Fenella has studied both architecture and painting. She worked with Peter Salter on the design and construction of Walmer Yard, and has taught at the Royal College of Art and the Architectural Association. At the RCA Fenella collaborated with the textile department and became interested in the relationship between architecture and textiles.
At the Architectural Association Fenella worked with the painter Antoni Malinowski on a course in colour in architecture, called Saturated Space.
Many of the ideas arising from this research are apparent in the texture, tone and colour of the surfaces and volumes of Walmer Yard. Fenella and Peter have recently exhibited at the Venice Biennale (2018). Fenella and Antoni exhibited a painted colour study of Walmer Yard at the Royal Academy Summer Exhibition (2018).
Fenella has made this series of small paintings – Waiting for the Morning and First Light – during this very hot summer and especially for this show. They depict the light and air caught in her window curtain at dawn.
The bedspread is a recording of the sensory qualities of a bedroom at Walmer Yard. It reveals tucked-away coloured silk linings and a hidden pocket – to keep your things in.