Joanne Coates: 'Cornish Gold - Custodians of the Soil'

Cornish Gold: Custodians of the Soil is a new body of photographic work by Joanne Coates, made during a year-long residency at Kestle Barton. Staring in November 2025, Coates has worked closely with flower farmers and pickers on Cornwall’s Lizard Peninsula, documenting the people whose labour shapes one of Cornwall’s most distinctive seasonal landscapes.

Cornwall produces the majority of the UK’s daffodil crop, yet the lives and work behind the fields of flowers are seldom seen. While daffodils are an important part of the story, the exhibition also looks beyond the familiar spring landscape to the work of contemporary, small-scale flower producers growing a wider range of flowers on the Lizard.

Through portraiture and documentary photography, Coates explores the relationship between people, land and agricultural labour, paying particular attention to the knowledge, care and resilience that sustain both landscape and livelihood. The photographs have developed through sustained conversations and time spent with people working across the local farming community, allowing Coates to consider contemporary rural life from within.

An artist and farmworker herself, Coates brings an informed and deeply empathetic perspective to her practice. Drawing on her own experience of agricultural work, she has developed this new body of work in dialogue with those whose lives and understanding of the land have shaped the project. Rather than presenting an idealised vision of the countryside, the photographs reflect on the everyday realities of rural working life and the communities that sustain it.

The exhibition brings together photographs produced during the residency, offering an intimate portrait of the people behind Cornwall’s flower fields and inviting reflection on the relationship between people, work and landscape. It continues Kestle Barton’s ongoing programme of commissioning artists whose work engages with rural life, land use and place, supporting artists to develop new work through sustained engagement with local communities.

A programme of related talks and events will accompany the exhibition, offering opportunities to hear more about the people, places and ideas behind the work. Please check the Kestle Barton website for dates and further information.