JES FERNIE
Writer in Residence
From breath to dust
Jes Fernie was writer in residence for the 2025 Od Arts Festival. Her text is a circular journey, starting in West Coker, travelling through the earth, out the other side and back again. It begins with Michelle Atherton’s Soil Séance, a deep listening to the underworld, and takes in a selection of artworks in the festival.
ABOUT THE ARTIST
Jes Fernie is an independent curator, lecturer and writer. She works with galleries, visual arts organisations, universities and artists to make exhibitions, public artworks, residency projects and public programmes across the UK and abroad.
She writes and lectures extensively and has worked with a broad range of organisations including Tate, PEER, Serpentine Gallery, Turf Projects, Manchester International Festival, Flat Time House, MK Gallery, Firstsite, Askeaton Contemporary Arts and Lund Cathedral. Jes is a lecturer at Central Saint Martins in London, and visiting lecturer at universities including the RCA, Royal Academy Schools, the Slade and Goldsmiths College. She is currently Chair of Trustees at Matt’s Gallery.