The Sculptural Processes Group (SPG) is an informal study group set up in October 2007 to facilitate exchanges between researchers, curators, conservators, artists and practitioners interested in questions of sculptural practice. The SPG explores, through seminars, artist’s talks and site visits, various aspects of the creative, intellectual and material processes involved in making sculpture from the medieval to the contemporary. Membership is taken from a wide variety of practices and fields within the sphere of sculpture both within the UK and internationally, and mixes postgraduates with established scholars and experts in the field.
The Sculptural Processes Group is convened by: Jo Applin, Alexandra Gerstein, Pia Gottschaller and Cathy Corbett (independent sculpture historian). It aims to enable its members to gain a more precise and nuanced understanding of the practical processes of sculpture through close examination of works and through discussion with colleagues from diverse backgrounds.
Among the events we organise each year are a cross-period seminar bringing artists, conservators and art-historians into dialogue on a common theme, as well as handling sessions with sculptural objects from the V&A. We also host the SPG Annual Artist’s Talk, organised by Jo Applin and Pia Gottschaller. Speakers have included Alison Wilding, Raphael Hefti, Marc Quinn, Analia Saban and Frances Richardson. In addition to these fixtures, we have a roving programme of more ad-hoc events such as visits to artists’ studios and exhibitions, private collections, art schools and makers’ studios.
This year our focus will be on the theme of sculpture and aging.
Faculty leads
Exhibitions
Living by the Rule: Contemporary meets Medieval
16 May – 4 October 2026, Sainsbury Centre
Living by the Rule: Contemporary meets Medieval reflects on the ‘rules’ that we live by today. Exploring the idea of routine and regulation, the exhibition vividly presents the richness and complexity of the dialogue between medieval experiments in a different way to live, and modern reflections upon how life is (and might yet be) organised.
The exhibition is curated by Dr Jessica Barker FSA, Senior Lecturer in Medieval Art History at The Courtauld and Dr Ed Krčma, Associate Professor of Art History at the University of East Anglia.
