Statement
Sally Adkins (b. 1972) is a British artist printmaker considering land and scape, with a particular focus on water.
Absorbed by what she terms ‘beyondness or beyond us’ in landscape, her work searches for the spirit in a place: the hovering above the waters; the dialogue between land, air and water; the spaces in-between (‘the gaps are the spirit’s one home’ [Annie Dillard]) and their precious and precarious state.
Recording and drawing in charcoal, her main practice is the heritage tradition of acid-etching. Copper plates evolve from memory after extended walks: layering marks, revealing, removing and remarking. She also explores more painterly monotypes and contemporary print interventions.
Recent collections include Confluence inspired by the poetry of Alice Oswald and Diluvian which came from absorbing Annie DIllard’s A pilgrim at Tinkers Creek. Her current project, The River Psalms, with reference to Wendell Berry, continues her pursuit of capturing that which is beyond. This time work is developed as visual prayers, creating delicate prints upon which to quietly reflect and dwell. Some take the book format of ‘recto’ ‘verso’ or diptychs, playing with the concept of pages from within a sacred text written for and of the water.
Based near to the River Derwent, on the edge of the Peaks, with roots in Dartmoor, the River Dart and Exe Estuary, these landscapes inform her practice.
Adkins held a BA Hons in Print and Typography (1st), before undertaking extended training and study in acid-based etching and other print mediums within specialist studios. She is a key holder at Leicester Print Workshop, and a print tutor. Her work has been exhibited widely in the UK including in shows at the RWA Bristol, Woolwich Contemporary Print Fair and selected for the Royal Academy Summer Exhibition. Adkins was elected Printmakers’ Printmaker at Printfest 2023.
CV
Solo shows
The future is the light on the water, Llantarnum Grange, Cwmbran, Wales, 2024
Confluence II at LCB Depot, Leicester, 2023
Confluence at Zillah Bell Gallery, Thirsk, 2021, alongside Norman Ackroyd
Selected group exhibitions
Curated Hang, Woolwich Contemporary Print Fair, 2025
RePrint, Chester Visual Arts, 2025
Materiality, No Place Art, Handbag Factory, Vauxhall 2025
Winter Show, Zillah Bell Gallery, 2025
Echoes of Earth, SEED, Frome, 2025
Summer Exhibition, Zillah Bell Gallery, 2025
Spring Edition, Altaer Space Derbyshire 2025
Paper Works, Royal West of England Academy, 2025
Winter Show, Altaer Space, Derbyshire, 2024
Winter Show, Leicester Print Workshop, 2024
Summer Exhibition, Royal Academy, 2024, selected
Summer Exhibition, ZIllah Bell Gallery, Thirsk, 2024
Members Annual Show, Leicester Print Workshop, 2023
Royal West of England Open, 2023
Woolwich Contemporary Print Fair, 2022
Members Annual Show, Leicester Print Workshop, 2022
Royal West of England Open, 2021
Hang Small, Old Lock Up Gallery, Cromford, Derbyshire, 2021
Off the press, Old Lock Up Gallery, Cromford, Derbyshire, 2021
Pressing On, Leicester Print Workshop, 2021
Spring Up, Angelus Gallery, Winchester College, 2020
Awards
No Place Art, Bainbridge Print Residency Award, 2025
No Place Art, Empreinte Atelier de Gravure Print Residency Award, 2025
Printmakers’ Printmaker, Printfest 2023
Showcase Award, Cheltenham Craft, 2023
Arts Council Award, DYCP, 2022
Best Newcomer, Printfest 2020
Contemporary print opens and fairs
Nottingham Contemporary Print Fair 2025
Printfest 2025
The Hepworth Wakefield Print Fair, 2025
Compton Verney Print Fair, 2024
Printfest, 2024 (as Printmakers’ Printtmaker)
The Hepworth Wakefield Print Fair, 2024
Cheltenham Craft, 2024
Printfest, 2023
The Hepworth Wakefield Print Fair, 2023
Cheltenham Craft, 2023
Black Swan Arts Open, Frome, 2022
Printfest, 2022
Hepworth Wakefield Print Fair, 2022
Nottingham Contemporary Print Fair, 2022
Sheffield Print Fair, 2022
Leicester Print Workshop, 2022
Awarded, funded residencies (forthcoming)
EMPREINTE atelier de gravure, Luxemburg 2026
Bainbridge Print Studios, London, 2026
Print Associations
Leicester Print Workshop 2020 ongoing
Badger Press, Bishops Waltham, 2018 - 2020
Publications
Confluence, Sally Adkins, 2022
Artist’s biography
Sally Adkins (b. 1972) is a British artist and multidisciplinary fine art printmaker. Her practice explores the within and beyond in landscape: she investigates the emotional and spiritual response to being immersed in nature, its strength, fragility and precariousness in an evolving world. Within this she pays particular attention to the dialogue between water and landscape.
Adkins works predominantly within the heritage of traditional acid-based etching, developing deeply atmospheric original prints. She also specialises in monotypes and contemporary interventions in print. Her work is always underpinned by literature, especially poetry, relating to place.
Holding a BA Hons in Print and Typography, she undertook extended training in acid-based etching and other techniques within specialist studios. Rooted in her earlier years on the edge of Dartmoor, she now works from her studio in walking distance of the River Derwent, White Peak, Derbyshire. She is also a key holder at Leicester Print Workshop, and a print tutor. Her work has been exhibited widely in the UK including in shows at the RWA Bristol, Woolwich Contemporary Print Fair and selected for the Royal Academy Summer Exhibition. Adkins was elected Printmakers’ Printmaker at Printfest 2023.