Not Themselves Inheritable
‘Not themselves inheritable’ is a physical and ephemeral ongoing family archive from 1996 that accesses intimate family histories and reflects not only the physical custodianship of an archive and collection, but the interwoven lived experiences, emotional weight and personal memories.
The family archive holds a body of work first initiated by my father, who pursued an archaeology a-level at a local collage during full-time employment in insurance. With the support of his wife Erika who captured the project on film, Clive documented his pursuit of building a replica neolithic longbow using stone tools. Clive’s journey included travelling to Norfolk to meet expert flint knapper John Lord, a trip to visit the Meare Heath Bow at the Unviersity of Cambridge Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology. Sharing his journey through many processes flint knapping, woodworking, cordage making, a profound childhood experience of being introduced to experiential archaeology has defined my approach to materials, process and investigative research.
The documentative drawing series captures old and new tools and equipment belonging to father and daughter which entwines emotional and observational connections that take archival images beyond static modes of documentation.
After receiving the AN Time and space bursary in 2022, my father and I spent a weekend with Will Lord (son of John Lord) learning to build a composite lowbow and arrow fletching.
Studio photography by Anna Lukala 2026
Not Themselves Inheritable (ongoing series) 2022- current.
Graphite and colour pencil on paper with antler magnets
(56 x 77cm)
Graphite and colour pencil on paper with antler magnets
(56 x 77cm)
Project Bow, 2024.
Reclaimed yarn, wool, felt, cotton, jute, birch, hazel and wax.
Reclaimed yarn, wool, felt, cotton, jute, birch, hazel and wax.
I Will Not be Dragooned
Group Show with TOMA, 2024
Metal, Chalkwell Hall, Southend.
Do we feel off trajectory as we are full-drawn and propelled towards a precarious future? Instead of a straight unidirectional arrow, could we loop back and forth, infinately intertwiningwithin woven circles until the past becomes the present an the future becomes the past We study the materiality of time through literal material, choosing to either preserve or deteriorate it with speed or with slowness. ‘What if time was non-sequential?’ imagines the homeostasis between
human, non human, material, and process amongst an impending climate crisis.
What If Time was Non-sequential? 2024.
Grass, pine, goose feather, brass, dacron, wax thread
Grass, pine, goose feather, brass, dacron, wax thread
What If Time was Non-sequential? 2024.
Installation details
Focal Point Gallery: The Big Screen X TOMA
The Other MA (TOMA) cohort of 2019 took part in a programme of artist moving images showcased online and on the Big Screen, Southend. Made and previewed on Focal Point Gallery website during the first national lockdown of 2020, the works are presented as a second iteration along with a series of supporting material available online from 13 February 2021.
Philippa Stewart: ‘Project Neolithic Bow’, 2020 (29 mins 43 seconds)
The Other MA (TOMA) cohort of 2019 took part in a programme of artist moving images showcased online and on the Big Screen, Southend. Made and previewed on Focal Point Gallery website during the first national lockdown of 2020, the works are presented as a second iteration along with a series of supporting material available online from 13 February 2021.
Philippa Stewart: ‘Project Neolithic Bow’, 2020 (29 mins 43 seconds)
‘Project Neolithic Bow’, 2020 (film still)
‘Project Neolithic Bow’, (2020) captures a Zoom interview during Covid lockdown, between father and daughter rewatching digitised video footage of Clive’s Neolithic Bow Project, filmed by Erika Stewart in 1996 24 years later.
Philippa Stewart © 2026. All Rights Reserved.