EAAF in lockdown
​Norwich Castle Museum & Art Gallery is currently closed and EAAF events have been suspended as we follow the Government’s advice to reduce the spread of Covid-19 (Coronavirus). Our work continues as we stay in touch with our members by email, profile our artist members through EAAF Presents and provide scholarships at Norwich University of the Arts. We are very grateful for our members’ support and look forward to the time when we can visit exhibitions and gather together again. Amanda Geitner, Director

 During lockdown, East Anglian Art Fund has been profiling artists from the region 

Vanessa Pooley : ​obsessed by figure

​EAAF member Vanessa Pooley has worked as a figurative bronze sculptor for four decades. Her art education began at Norwich School of Art and led to postgraduate studies at City and Guilds of London Art School. An early career was established in London before her return to Norwich in the late 1990s.
We asked Vanessa to describe her work - 
I am obsessed by the female figure. No idea why. Always have been. I make female forms from life-size to tiny. They are cast in bronze at a local foundry.
What keeps you up at night?
Children, children, children. And whether the way we treat our planet will ever change. The signs of climate change keep multiplying and magnifying. Why are we doing so little so very, very late? I’m a poor sleeper anyway, waking every few minutes throughout the night. Thank goodness for Radio Four and the World Service.
What is your favourite part of your practice?
My studio is a lovely and private place but I can only concentrate there when all the domestic stuff has been quietened. Then I can switch off and listen to my favourite music as loud as I dare. Beginning a sculpture always takes me back to the same uncomfortable and critical place. So I keep several sculptures on the go, at different stages, reminding myself that what I make can be something. After slogging away, a change happens and the piece comes to life. Thereafter working is a pleasure. Oh and the moment when I see the ceramics transformed into bronze - that’s pretty exciting!
Which artists have inspired you most?
It changes. Always Fernando Botero, Pablo Picasso, Henri Matisse, Marino Marini and Henri Laurens. Most of all, Balthasar Lobo - a protégé of Laurens. His full, exuberant, uncompromised female forms always surprise me. Also contemporary sculptors Jon Buck, Laura Ford, and Peter Randall Page. For local inspiration I go to my friends Bridget Heriz, Derek Morris, Mary Mellor, Lawrence Edwards, John Kiki, and the eccentric wonders of Rob Woods.
If you could step inside an artwork for a day which would it be & why?
A Picasso cut out woman from the Royal Academy Show last year. Because he’s a genius. So simple, so complex, so perfect.
To find out more about Vanessa Pooley's work CLICK HERE
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East Anglia Art Fund
Shirehall, Market Avenue, Norwich, NR1 3JQ