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Chichester Workshop for Liturgical Art
A short post on my time at the Chichester Workshop for Liturgical Art
A week or so ago, I was very fortunate to be able to spend a weeks residency at the Chichester Workshop for Liturgical Art. It is truly refreshing that such a place is beginning. This is a start of something very exciting for the creation of artworks within the Christian context.
Just north of Chichester, in a small sleepy village in South Harting, just left of the pub is an old malt barn where you will find the Chichester Workshop for Liturgical art. Within these walls a revival of sorts taking place. Inside are two remarkably gifted artists slowly working. Though there soon will be a more permanent studio within the Cathedral grounds. This endeavour to create a studio began in 2022, after a 3 month long residency in Chichester Cathedral, artists Jim Blackstone and Martin Earle set up a temporary studio in the north transept. Encouraged by the reaction to this residency, working in association with Chichester Cathedral, Jim, Martin, and Aidan Hart were invited to establish a permanent workshop. To become a place to a nourish an ever so slightly neglected form of art, that is finding a place in the West for Orthodox, Catholics and Anglicans. I do hope others will be inspired to create these communal pockets of creating.
The greatest thing I took away from this time was the sense of a shared, open space where there is one over arching intention, the creation of Sacred Art. It made me think of Matthew 18:19-20 “Again I say unto you, That if two of you shall agree on earth as touching any thing that they shall ask, it shall be done for them of my Father which is in heaven. For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them.” Throughout the week, felt like some kind of silent prayer of making. As someone used to being cooped up in a studio alone, it was such a relief to be in a space where the focus was on making and being around people of a like-mind. To be able to have a cup of coffee and a biscuit, and talk about the delicacy of line, or composition, or the role of icons. It is a gift. Perhaps the notion of the individual artist has gone too far, stretching the distance of the communal space to engage in a creative life far and wide, where each artist sits on their own box and looks at the world. The online world gives some solace here, yet it really is nothing in comparison to person to person. The dynamic is completely different.
I do hope to spend some more time there. If you would like to find out more information, or perhaps are interested in some of the training opportunities they offer a link could be found here: https://www.chichesterworkshop.org/about/
Other links of interest:
A range of talks from Aidan and others regarding liturgical art can be found on their youtube channel here: https://www.youtube.com/@TheChichesterWorkshop/videos
To find the very talented websites of Martin, Jim and Aidan.
This was the result at the end of the week, a carving of the Virgin and Child in Bath stone, and the Theotokos in a beautiful piece of alabaster that Martin very kindly gave me to work on. Both these stones hold their own beauty. Bath stone has the texture of a digestive biscuit, or a hob nob. It is crumbly and rough, it doesn’t hold a precise line particularly well, and running throughout it are small stones and pebbles, making it quite awkward to carve. Working with this kind of stone forces you to embrace a different approach, and that is to simplify, thick bold lines; nothing too fanciful or fussy. Despite it being a bit of a battle to carve, it gives a rather wonderful effect of looking like it’s been sat outside slowly eroded by wind. Alabaster on the other hand, is the opposite, it can be so marvellously refined and subtle, with similarities to marble. It is not a dense crumbly geological assortment, but a delicately translucent and gracefully light stone, which you could carve with your finger nail (though not advised). This was my first time using it, and it was a joy to carve. The differences can be seen below.
I will be showing these works at the Festival of Orthodox Arts which is taking place in Bath, Friday 25th - Saturday 26th. Do make it if you can!
A slight divergence in topic….. Chichester is a very charming city, which feels more like a town. The Cathedral has some wonderful Romanesque elements to it, such as these remarkable arches, they are in such good nick they look like they could have been carved within this century. The lightness and clarity I admire greatly, the subtlety of alternating colours in a checker pattern is so achingly simple, and works to great effect in ornamentation. These truly are timeless. Those masons back then really knew what they were doing.
Another part of the Cathedral which blew my socks off were the Chichester Reliefs. I remember coming across these 4 or so years ago in a book, and they captured me there and then. These are some true masterpieces; the weight and size of Christ, the flow of hands, the stark faces, there is such a good rhythm to these reliefs. The carving is very direct and the impact the piece has on you is direct, it is a very striking rendition of the shortest verse of the Bible, “Jesus Wept”. The carvings come from the thirteenth century and depict the raising of Lazarus (John 11:33-44) and Martha and Mary going to meet Jesus (John 11:30-32). They are rare examples of Romanesque sculpture in Britain, and a miraculous survival. The reliefs were hidden for centuries, and rediscovered behind the choir stalls in 1829. Perhaps Britain’s version of Rublev’s work being found hidden in a barn…. Other fragments of carvings were discovered along with the reliefs, and it is thought that they formed part of a larger scheme in a chancel screen. Along with being such a compelling work of sacred art, it is also a reminder that here in these isles we had a tradition that was related to the old and ancient ways of the Church and its art. Perhaps one day a chancel screen of this beauty could be made again within the Chichester Workshop?
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