TEXTS & INTERVIEWS - relating to my work and projects
Thinking & Practise on the 10 year Anniversary of the Recognition of the Cornish as a National Minority , by Sovay Berriman
Sovay Berriman on Cornwall, Cornish identity, Eek! and Meskla, by Rupert White for Art Cornwall
Days out in a Renault Twingo, by Joanne Tatham
Everyday Constellations, an essay by Mary Paterson, for Synethsia, a Cultivator Cornwall and University of Plymouth project.
Drawing as Research, with Tate Learning
An Artist-Led Adventure, an article by Stephen Palmer for a-n, about Molluscs Hunt Wizards
Mildly Radical, Liz Rowe for Dense Cluster at Bristol Diving School.
That’s Entertainment, by Sacha Waldron for The Skinny, a review of Entertainement Suite in Oculist Witnesses, The Harris, Preston
Oculist Witnesses review by Sam Pickett for Corridor 8
Vanishing Point by Laura McLean Ferris for Oculist Witnesses
AUDIO - talks and in-conversations
Dreadnought South West, a conversation between Sovay Berriman and Josie Sutcliffe at Kresen Kernow, June 2023. This recording does not include the open discussion that followed Sovay & Josie’s conversation.
The Lock-in with Natalie Rigby - Sovay & Natalie talk about growing up in Cornwall, othering, neurodivergence, air-guitaring mums and inspirational nieces.
Artonomics: Supporting a Multifaceted Practice - Sovay Berriman & Lucy Harrison interviewed by Cathy Lomax for the Out of Space podcast
Sovay Berriman is an artist who is excited by the possibility of the collective and the potential of the fragment, who is attentive to supple and subtle boundaries, and edges and moments of change. Sovay at times uses art as a structure and prompt for action and discussion, and is committed to questioning balances of power. Sovay’s work will often manifest as multiple elements which may be experienced through installation, text/audio, moving image, drawing, sculpture, event or conversation; always pieces working together to create a whole supportive structure and shared story.
The natural environment, its domestic and industrial evolution, tourist sites, performance platforms and dance floors, inform the abstract and semi-fantastical sculptural structures and events Sovay builds. Also working in the plumbing and heating industry, Sovay connects this experience with those of being Cornish, Neurodivergent, trauma-impacted and from a Queer, non-conforming low socio-economic background. The grounding and mutable aspects of these identities, particularly in relation to environmental and social justice, care, labour, and a sense of place, reverberate through Sovay’s work.
Sovay was the Clore Leadership Visual Arts Fellow for the nineteenth cohort in 2023/24 supported by a-n the artists information company. Sovay has exhibited & worked with organisations & galleries such as the Counterpoints Arts, Creative Kernow, ArtNight, Hospital Rooms, Visual Art South West, Tate, Spike Island, MIRROR, National Theatre Scotland, Pi-ArtWorks - London/Istanbul, & Robin Gibson - Sydney.
Sovay is open to conversations about working on new projects, coaching, mentoring, consultation, tutoring and critical friendhip. Please get in touch with Sovay via the contact form.
L-R: Recordning a MESKLA podcast, photo credit: Joe Blackman; Visiting lecturer presentation for Falmouth University, talking through a collaborative project with Dr Shelley Trower.
All work copyright the artist