Informality is excited to present its upcoming exhibition From Nature. The exhibition shows a selection of works by seven contemporary artists' from around the world who use materials as central contributors to how the works find meaning and do so with respect for the material themselves.

Artists include Forest + Found, Rain Wu, Jamie North, Nienke Hoogvliet, Peter Matthews, Jesper Eriksson and Harriet Hellman.

As the world's countries are forced to recalculate its focus on support within their own economies and trade, this exhibition educates the viewer visually from the artists' Interest in the significance of raw resource from a country for its properties before mining, farming or construction for fuel, in the exhibition, materials among the artists' practice include coal, wood, root and bone pigment, slag, clay and even the ocean.

The world's leading myrmecologist, E.O. Wilson, has put that and us into perspective as follows: 'If all mankind were to disappear, the world would regenerate back to the rich state of equilibrium that existed ten thousand years ago. If insects were to vanish, the environment would collapse into chaos.' Just now the former scenario seems all too probable, but if Forward Projection is a warning, perhaps we can take the actions needed to avert the endgame whichNorth evokes. The artists of From Nature provide a double contribution towards those actions: not only do they point to some of the ways in which we might start, they do so by channelling the aesthetic and conceptual richness which reminds us why–instinctive self-interest aside–humanity is worth preserving.

Forest + Found are a London-based partnership between artists Max Bainbridge (b. 1991, London) and Abigail Booth (b. 1991, London). Working together since 2014, their studio gives them a space for material experimentation, as well as a platform to explore their individual art practices. Working in both visual arts and contemporary craft, they exhibit their work throughout the UK and internationally. Selected solo exhibitions include: Walking the Line, Oriel Myrddin, Camarthen (2019) and Ruthin Craft Centre, Ruthin (2018); Outland, Egg, London (2018). Selected group exhibitions include Common Thread, New Art Centre, Roche Court, (2020), Jerwood Makers Open, Jerwood Space, London,(2019/2021), Levelling Traditions, Make Hauser & Wirth Somerset, Bruton (2018), Collect Open, Saatchi Gallery, London (2018). In 2017 they were artists in residence at Pitt River's Museum, Oxford (2017).

Rain Wu b.1987 Tainan, Taiwan. Rain is a British-Taiwanese artist and architect living and working in London. Her work is conceptually driven and materialises in different forms and scales from drawing, sculpture, food performance to architectural installation. She graduated from the Royal College of Art and University College London (Bartlett). Her artwork has been exhibited in Sharjah Biennial, Taipei Biennial, The Palestinian Museum, London Design Biennale, Lisbon Architecture Triennale; she was one of the Designers in Residence at the Design Museum (London) in 2016, an artist in residence at The Van Eyck (NL) 2018–2019, and she is currently an associate lecturer at University of the ArtsLondon.

Jamie North is an artist whose primary medium expands sculpture over a discussion between the natural and the man-made. Inspired by a sense of place, North's terraforms extend his observation into plant intelligence, cultivating a system in which chosen native plants are able to regenerate and thrive, embedded into works of architecture constructed from waste or industrial by-products of the man-made. Jamie North has exhibited internationally including solo exhibitions at Sarah Cottier Gallery, Terraforms (2014), Remainder (2016) and Worlds (2019). International Group exhibitions include Concrete (2015), at the Tophane-i-Amire Cultural Centre in Istanbul, and selected as a resident in the NTU Centre for Contemporary Art Singapore Residences Programme in 2017, other highlights include exhibiting in the 20th Biennale of Sydney. Jamie North held in major public collections including, Museum of Old and New(MONA), National Gallery of Victoria (NGV).

Studio Nienke Hoogvliet is a design studio for material research, experimental and conceptual design. The studio consists of the founder Nienke Hoogvliet (1989) and Tim Jongerius (1988). Nienke graduated from Lifestyle & Design at the Willem de Kooning Academy, Rotterdam. Tim graduated from the faculty of Architecture at the TU Delft. The studio engages in freelance projects for different institutions but also continues research in self-initiated design projects.Since the studio was founded in 2013 the main focus is on materials that can contribute to a more holistic world. The projects raise awareness of social and environmental problems in the textile, leather and food industry. By creating innovative alternatives we hope to change perspectives and systems.

