SOFIE LAYTON
ARTIST/DESIGNER
www.sofielayton.co.uk
info@sofielayton.co.uk
Feb 2011 - 2012
Fountain Flowers– A courtyard fountain installation of petals
and flowers in brass, and a series of four new Dandelion
sculptures created for a private collector in the USA, using
stainless steel and 23.5 carat gold leaf. Commission
Jan – May 2011
Ironman – As part of the Cultural Olympiad ‘Without Walls’
programme, an outdoor touring show commissioned by Graeae
Theatre and based on Ted Hughes’ Ironman, featuring a fivemetre tall Ironman puppet operated by a wheelchair-user.
Designer
Jan – June 2010
The Garden – An outdoor, site-specific piece in a
deconsecrated cemetery for Graeae Theatre/Strange Fruit as
part of Greenwich and Docklands International Festival (GDIF).
Set/ Costume Designer
Jan 2009 – Nov 2010
For the Best –Installation performance devised with company of
the Unicorn Theatre and directed by Mark Storor. Won the TMA
award for Best Children’s Theatre 2009 and was reworked for
the Unity Theatre Liverpool, November 2010. Artist/Designer
Apr – Jun 2009
Against the Tide – Site-specific show for Graeae
Theatre/Strange Fruit as part of GDIF, toured to National
Theatre in 2010 .Set/ Costume Designer.
Mar – Jun 2008
Run – Site-specific event as part of GDIF directed by Kevin
Finnan. Processional copper figures, and a five-metre copper
globe sculpture created with Kinetic engineer Mike Patterson.
Artist/Designer
Feb 08 + April 2012
Olympic Torch Relay London 2008 and 2012 –commission by
the South Bank Centre for two giant walking puppets for event.
Costumes for Torch relay performers 2012. Artist/Designer
Dec 2007 – April 2008 LICK – Birmingham Rep devised show, directed by Mark Storor.
Designer
Aug – Oct 2007
REALITY ESTATE- Friction Arts Birmingham. Site-specific
promenade performance. Installation and costume design.
(created and performed with community participants)
Dec 2006 – Aug 2007 The Field of Flowers – a sculptural commission to mark the
tenth anniversary of Princess Diana’s death. Over ten weeks a
series of ten giant Dandelions were created, which involved over
6,000 people gold-leafing a flower as a tribute to Diana. Installed
in front of Kensington Palace. Artist/Designer
Sept 06 – Jan 2008
Within the Wardrobe –- Exhibition and workshop using the
Royal Dress collection at Kensington Palace, working with,
elders, families and schools groups to explore people’s
memories and stories of clothes. Culminating in an exhibition
with a team of artists at Kensington Palace with a programme of
workshops alongside the exhibition including puppetry and
animation. Artistic director/ designer and workshop leader
July 06 – Jan 2007
Dragon Sculpture – Educational commission drawing
inspiration from “The Field of the Cloth of Gold” painting to
create an eight-metre-long sculptural dragon in copper and silk,
suspended from the ceiling of the ‘Clore Learning Centre’, a new
education and learning centre at Hampton Court. Artist/Designer
Sep 2005 –June 2006 Common or Garden – An exploration of Sheds and Village
Greens, as a series of five installations created by five different
artists around Epping Forest District, working with local people.
Artistic Director
Apr 2005 – April 2006 The Temple of Imagination – Designed and developed a folly
to mark the Year of Heritage and to coincide with the opening of
Kew Palace, sited at Kew Gardens. The Temple featured in the
BBC series ‘A Year at Kew’, April 2006. The project was
developed with community participants and a team of artists.
Artistic Director
Jan – June 2005
Maritime Mysteries – Designed and created an eight-metrehigh Yemanja puppet for performance at Royal Naval College,
Greenwich. Artist/Designer
Jan – June 2004
What a Dainty Dish – A banquet of people’s life recipes
presented as an installation using light, photography sound,
video and textiles in the vaults at the Tower of London. Working
with Stitches in Time, deaf young people, Sure Start, disabled
young people and school children. Artist/Designer
June – Oct 2003
Imaginarium –Exhibition/installation at Royal Festival Hall,
South Bank Centre, exploring children’s literature.
Artist/Designer
Mar – July 2003
Kangaroos to Kingcups – Exhibition of metal sculptural
creatures installed at Queen Charlottes Cottage, Kew. Created
in collaboration with Arc Angel Metal workers and Hounslow
schools. Deviser/Designer
Jan 2001– July 2002
Charabanc – Epping Forest Arts (EFA) A two-year project
leading to a series of instillation/performances in transformed
cars in Epping Forest and a disused airfield. Inspired by working
with community participants. Deviser/Artistic Director, in
collaboration with Mark Storor
Mar – Apr 2001
Freemont Arts Council Seattle USA – Programme of master
classes in design and making of processional puppets.
Artist/Designer
Sept.-Oct. 2000
National Portrait Gallery – Commissioned to design and make
interactive elements, including a shell grotto, textile map of Kew
Gardens and Gertrude Jekyll light box garden plan of ‘Escape to
Eden’ exhibition. Artist/Designer
Jan – June 2000
LIFT – ‘The Style of our Lives’ A Journey through Stoke
Newington, including a research and development period with
young people from local schools. Deviser/Designer
Jan – June 2000
Tower of Tales – An installation within the Tower of London,
exploring notions of confinement and imprisonment in the form
of a seven-metre tower filled with images and stories about
people’s old and new towers. Commission by Greenwich and
Docklands Festival, Tower Hamlets. Artistic Director/Designer
June – March 2000
The Periodic Table – A visual theatre production for EFA
exploring scale and perspective. Performers were on stilts and a
chorus created their voices. Created in collaboration with writer
Anna Reynolds. Artistic Director/Designer
Sept 1998 – Apr 2001 Architects of Fantasy – Theatre Museum London exhibition of
artists creating large-scale puppetry and carnival work. Exhibitor
Aug – July 1998
LWT Talent Challenge – ‘Singing Bridges’ site-specific
performance focused around Hammersmith Bridge and local
performers. Designer /Deviser
Jan – June 1997
London International Festival of Theatre (LIFT) –
Commissioned to create a sculptural animated figure for a
fireworks spectacle ‘Un Peu Plus de Lumiere’, directed by
Christophe Berthonneau and performed to 10,000 people.
Artist/Designer
Jan – May 1997
National Portrait Gallery – Commissioned to design and make
masks and body costumes for ‘In the Pursuit of Beauty’, an
interactive exhibition. Artist/Designer
Feb – March 1997
St Patrick’s Day Dublin – Created costumes and masks for
Bacchanal, an Irish-based street theatre company.
Artist/Designer
Jul 1995 – Nov 1996
Gifts of the Angels – Commissioned by Coral Arts of a site
specific performance in Dorchester Abbey, which involved 120
people of all ages in the making and performance. Artistic
Director/Designer
Nov 1995 – June 1996 Out of LIFT 96 – ‘Factory of Dreams’, a collaboration with
Christophe Berthonneau and 150 young people from Stockwell
Park School, who worked with on creating large sculptural
lanterns for the performance. Artist/Designer
Dec 1995 – June 1996 Epping Forest Arts – Devised and designed ‘A Time and a
Place’, a community play set at Copped Hall, Essex, where A
Midsummer Night's Dream was first performed in 1594. Written
by Noel Greig. Designer
May – June 1995
LIFT 95 – Created puppets biased on the Ramayana with
primary school children for a performance of the Balinese
Ketcuk at the Queen Elizabeth Hall. Artist/Designer
1982 – 1985
2.1 BA Honours degree in Art and Performance Studies,
Nottingham Trent University