Mandy Coppes-Martin
A visual artist from South Africa Mandy Coppes-Martin (b. Kenya) specialises in making both 2 and 3-dimensional artworks using a variety of mediums such as paper thread, raw un-spun silks as well as vintage leather gloves, fish bones and collected antique lace that embodies a life once lived. She creates textile sculptures and drawings by incorporating and embedding these materials into almost woven reconstituted structures that become tangible links to the past.
Mandy Coppes-Martin completed her master's Degree in Fine Art at the University of Johannesburg, South Africa where she concentrated on developing local and invasive plant fibres to produce specialist papers. Her work has been exhibited in numerous solo and group exhibitions in South Africa, the Netherlands, the UK, Belgium, Slovakia, the Philippines and the USA.
Coppes-Martin has been selected for various international biennials and Art Fairs; most notably the Rijswijk Paper Biennial, Netherlands, the Textile Art of Today in Slovakia and the South African FNB Art Fair, Special Projects in 2016. Mandy was a finalist for the 2022 Fine Art Textiles Award announced at the annual Festival of Quilts in London and most recently she was selected to exhibit work at the 2023 Collect Art Fair in Somerset House, London.
Mandy is the recipient of various awards such as the Fuji Prophoto Award, Sasol New Signatures Runner-up Award, Winner of the Transparency Award in collaboration with the Swedish Embassy and the University of Johannesburg and in 2022 a Queen Elizabeth Scholarship award for developing her practice in Lace Making.
Mandy Coppes-Martin’s work can be found in several private and corporate collections, including RMB Rand Merchant Bank, RMBH Rand Merchant Bank Holdings, ABSA Bank Collection, Sasol Collection and the Whitman Museum (USA).
Mandy currently lives in Stroud and has a studio at the Victoria Works Studios in Chalford, UK.