CV

Jessica is a sculptor, director, maker, writer and a performance artist. She is interested in ecology, animality and environmental issues, and mostly lives off-grid.

A member of the Royal Society of Sculptors, she works in metal and mixed media -welding, carving, assemblages, film, sound and textiles- creating installation, alternative living structures, sculpture, public art, unique costumes, spoken word, large puppets, art bikes and structures – much of which involves natural or recycled materials.

Jessica recently undertook a residency at Yorkshire Sculpture Park, (YSP), and has a piece, Flower and Thorn, in their permanent collection. She finished studying for an MFA at University of Leeds in 2021 and graduated with a distinction. She is presently in residence as ‘Creative Caretaker’ at Wild Rumpus in Cheshire.

Alongside her solo practice she has worked for the last ten years as a freelancer producer, theatre deviser and artistic director of outdoor arts. She runs her own company Rost Productions ltd, which is a collaboration of makers, technicians and performers who create outdoor installation and street theatre, which tours across the UK.

She co-founded Festive Road in 2005 -an MK based community interest company – for which she developed, raised funding and project managed the creative direction of, for many years (2008-2018). Here she was delivering artist training programmes, outreach projects, making and producing street theatre work, outdoor shows, public art commissions, workshops and many celebratory events.

Selected solo Performances:

2020      Becoming Batty              performed at The Tetley, Leeds and Common Ground, Blackburn

2017      Safe      2 hour live-streamed performance, (welding herself into a cage) at MK Gallery

2011      As it is in Life, as it is in Death, as it is in Art        performed at Westbury Arts Centre

2010      Darwinia’s Random Selection    Scratch performance at The Fishmarket in Northampton

2008      Gasping Goldie                performed at Artwash, laundrette, Oxford & OU, Milton Keynes

2006      Road to Plastic Democracy (British Council Fellowship), Goethe Institute, Dhaka, Bangladesh

2005      Arachne Revealed          Braziers International Workshop, Braziers Park, Oxfordshire

 

Solo exhibitions of Sculpture:

2015      Compulsive Collectors   Temporary space, old nightclub in Milton Keynes

2009      Not in My Name             Kaunas Gallery, Lithuania

2008      Kindred Roots                 Kunsterein Ebersberg, Munich

2007      Plastic Democracy          Goethe Institute, Dhaka, Bangladesh

 

Select group exhibitions of Sculpture and Installation: 

2020      Pause                                Interim MA Show, Freehold Project Space, Leeds

2019      Undercurrent                  Digital & Electronic Arts group, gallery take over, NN Contemporary

2018      2nd Point of Contact     with artists Emma Talbot & Claire Summerson, MK Museum

2009      Make it                             The Fishmarket, Northampton

2008      From Inside Out: Feminist Art then and now      Dr M.T. Geoffrey Yeh, Art Gallery, New York

 

Solo grants & awards:  

2021     Yorkshire Sculpture Park Graduate Award 2021

2018      MK Community Foundation, Arts Bursary

2018      Arts Council England, Developing Creative Practice Award

2011      Creative Northants Bursary

2006     British Council International fellowship in Bangladesh

 

Work in Arts Education:

Jessica has delivered numerous creative projects in schools and now focuses mainly on public and community participation work -most recently working on a public engagement project with Vodafone UK. As Artistic Director at Festive Road, (2005-2018), she helped deliver hundreds of workshops and community led projects. Between 2008 and 2011 Jessica was working as a Creative Agent and a practitioner for UK Centre for Carnival Arts in Luton and as a lead artist for various schools in Oxfordshire and Bedfordshire. Jessica has also taught drawing, sculpture and design in further education at GNVQ and Art Foundation level.

 

Partnerships, Commissions, & Residencies: 

2022      Yorkshire Sculpture Park             2021 Graduate award (3 week residency, June 2022)

2022      Arizical               Immersive installation for Design by Nature art trail, Chester (Feb-March 2022)

2021      The Return         Immersive installation for Walk the Plank, Greenwich & Docklands Festival

2021      Wild Rumpus                   Creative Caretaker/Artist in residence June-August

2019      Green Gathering             Sound and light installation, The Return

2018      Blackburn Festival of Light          Artist in Residency and commission for the festival

2018      Emergency Exit Arts                     The Inventor’s Imaginarium, Lead Artist & Commission

2018      Handmade Parade                        Commission & Partnership –Eva the Polar Bear puppet

2018      Walk the Plank                              Commission to create a mechanical Peacock puppet

2018      Manchester Day Parade              Lead Artist, working with communities in South Manchester

2017      Transform                                       Public Sculpture commission for Waste Recovery Park, MK

2016      Transform: India             Residency in Ahmadabad, India, creating art with construction workers

2013      Darwinia’s Random Selection    Street Theatre developed as part of Escalator Outdoor Arts

2012      Carnival Crossroads –Eastbound              Lead designer for Norwich, Cultural Olympiad, UKCCA

2011      Windmill Primary School             Oxford, Creative Partnership change school (1yr)

2010      Farley Hill Junior School              Luton, Creative Partnership change school, Lead artist (1yr)

09-11    Northbourne Primary    Oxfordshire, Creative Partnership change school, Lead artist (3 yrs)

2009      Fishmarket        Project space and scratch events at the Fishmarket, Northampton (4 months)

2008      UKCCA Luton     Creative partnership, Ashcroft High School (2yrs)

 

Producing, Curating & Artistic Directing:

2021                    Making and perform of Cuckoo Takeover, cycle-powered show, Solfest, Just So Festival

2019                    Devising and directing Pockets of Resistance, performed at MK Gallery, Bedlam Fair

2018                    Devising and directing Peddlers Pack: so many things you’ve never seen before,                                                        performing at Bedlam Fair, MK Festival Fringe, LakesAlive! and Winter Droving

2018                    Devising and directing Steam Hammer Annual Rally & Picnic, performing at Spare Parts                                          festivals in NW: Fleetwood, Sandbach and Crewe.

2017                    Directing and producing touring walkabout show The Futurists

2015                    Directing Best Company touring show, part of WW1 commemorations Jun-Sept 2015

2013                    Directed an outdoor show Fair Play which toured across SE England in 2013

2012-2017          Milton Keynes Festival Fringe –direct and produce a multimedia arts festival

2011 -2012         Curated public exhibition spaces in Central Milton Keynes for Fringemk:Westbury

2009-2012          ‘Brewing U, a visual and musical arts experiment, London 2012 Inspire Mark project

 

Education and training:

MA Fine Art -distinction              2019-20, (graduation date extended to 2021 due to Covid-19)

B.A Hons. Fine Art –2:1               1988-91, Birmingham Polytechnic

GNVQ Basic Engineering              1992-93, Decorum College, Hemel Hempstead

 

Jessica has had training and is skilled in the following:

Animation, Metal work and welding, Carving, casting and modelling, Public Art, Bookbinding, Liquid Light Photography, Film Making and Sound, Basket weaving, Costume making, Video Performance, Large-scale lantern structures, Stilt walking, Street Theatre, Dramaturge, Puppet making & puppetry.

View on line: Website:  www.jessicarost.co.uk