Jo Lathwood is a queer artist whose practice spans drawing, moving image, sculptural works, and large-scale installations in both galleries and the public realm. Much of Lathwood’s work begins as a response to a specific site, event, material, or process.
Working with recycled timber, she has built a meandering staircase that traversed three stories, allowing audiences to touch the roof of a church. Experimenting with foundry technologies, she developed a method for casting lava into contemporary forms. These projects stem from a deep engagement with materiality and a critical exploration of humanity’s relationship with both the natural and built environment. Themes such as transitions, viewpoints, illusions, aspiration, environmentalism, and anti-capitalism are interwoven throughout her practice.
In recent years, Lathwood has recalibrated her practice to align with a sustainable manifesto she wrote five years ago. She advocates for a shift in sculptural thinking—one that prioritizes borrowing, sharing, and reusing materials, with an emphasis on biodegradability and remedial potential. Her approach challenges traditional notions of permanence in art, focusing instead on what happens to an artwork at the end of its life span. This philosophy embraces the idea of ‘leaving no trace’ rather than ‘making a mark.’
Lathwood is the Chair of the Board of Trustees for BRICKS Bristol. She served on the EARTHart council at the University of Bristol (2017–2024) and was co-director of Ore and Ingot, an artist-led fine art bronze foundry in Bristol (2012–2018).
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