Nichola Rodgers
Growing up in the Northwest of England has deeply influenced my art practice, shaping the core of my research. My surroundings have always informed my creative journey, an evolving relationship with the object, nature, and womanhood.
In the early years of my practice, I worked with traditional, object-focused methods, creating pieces that offered a sense of permanence and security. These conventional materials and techniques were a strong foundation, but over time, I felt constrained by them. As my awareness of environmental issues deepened, I questioned the sustainability of my practice and the lasting impact of the materials I was using. This led to a significant shift in my work—a transition from creating fixed objects to incorporating a more fluid, sustainable, and nature-driven approach.
I turned to foraging, a practice I did for health and relaxation, these natural materials have become central in my art practice, allowing me to connect more profoundly with the environment.
By gathering plants, berries, and organic materials from the land, I began creating pigments, and inks, researching plants that are edible, and medicinal, and can be used creatively thus aligning my practice with an eco-conscious philosophy.
This process not only reflected my commitment to sustainability but also introduced a liberating sense of creative freedom. My materials now often embrace impermanence and biodegradability, reflecting the cyclical nature of life and challenging traditional notions of art as something that must endure indefinitely. This practice opened my eyes and awakened my mind to an ancient connection women have with the earth. A tradition and culture that has long been forgotten, buried deep within our psyche, waiting to be explored.
Letting go of conventional methods was not without its challenges. Releasing my attachment to permanence required me to rethink my creative process and embrace the idea that art could evolve, transform, and even decay over time. Yet this transition has been deeply rewarding, cathartic even, offering new creative possibilities that are in harmony with both nature and my values.
Today, my art practice is centered on the fluidity of humanity within our landscape, and researching these lost connections with nature.
How the ephemeral can feed and heal our minds and bodies while helping our progress to sustainability within the arts.
I create narratives that explore how fragmented memories and nature intersect with surrounding cultures. I draw on historical foraging techniques, natural material science, and an eco-conscious approach to art-making. For me, the process—the act of collecting, creating, and engaging with the natural world—is just as important as the final product.
I am also passionate about community engagement and collaboration. As a co-founder of Haus-a-rest, an online art zine, I help bring together like-minded artists, writers, poets, and theorists to highlight new and established creatives. In addition, I have organised exhibitions in unconventional spaces, ranging from small traveling galleries and pop-ups in disused buildings to larger shows in commercial venues, both locally and internationally.
My work now sits at the intersection of art and nature, embracing the ephemeral and celebrating the sustainable. Through this journey, I’ve found a deeper respect for the natural world and a renewed sense of freedom in my creative process, and I look forward to continuing this evolving exploration.
ARTS EDUCATION
Dec 2024 Eden Projects communities engagement course.
Sept 2018 Masters of Letters (MLitt) Fine Art Practice /Painting/curation/drawing Glasgow
Sept 2017 1:1 BA (Hon) Contemporary Fine Art, University for the Creative Arts Farnham
Selected Exhibitions
2024 - Best of the Net - shortlisted for - _wish thee wur eer"
2024 Interventions series - temporal, sculptural works created in collaboration with the North west coastal Environment.
2023 The Landscape quietly turns - Richmond Gallery, North Yorkshire
2022 Roots & Seeds, popup at The basement Gallery Ottawa, Canada
2021 August - Contrasts photo Exhibition - Rome
2021 Drawing in the expanded field - New Haus Gallery - London
2020 Environmental crisis - Kofferraum Haus Gallery London - sculpture
2020 The Body as Landscape - @fox.rodgers Instagram takeover exhibition
2020 Take up space - Tap house gallery Folkestone - installation
2020 Womanhood - the old High St Gallery space Folkestone - sculpture
2019 Arkansas College gallery, Anthropocene exhibition, Sept 2019-sept 2020 - photography
2019 On the Surface of Things access space gallery, Sheffield - film
2019 Environment Documenta, Loosen Art Gallery Rome - photography piece.
2019 App art Easter exhibition “Under a Scottish Sky” - oil painting
2019 Hard Hats Hi Heels and Her, ( installation- sculpture, and painting )Trowbridge Townhall arts (duo exhibition)
2018 Redline artworks online exhibition (photography)
2018 GSA degree show - installation - sculpture - painting
2018 Delphian Art Gallery London dystopian photography piece
2018 Collective fine arts group exhibition “Close By “ Glasgow International - sculpture
2017 Degree show Farnham UCA - installation - film - sculpture
2017 London Barge house (Oxo tower) ‘Iris Turns’ - installation
2016 Bath Arts fringe festival “utopia/dystopia” - installation of sculptures
2016 Fircroft fine art exhibition and art fair exhibited installation and assistant curator
2016 ‘Hex Education” exhibition Linear Gallery Farnham - installation
2016 Installation - Selected to show in Gustav Metzger's ‘Remember Nature’ exhibition in collaboration with UCA, Goldsmiths, and the Serpentine Gallery London
2015 Created a Travelling miniature exhibition that showed in Yorkshire Sculpture Park, Bluecoat Gallery Liverpool – Cass Sculpture Park Surrey
2015 Hundred-year Gallery London - steel sculpture
Selection of Exhibitions curated/organised
2021 Kate Harrison in Kofferraum Haus Gallery as part of Pow of Women arts festival Margate
2021 Laura Greenway in Kofferraum Haus Gallery
2020 Joined Haus a Rest as a co-editor web designer & gallery curator
2020 pop-up exhibition Guildford - empty store exhibition collection of artists
2019 pop-up photo exhibition in the disused walled garden, Sussex
2018 “Walking the Green” live forest performance and a small exhibition of local artists, in Scotland
2018 Organised and curated two pop up Collective art group exhibitions for the Glasgow International Fringe Festival, “Close by” and “ Limp Structures”
http://www.mlitt18.moonfruit.com/home/4594272986
2017 London Barge House OXO tower exhibition (part of a team)
https://www.instagram.com/iris_turns/
2016 Homebase Department store - Kitchen heterotopia kitchen exhibition, organiser, curator.
2016 Fircroft fine art exhibition and art fair exhibited and assistant curator
2016 Fircroft fine art exhibition and art fair exhibited and assistant curator
2016 ‘Hex Education” exhibition Linear Gallery Farnham (curator)
2015 Created a Travelling exhibition that was performed in Yorkshire Sculpture Park, Bluecoat Gallery Liverpool – Cass Sculpture Park Surrey (sole organiser of the community involved exhibition )
2015 Hundred-year Gallery London (co-curated)
2014 Horsham Town pop-up exhibition
Residencies/Prizes
2021 Residency at Basement Gallery- Ottawa Canada - connecting nature ( curation and drawing during lockdown)
2020 Arts Council Award for an independent art project
2020 Residency - studio 11, Folkestone ‘The object can not be contained’
2018 Delphian Art open call selected from 8000 entries - photography pieces, dystopian hybrids
2018 Dumfries House Royal Drawing School Residency, with work in their collection
2016 Shortlisted for the Blooom Art Award Germany