The Fleming-Wyfold Art Foundation Presents Award to Emerging Artist Becky Brewis

By Gemma Batchelor, 07.12.2021

Becky Brewis, One Skin, 200cm x 100cm, mixed media embroidery, 2021. Courtesy the Artist.

The Fleming-Wyfold Art Foundation are delighted to announce the award of £1,500 to Becky Brewis, an emerging talent in the Scottish art scene. To assist recent art graduates with overcoming the challenges experienced during the pandemic, the Foundation has awarded this special bursary to Brewis for her innovative textile work displayed at the Edinburgh College of Art Graduate Show 2021. 

Brewis graduated from ECA this year with a distinction in Contemporary Art Practice (MFA), having previously studied on the Drawing Year, a postgraduate diploma at the Royal Drawing School, graduating in 2016. "A brilliant draughtswoman, textile artist and film maker, Dundee-based Brewis stands out as an original and highly trained talent," explained James Knox, Director of the Fleming Collection.  

Speaking about her practice, Brewis described how she is "making works that occupy an explicitly feminine space between painting and sculpture, with untidy undersides and frayed edges on view." These pieces incorporate fake nails, hairballs and false eyelashes alongside traditional embroidery materials, and she is currently in the process of developing this language of tactile, provisional parts through ceramics. Her progression into ceramic is aided by her ongoing three-month residency with the Edinburgh Sculpture Workshop (ESW). 

"The award presents a real chance to experiment with materials and allows me to spend more time in the studio and in workshops, benefitting from the expertise of the technicians at ESW... I am hugely grateful to the Foundation for supporting my practice at this transitional moment, and it has been a pleasure to have the opportunity to talk about my work with James and Gemma." 

Brewis was also recently awarded the ECA Collections Purchase Prize, adding to her prestigious collection inclusions of the Dumfries House Collection and the Windsor Castle Royal Collection. Her work has been displayed in numerous national and international group exhibitions, including at the Jerwood Space, London; Immanence, Paris; Nunnery Gallery, London; Embassy Gallery, Edinburgh; Generator Projects, Dundee; Architekturzentrum Wien, Vienna; and Örö Island, Finland. In 2019, Cultureland, Amsterdam, hosted a solo show of her work, titled 'Firm is my hand but sweet my mind', the culmination of a residency with the organisation.  

To hear more about Becky's work, tune in to a virtual discussion between herself and the other four recipients of the ESW ECA Graduate Residency Award at 6pm Wednesday 8th December. Register here.