NO.23 FOREST + FOUND: UP OUR STREET - 8 Holland Street's neighbours, near and far

“We have just finished building our new studio at the bottom of the garden of a 17th-century stone cottage. It’s a simple structure; it gives us the space for our individual practices while blurring the boundaries between living and working, which suits the natural rhythms of the working day.

Living and working in the same place is still quite novel. We usually get up quite early and have the ritual and routine of breakfast - coffee is an important part of that. We collect ceramics, it’s something we’ve done for the past 13 years, and it makes the everyday routine of coffee feel special. Depending on who is setting the table that morning, the choice of cups is always different, but that usually sets the pace: if they’re robust Leach pottery then it’s more of a working breakfast; if it’s a fine Japanese cup, it tends to be a slower start to the day. After breakfast, Abigail usually goes to look at her bees in the garden as a form of meditation, and Max heads into the studio to start working.”

In Max’s end of the studio, he sits in front of a large section of ash trunk. “You can’t see it from this angle, but the inside has been totally hollowed out and is waiting to be finished - this is a piece that’s going into our show.” He is currently metal casting a piece to be set into a wall sculpture, which means reconfiguring the studio space to focus on that task. When that’s complete, it will shift again to accommodate a large-scale wooden sculpture.

At the other end of the studio, Abigail is gessoing components taken from the inside of an old AGA, ready to be painted with an oil made from chimney soot - “it’s constantly changing and shifting, which keeps things fresh and exciting.” Around her, a series of found objects unearthed from domestic spaces form a body of sculptural work exploring the psychology of the home.

“At the moment, we are preparing for our show with 8 Holland Street. We both have quite a few new works on the go which requires materially driven processes that take time, but it makes sense to move between them to keep the momentum going.

It’s always exciting when you see new works becoming a reality. Relationships develop between them, and dialogues open up when we bring our works together. You hope that will happen, but you’re never quite sure how it will materialise.

We see Forest + Found as a studio, a place to come together to work on projects, whether curatorial or exhibiting - that is usually the site of collaboration. We both have very strong individual practices and often exhibit independently which makes it work. We each have our own ideas and practices, which intersect to create wider dialogues, but equally maintain their own voice and identity.”

“We’ve been listening to a lot of talks and interviews with Rachel Whiteread, Phyllida Barlow and Veronica Ryan. They all have materially driven practices, which we really relate to. Whiteread talks about the need to be hands-on in the studio - something we both identify with, and which drives our practices. The objects and materials we use often carry personal and culturally significant meaning, something that’s very apparent in the work going into The House is Full of Ghosts.”

My ideal neighbours would be…

Either a sawmill or one of our other artists friends…but at enough of a distance that you don’t see one another other. We are actually pretty lucky to have a metal fabricators down the lane and a retired structural engineer living next door.

The house I’d like to live in is…

This one - a 17^th century stone cottage that needs completely renovating, it’s got space outside for the kitchen garden we have always wanted and the ever growing number of bee hives!

Tomorrow I will…

Max - Go to scout out some new material, I have a tree surgeon that I have worked with for the past five years to source large and interesting bits of wood from the surrounding areas - at the moment he has some monumental sections of oak that I have my eye on, I just need to work out a project that would suit them. 

Abigail - go for a run, from the house directly out into the countryside, followed by a morning in the field working with the bees, then an afternoon in the studio, having the contrast of being immersed in nature and then back in the studio gives me an energy and focus that fuels new work.

8 Holland Street is excited to present FOREST + FOUND: THE HOUSE IS FULL OF GHOSTS at 8 Holland Street: South of the River. A special project for London Craft Week 2026 spread across two townhouses on Kennington Lane SE11, from 11 May - 13 June.

Photography by Pete Helme