 ¼ x 1 ¼ in.

This conversation between ceramic artist Fernando Casasempere and students from Andover College, ruminates on the nature of ceramics, addressing its properties as a ‘living material’. It also tackles subjects such as climate change, the power of taking risks in art and the importance of sharing food and conversation! 

'After studying both ceramics and sculpture in Barcelona, Casasempere returned to his birthplace, Santiago, where he consolidated his studies by working as a ceramics sculptor. After exhibiting extensively, both in Chile and North America, his work began to feature in exhibitions overseas. He then moved to London in 1997, bringing with him over twelve tonnes of his own mixtures of clay, a feat confirming his long-standing obsession with identity and his deep-seated concern for the environment. The Chilean landscape and Pre-Colombian background of the Latin world are ever present in his sculptures and his most recent works combine these influences with the cityscapes and inspirations that London has offered him.

His seven-metre long installation for the New Art Centre, 'Back to the Earth', 2005, examines the artist's interest in ecology and geology and consists of individual ceramic elements that jut out of the earth, exposing its inner core'  (source, New Art Centre)


The Roche Court Educational Trust works with over 6,000 children, young people and specialist groups annually, at both the Sculpture Park and elsewhere. We encourage an exploration of modern and contemporary art through our specialist looking, thinking & speaking approach.

As an independent charity, we rely on donations to deliver our program. For further details of how to support our work, please visit our website here.   

Follow us on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/_ilovesculpture/ 

To find out more about Fernando Casasempere, follow this link: www.fernandocasasempere.com

Thanks to: Dan Coggins and Zach James for co-producing this episode. Thanks also to the New Art Centre and especially, Fernando Casasempere, for generously giving his time. 

This podcast has been generously funded by RSA Catalyst Award and The Arts Society Wessex.

Photo credit: Fernando casasempere, Back to the Earth, 2005, New Art Centre

Join us ‘in conversation’ with Alison Wilding OBE and A Level art students from Hardenhuish School and St Mary's Calne in Wiltshire, discussing topics including the artist’s use of conflicting materials; connections to myth and ancient artefacts in her work; the influence of artists such as Rachel Whiteread and Barbara Hepworth; and the sustaining power of the creative process.

‘Wilding was born in Blackburn, Lancashire. She studied at Ravensbourne College of Art and, from 1970 to 1973, at the Royal College of Art in London. Her sculpture is closely concerned with the physical qualities of materials. She uses traditional as well as contemporary sculptural processes, such as modelling, carving, casting and constructing to explore the contrasts and relationships between materials. 

Her sculptures often consist of two separate elements, which suggest opposites such as positive-negative, male-female, light-dark. She uses a wide range of materials, including copper, wood, beeswax, lead, galvanised steel, transparent plastics, silk, fossils, rubber and paints; these enable her to establish unusual juxtapositions of form, colour and surface. She was shortlisted for the Turner Prize in 1988 and 1992. 

Wilding's work can be found in major collections nationally and internationally, including Arts Council of Great Britain, British Council, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Australia, Musée de Beaux Arts, Calais, France, and Scottish National Gallery.’ (Source: New Art Centre website)

The Roche Court Educational Trust works with over 6,000 children, young people and specialist groups annually, at both the Sculpture Park and elsewhere. We encourage an exploration of modern and contemporary art through our specialist looking, thinking & speaking approach.

As an independent charity, we rely on donations to deliver our program. For further details of how to support our work, please visit our website at: https://rochecourteducationaltrust.co.uk/support-us/ 

Follow us on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/_ilovesculpture/ 

To find out more about Alison Wilding, follow this link: https://www.karstenschubert.com/artists/26-alison-wilding/

Thanks to: Dan Coggins and Zach James for co-producing this episode. Thanks also to the New Art Centre and finally, Alison Wilding, for generously giving her time. 

This podcast has been generously funded by RSA Catalyst Award and The Arts Society Wessex.

Photo credit: Alison Wilding, Shrubs 1, 2019

Join us ‘in conversation’ with Michael Craig-Martin and A Level art students from South Wilts Grammar School in Salisbury discussing topics such as the artist’s approach towards colour, the importance of creativity in any profession and Craig-Martin's journey towards becoming an internationally-renowned artist. 

Craig-Martin is best known for his vibrant representation of everyday objects that celebrate the ordinary and everyday. The artist was awarded a CBE in 2000, was an elected Royal Academician in 2006 and knighted in the Queen’s Birthday Honours List in 2016. Craig-Martin blurs the boundaries between what is 2D and 3D in his sculpture by representing an upscaled object in one continuous outline as seen in Fountain Pen (turquoise), 2019, which is currently on display at Roche Court Sculpture Park. This is further illustrated by his untitled glass etching piece also exhibited at Roche Court which shows many everyday objects layered on top of each other. The accessibility and relatability of the artist’s subject matter is what continues to fascinate the viewer and why his work has been exhibited across the US, Europe, South Korea, China and London. 

The Roche Court Educational Trust works with over 6,000 children, young people and specialist groups annually, at both the Sculpture Park and elsewhere. We encourage an exploration of modern and contemporary art through our specialist looking, thinking & speaking approach.

As an independent charity, we rely on donations to deliver our program. For further details of how to support our work, please visit our website at: https://rochecourteducationaltrust.co.uk/support-us/ 

Follow us on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/_ilovesculpture/ 

To find out more about Michael Craig-Martin, follow this link: Michael Craig-Martin (michaelcraigmartin.co.uk)

Thanks to: Dan Coggins and Zach James for co-producing this episode. Thanks also to the New Art Centre and finally, Michael Craig-Martin, for generously giving up his time. 

