Elsa Collinson is a member of the Cornubian Arts and Science Trust (Cast), which is the driving force behind Groundwork, a season of international contemporary art at venues around Cornwall that runs until September.
What’s your highlight of Groundwork?
I’ve overseen the installation of a work by Christine Mackie at the National Trust’s Godolphin estate. It’s called Judges II and is one of three works she made from painted ceramics, paper and minerals after seeing what she thought were face formations at an extinct volcano in Australia.
How was the venue chosen?
Mackie visited a Cast workshop last year and came across the King’s Room at Godolphin. She was intrigued by the history of the estate, which was built on the profits of copper and tin. The room sits in a walled garden and doesn’t have environmental controls, so we have to monitor humidity levels as parts of the work are delicate.
Where does Cast fit in Cornwall’s artistic tradition?
Groundwork is a partnership with Tate St Ives, Newlyn Art Gallery & The Exchange and Kestle Barton Gallery, all remarkable pockets of creativity that, due to the county’s geography, can often feel isolated. We are based in an old school building in Helston.
How did you find your way there?
I came for a workshop in 2016 after an MA in museum curatorship in Brighton and spells working at Tate Britain and Ditchling Museum of Arts and Crafts, during which time I helped catalogue some Joshua Reynolds pieces. I was inspired by the Groundwork director, Teresa Gleadowe, and ended up joining Cast’s public programming team. I had always been interested in the sector, but as a journalist or researcher. The idea that you could combine research with working with artists didn’t occur to me.
What do you enjoy most about the job now?
I have worked with historical collections but the artists in Groundwork are interested in the uses of landscape through contemporary perspectives. I helped install a Sean Lynch work, which is a film about a folklorist in Ireland who campaigned to have a motorway route changed to protect a fairy bush.
What’s your highlight of Groundwork?
I’ve overseen the installation of a work by Christine Mackie at the National Trust’s Godolphin estate. It’s called Judges II and is one of three works she made from painted ceramics, paper and minerals after seeing what she thought were face formations at an extinct volcano in Australia.
How was the venue chosen?
Mackie visited a Cast workshop last year and came across the King’s Room at Godolphin. She was intrigued by the history of the estate, which was built on the profits of copper and tin. The room sits in a walled garden and doesn’t have environmental controls, so we have to monitor humidity levels as parts of the work are delicate.
Where does Cast fit in Cornwall’s artistic tradition?
Groundwork is a partnership with Tate St Ives, Newlyn Art Gallery & The Exchange and Kestle Barton Gallery, all remarkable pockets of creativity that, due to the county’s geography, can often feel isolated. We are based in an old school building in Helston.
How did you find your way there?
I came for a workshop in 2016 after an MA in museum curatorship in Brighton and spells working at Tate Britain and Ditchling Museum of Arts and Crafts, during which time I helped catalogue some Joshua Reynolds pieces. I was inspired by the Groundwork director, Teresa Gleadowe, and ended up joining Cast’s public programming team. I had always been interested in the sector, but as a journalist or researcher. The idea that you could combine research with working with artists didn’t occur to me.
What do you enjoy most about the job now?
I have worked with historical collections but the artists in Groundwork are interested in the uses of landscape through contemporary perspectives. I helped install a Sean Lynch work, which is a film about a folklorist in Ireland who campaigned to have a motorway route changed to protect a fairy bush.
