Forest and Found British, b. 1991
Forest and Found are an artist duo consisting of artists Max Bainbridge (b. 1991, London) and Abigail Booth (b. 1991, London). Working together since 2014, their studio gives them a space for material experimentation, as well as a platform to explore their individual art practices. Working in both visual arts and contemporary craft.
Working across the visual arts, artists Max Bainbridge and Abigail Booth draw upon a background in painting and sculpture, whilst looking towards a newly developed language of craft. They work independently to produce installations that form dialogues between landscape, material and process as they navigate the changing context of the maker. Working with raw materials sourced directly from evolving rural and urban landscapes, they explore identity and place through expanded material histories and hand-work. Raw wood, textile and natural pigments are elements that ground their individual practices in a material investigation of the object and textile surface as a critical space for their interaction with the natural. Bainbridge’s exploration of the living tree is rooted in the physicality of the embodied vessel and carved object, while Booth’s patchworked and painted canvases explore the psycho-natural surface of the constructed, textile image. Their use of natural and found material is central to the economy of their work as they turn to the concept of landscape as a critical site that can occupy the space between thought and process. They treat this liminal space as a site where cultural narratives and identity can be challenged and re-written through the physical act of making and their psychological exploration of the natural.
Forest and Found's work has been exhibited Internationally. Selected solo exhibitions include: Walking the Line, Oriel Myrddin, Camarthen (2019) and Ruthin Craft Centre, Ruthin (2018); Outland, Egg, London (2018). Selected group exhibitions include: From Nature, Informality (2021), Common Thread, New Art Centre, Roche Court, (2020), Jerwood Makers Open, Jerwood Space, London, (2019/21), Levelling Traditions, Make Hauser & Wirth Somerset, Bruton (2018), Collect Open, Saatchi Gallery, London (2018). In 2017 they were artists' in residence at Pitt River’s Museum, Oxford (2017).
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Forest and Found, Shallow Lands, Informality Gallery, Installation view 2021. Image Copyright of the artists.
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From Nature, Informality Gallery, 2021, Image by Scarlet Page
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Common Thread, New Art Centre, 2020, Image courtesy of Forest and Found
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Jerwood Makers Open, Jerwood Arts, 2019 - 2021. Image courtesy of Forest and Found
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Walking the Line, Oriel Myrddin Gallery, Camarthen 2019. Image courtesy of Forest and Found.
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Forest and FoundLand Jar, 2020Burnished sycamore36 x 37 cm
14 1/8 x 14 5/8 in -
Forest and FoundIn Dreams Dormir, 2020Bone white, burnt cotton, beeswax, linseed oil, mixed cottons, thread205 x 165 x 3.5 cm
80 3/4 x 65 x 1 3/8 in -
Forest and FoundThe Curtain’s Drawn, 2020Madder lake, cotton charcoal, bone black, linseed oil, beeswax, madder dye, silk, burnt cotton, cotton velvet, mixed cottons, paper, thread180 x 155 x 3.5 cm
70 7/8 x 61 1/8 x 1 3/8 in -
Forest and FoundCrucible, 2021Ebonised spalted beech15 x 50 cm
5 7/8 x 19 3/4 in -
Forest and FoundDeadstanding I, 2021Ash wood and brass112 x 70 x 45 cm
44 1/8 x 27 1/2 x 17 3/4 in -
Forest and FoundSoft Rock, 2021Excavated ochres (natural spring sites), oil and chalk on gesso panel25.5 x 20 x 2 cm (each panel)
10 1/8 x 7 7/8 x 3/4 in -
Forest and FoundPhantom Witness, 2021Gesso and reclaimed textile on wood90 x 65 x 12 cm
35 3/8 x 25 5/8 x 4 3/4 in -
Forest and FoundShallow Waters Run Deep, 2021Woad, chamomile, burnt yarrow, shells, chalk, thread and oil on reclaimed textiles150 x 120 x 3.5 cm
59 1/8 x 47 1/4 x 1 3/8 in
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Shallow Lands
Forest and Found 27 Nov 2021 - 19 Feb 2022Informality is thrilled to open ‘Shallow Lands’, the gallery’s first solo exhibition with studio practice Forest and Found comprising of Max Bainbridge and Abigail Booth. 'Shallow Lands’ presents a new...Read more -
From Nature
Forest and Found, Rain Wu, Jamie North, Nienke Hoogvliet, Peter Matthews, Jesper Eriksson and Harriet Hellman. 18 Feb - 24 Apr 2021From Nature presents a selection of works by seven contemporary artists from around the world who use materials as central contributors to how the works find meaning and do so...Read more