This podcast has been generously funded by RSA Catalyst Award and The Arts Society Wessex.

Photo credits: Michael Craig-Martin, Fountain Pen (Turquoise), 2019

Join us ‘in conversation’ with Nao Matsunaga and A Level Art students from Wellington Academy, discussing how materials can transcend dual identities, Matsunaga’s ways of working through ‘artist’s block’, finding the end point and much more.

Matsunaga’s experimental work, which he creates with clay, wood and paper, goes beyond the everyday object into the realm of the unusual and extraordinary. The artist often references the natural world in his sculpture and how humans have engaged with it, especially cavemen. Figurative elements such as facial features and limbs are also often evident, particularly in Next 2 Nothing, 2019, Matsunaga’s work currently on display in the Design House at Roche Court Sculpture Park. The artist often makes his work by varying and experimenting with bodily movements to manipulate the material and placement of glaze.

The Roche Court Educational Trust works with over 6,000 children, young people and specialist groups annually, at both the Sculpture Park and elsewhere. We encourage an exploration of modern and contemporary art through our specialist looking, thinking & speaking approach.

As an independent charity, we rely on donations to deliver our program. For further details of how to support our work, please visit our website at: https://rochecourteducationaltrust.co.uk/support-us/ Follow us on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/_ilovesculpture/ 

To find out more about Nao Matsunaga, follow this link: Nao Matsunaga

Thanks to: Dan Coggins and Zach James for co-producing this episode. Thanks also to the New Art Centre and finally, Nao Matsunaga, for generously giving up his time. 

This podcast has been generously funded by RSA Catalyst Award and The Arts Society Wessex.

Image: Nao Matsunaga, Next 2 Nothing, 2019, copyright Nao Matsunaga and New Art Centre

Join us ‘in conversation’ with Laura Ford and GCSE Art students from Pewsey Vale school, discussing topics including the impact of childhood upon Ford’s career, her experience as a woman artist, and in particular, her intriguing sculpture ‘Espaliered Girl’ previously on display at Roche Court Sculpture Park.

Ford’s work often combines a sense of playfulness, suggested by her representation of children and fantasy, with uncomfortable and unnerving undertones. Her child-like sculptures are hybrid creatures with strange, faceless heads that convey a political message and speak to Ford’s feminist agenda.

Laura Ford has had solo exhibitions worldwide in countries such as Spain, Germany, the USA and even at the New Art Centre, Roche Court Sculpture Park. In 2004, Ford represented Wales in the Venice Biennale and her work is shown in many public collections including the Tate, V&A and the Government Art Collection.

The Roche Court Educational Trust works with over 6,000 children, young people and specialist groups annually, at both the Sculpture Park and elsewhere. We encourage an exploration of modern and contemporary art through our specialist looking, thinking & speaking approach.

As an independent charity, we rely on donations to deliver our program. For further details of how to support our work, please visit our website at: https://rochecourteducationaltrust.co.uk/support-us/ Follow us on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/_ilovesculpture/ 

For more information on Laura Ford, follow this link: LAURA FORD

Thanks to: Dan Coggins and Zach James for co-producing this episode. Thanks also to the New Art Centre and finally, Laura Ford, for generously giving up her time. 

This podcast has been generously funded by RSA Catalyst Award and The Arts Society Wessex.

Image: Laura Ford, Espaliered Girl, 2007, copyright Laura Ford and New Art Centre.

Join us ‘in conversation’ with Bill Woodrow and A Level art students from Woodroffe School, discussing the artist’s practice and his disparate, yet harmonious sculpture ‘Endeavour’ on display at the entrance of Roche Court Sculpture Park.

From afar, Endeavour resembles the black silhouette of a war weapon set against a patchwork quilt of expansive fields. The sculpture faces away from Roche, poised ready to launch explosives over the roaming cows. Its placement at the entrance of the park, next to Peter Randall-Page’s ‘Fructus’, is largely uncanny and yet, upon closer inspection of Woodrow’s work, its placement is rather fitting.

More than simply a cannon, Endeavour is a rich tapestry of incongruous iconography. The wheels are composed of splayed open books, chunks of cheese and even a drum. The cannon is in fact a tree trunk and underneath, a wolf or dragon plays an accordion. In 1996, Woodrow said “There isn't one reading to any of the works for myself, so I don't expect it to be so for other people" (in conversation with Keith Patrick, 1996). In other words, Endeavour has multiple meanings: the bond that ties each component together is up to the individual viewer.

Woodrow's work is held in numerous public and private collections including the Museum of Modern Art, New York, USA, and the Rijksmuseum, Netherlands. He has received several honorary distinctions during his career including: representing Britain at the Biennales of Sidney, Paris and Sao Paulo, he was a finalist in the Turner Prize at the Tate Gallery in London in 1986; and a trustee of the Tate Galleries for 5 years. The artist also created 'Regardless of History' for the fourth plinth in Trafalgar Square in 2000.

For more information, please visit www.billwoodrow.com 

As an independent charity, we rely on donations to deliver our program. For further details of how to support our work, please visit our website at: https://rochecourteducationaltrust.co.uk/support-us/ Follow us on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/_ilovesculpture/ 

Thanks to: Dan Coggins and Zach James for co-producing this episode. Thanks also to the New Art Centre and finally, Bill Woodrow, for generously giving up his time. 

Funded by RSA Catalyst Seed Award and The Arts Society Wessex.

Image: Bill Woodrow, Endeavour, 1994, copyright Bill Woodrow and New Art Centre.