Sovay Berriman

WORK HISTORY

EDUCATION

ABOUT SOVAY BERRIMAN

Sovay Berriman’s work is rooted in their experience of being Cornish, their culture’s shifting identity, and the mutability yet power of a sense of place. Sovay uses her practice as a structure and prompt for action and discussion, and is committed to questioning balances of power. Participants are invited into Sovay’s work at different moments to collaborate, test and contribute. Sovay is excited by the possibility of the collective, supple and subtle boundaries, edges and moments of change. Evolution, domestic and industrial use of the natural environment, alongside performance platforms and dance floors, inform the abstract and semi-fantastical sculptural structures and events they build. The artworks Sovay creates manifest out of multiple elements. Through installation, text/audio, moving image, drawing and sculpture, fragments work together to create a whole, supportive structure and shared story. Current activity Sovay is one of four commissioned artists making new work for the inaugural Flamm Cornwall, in partnership with Art Night and Counterpoint Arts. Sovay’s Flamm commission, Gwyrdh Glas, comprises of workshops, a sculptural installation and her first publicly exhibited film. The work makes links between Kernewek/Cornish identity, land and language and will also be included in Counterpoint Arts’ Platforma 7 programme. Sovay is commissioned as part of Hospital Rooms’ Cornwall Project 2023/24 to deliver workshops and make new work for Cornwall NHS Foundation Trust at Redruth and Bodmin Community Hospitals. Sovay has been awarded the Clore Visual Arts Fellowship for 2023, support by a-n. Sovay has exhibited & worked with publicly funded organisations & galleries, such as the Contemporary Art Society, Tate, Spike Island - Bristol, Exeter Phoenix, The Harris - Preston, MIRROR - Plymouth, The Royal Standard - Liverpool; and with commercial galleries such as WORK|PROJECTS - Bristol, Pi-ArtWorks - London/Istanbul, & Robin Gibson - Sydney. Sovay has work in private collections and within the NHS Collection - Alexander Pringle Centre, North Middlesex University Hospital NHS Trust. In 2015 Sovay trained as a plumbing and heating engineer and works in the construction industry alongside their art activity with a commitment to helping customers transition to low carbon heating. Their experiences in this line of work have developed the critical socio-economic and political aspects of their practice, particularly in relation to environment, care and the labour of making.