Polly Townsend
Artist in Residence: Polly Townsend 25th-29th May
Polly Townsend (b.1977) completed an MA at the Slade School of Fine Art, London, in 2001.
Townsend has travelled to some of the most remote, hostile landscapes on earth for her work, focusing on mountain, plateau and desert regions. In 2023 she was awarded the position of Artist in Residence in Antarctica, and she has twice been selected for the National Park Artist-in-Residence schemes (to Death Valley and Badlands National Park). Independently, and often solo, she has made expeditions to the Himalaya, Pamir, Tian Shan, Andes, Pyrenees and Apennines mountain ranges, and travelled throughout Kashmir, Nepal, Tibet, Kyrgyzstan, Mongolia, Russia, China, USA and parts of South America.
Townsend has exhibited widely throughout the UK and USA. She has several paintings in the Permanent Collection of the Department of State USA, currently on display in Beijing, Karachi and Mumbai and has work in the National Parks Collection USA, The Alpine Club Collection UK (where she is an associate member), the Ben Uri Collection and, later this year and The Scott Polar Research Institute Collection (where she was recently elected onto the Friends Committee).
In 2024 Townsend won 2nd Prize at The International Derwent Drawing Competition and was shortlisted for the Contemporary British Painting Prize. Other prizes include the Slade Life Drawing Prize (judged by Paula Rego), the Duveen Travel Scholarship, the Worshipful Company of Painter Stainers Award, The Sir Ben Bowen Studio Prize for Fine art, The Contemporary Art Prize for Wales Studentship award and she was shortlisted for both the Gilchrist-Fisher Landscape Painting Award and, in 2019, the Jackson Painting Prize.
Polly Townsend has featured on live Radio and web broadcasts, has given talks and panels discussions from The Royal Geographical Society to UK Antarctica Heritage Trust, she has also curated several exhibitions including the first UK exhibition of contemporary female landscape painters, and she established and runs Paintclub, a London-based painting group.
She currently lives and works in London where she is represented by John Martin Gallery.
The Artist in Residence programme at Ballyfin offers guests a unique opportunity to engage with creativity in an intimate and inspiring setting. Throughout their stay, guests can meet the resident artist, observe their creative process first hand, and gain insight into the techniques and inspirations behind the work. Each evening, the artist hosts pre-dinner drinks, providing a relaxed and sociable chance for conversation and discussion about their art. Selected pieces are displayed during their visit, allowing guests to enjoy the completed works as part of the Ballyfin experience.