The work of Studio Nienke Hoogvliet has been exhibited worldwide in institutions including Artipelag, Stockholm, Centre Pompidou, Paris, Centraal Museum, Utrecht, Cooper Hewitt Design Museum, New York, Textielmuseum, Til-burg and Victoria & Albert Museum, London.

Peter Matthews (b.1978, Derby, England) lives in England and works along the Pacific and Atlantic coasts. He graduated with a BA in Fine Art with honours and an MFA from Nottingham Trent University. Solo exhibitions include: Be-tween the Ocean, the Sky and Ourselves, White Conduit Projects, London (2020); The Former Bank of Hiroshima (sup-ported by the Daiwa-Anglo Japanese Foundation), Japan (2019); The National Maritime Museum (supported by theArts Council, England), Royal Museums, Greenwich, London (2019); The End Is Where They Start From, BEERS London(2019); The End Is Where They Start From (cat), Montoya, Barcelona, Spain (2018); From the Pacific to the Atlantic, Strange Cargo, Folkestone, Kent (2017); In Search of the Sublime, BEERS London (2016); Artissima Torino, Turin, Italy (2016); and Surroundings, BEERS London, (2013). Selected group exhibitions include: Wisdom and Nature, Christie's New York and Christie's London (2020); Zona Maco, BEERS London (2019); Summer Exhibition, Royal Academy of Arts, London (2019, 2018, 2017); Underwater, Filatoio di Caraglio, Caraglio, Italy (2019); John Moores Painting Prize, WalkerArt Gallery, Liverpool (2018); Sea Marks, Drawing Centre, New York (2011); Landscape at the James Cohan Gallery, New York (2012); and 0:60 The Experience of Time Through Contemporary Art, North Carolina Museum of Art, US. Awards and residencies include The Pollock-Krasner Foundation, New York (2020); Winston Churchill Memorial TrustFellowship (2019); The Arts Council of England (2019, 2017); John Moores Painting Prize (2018); Hugh Casson Drawing Prize, Royal Academy of Art (2017); Scripps Institute of Oceanography Residency, California (2015); and Francois Schneider Contemporary Talents Finalist, France (2014). Matthews' works have been collected by the Coppel Collection, The National Maritime Museum, Soho House Collection and various other public and private collections internationally and throughout the UK.

Jesper Eriksson is a Finnish/Swedish artist based in London. Through his practice, Jesper investigates the relationship and intersection of people, culture and material. With a focus on coal as an innovative material, Jesper's research-based and hands-on approach have led him to create sculptural works that form a contemporary narrative from existing historical, socioeconomic and cultural contexts. Jesper holds a MA from the Royal College of Art and aBA from Lund School of Industrial Design. His work has been exhibited internationally including the London DesignBiennale in Somerset House, ArkDes in Stockholm and the Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art in the US.

Harriet Hellman is a British artist based in London. Harriet Hellman's practice is centred on the concerns with coastal erosion and rising sea levels, specifically the wild Atlantic coastline of North Devon, England. The ceaseless cycle of the natural elements, the effect of climate change on the coastline embeds itself in Hellman's work both physically and emotionally. The process of layering, tearing and building with the clay creates a visceral response which is both immediate and meditative for the artist. Hellman's work balances imperfection and impermanence, searching for liminal spaces while reflecting on our ecological fragility. Harriet Hellman's work has been exhibited nationally, selected exhibitions include Informality Gallery, Henley (2021), The Hockney Gallery, London (2020), Royal College of Art (2019), she has also participated in International residencies at the Guldagergaard Ceramic Research Centre, Denmark (2020) and Fresco Painting in Florence (1992). Upcoming exhibitions include From Nature, Informality (January 2021) and the Design Centre, London (April 2021).

Press release courtesy Informality.