Jo Lathwood

Jo Lathwood was born in Bristol, England in 1984. She studied at the University of Brighton where she acquired a First Class Degree in Fine Art Sculpture.

Between 2012 - 2018, Lathwood co directed ‘Ore and Ingot’ an artist-led travelling bronze foundry. She has shown work in galleries around the UK and internationally and has taken part in various residency programmes and biennials in the USA, Canada, France, Belgium, Lithuanian and Austria. Her portfolio varies greatly in form, scale, context and method of production, encompassing: temporary and permanent public art, exhibitions curated for galleries, heritage sites and studio-based work.

Lathwood is on the Board of Trustees for BRICKS Bristol, on the studio selection panel for Spike Island and part of the EARTHart council at the University of Bristol.

Jo Lathwood makes sculptures and large scale installations which regularly respond to a particular site, event, material or process. Working with recycled timber Jo has built a meandering staircase that travelled across 3 stories to facilitate the audience to touch the roof of a church. Experimenting with foundry technologies, Lathwood has developed a way of casting lava into contemporary forms and though researching traditional techniques, she havs made and shared how to make inks from Oak Galls. These ideas have grown from a focus around making and an examination of our impact and relationship with the natural and built environment. Themes such as transitions, viewpoints, illusions, aspiration, environmentalism and capitalism are woven through my practice.

Lathwood is currently recalibrating her practice to focus on circular systems since writing an open manifesto to create sustainable artworks. She has started making biodegradable sculptures and is researching new ways to approach public artworks.