Adventures in Liverpool and Manchester

After a slightly rubbish week studio-wise (being ill is not good for being creative!), I've had quite an inspiring end to my week. I spent last night at the opening of Alice in Wonderland at Tate Liverpool and this morning at the Whitworth Gallery in Manchester (more of which later).

First though, I wanted to post a photo of my latest print works- this was completed at the end of last week and I'm now trying to work out where to go next.

Collagraph on Somerset paper. Approx. A4 (size of paper ground)

I am interested in the way a fragment of a building can suggest a space around it. The way the fragment can become an object in space is also something I have been playing with- this pair of prints represents the culmination of a variety of experiments with collagraph (I want to try etching but don't have time before this module's deadline!) that I want to take further.

Alice in Wonderland, Tate Liverpool

Attending the opening night of this exhibition was very exciting as opening nights tend to be buzzing and interesting. Overall though, I was slightly underwhelmed. Although there are some really interesting works within the show- the original illustrations for the book and the room about the background to how Carroll came up with the story were fascinating (I hadn't realised his interest in photography previous to last night)- it felt quite overcrowded and was slightly boggling. In some instances I felt that there should have been less work but grouped differently; to my mind, grouping works thematically (for example, by works to do with childhood, word play etc) would have worked better within the broader concept rather than working chronologically as one might expect in a retrospective.

To find out more about Alice at Tate Liverpool:


Dark Matters: Shadow_Technology_Art, Whitworth Art Gallery, Manchester

I didn't have long to go round this exhibition this morning, but my overall impression was much more positive than last night. The show comprises work from both the permanent collection at the gallery and also work that has been borrowed from other sources. There are some really good interactive pieces by Daniel Rozin, but the stars of the show for me were Brass Art's installation in the Mezzanine Court and George Fennel Robson's The Devil's Kitchen, Llyn Idwal, Caernarvonshire, Wales. Brass Art's installation included Still Life No 1, which was a really beautiful projection that spun around the walls of the gallery- I felt like I was becoming part of this new world that was presented to me and was completely sucked in to working out what was going on- it seemed like some kind of ceremony was happening. Robson's small watercolour painting was an unexpected hit for me- I found it engrossing and fascinating. I think once I graduate I want to explore working in way that helps me uncover my own heritage- I know little about Welsh folklore, despite being part-Welsh, and I feel this is something I need to look into.


To find out more about Dark Matters:

Works in Progress...

Given the opportunity to get going in the studio, this is what I'm working on this week.

This test-piece on cardboard incorporates my new approach to working in paint and collage- I am using strips from my copied collages rather than using pieces of buildings etc as I was last year. I also want to experiment with cutting a section out of a different shape; this module is, for me, very much about experimenting with the imagery and my approach to collaging and incorporating that material.

(Apologies for slightly wonky photo!) This is one of my paintings on sheet metal (this example is on aluminium). It measures 500 x 500mm.

Paint and paper collage on steel. 500 x 500mm.

In addition to these I want to begin to experiment with screenprinting and photo-etching. However, I want to speak to my tutors about this before I begin such an extensive body of work in that area.

Feedback please!!

New Work for the Final Year of Uni!

I've had a very busy start to the week, putting in extra long days. Our current project is only 5 weeks long (well, 4 1/2 now!) and we have to create 6 finished works in that time!

My studio is now back up and running (as you can see from the mess!). I've been making collages in several sketchbooks with imagery related to Modernist and Brutalist building designs.
Today, I decided to make enlarged photocopies of some of my favourite compositions to see how they look when they're a bit bigger- I'm planning to make them up to A1 or even A0 in the end!

These are all black and white photocopies of original photo collages. I am thinking of also copying them in colour to see if this improves them or not. Any other thoughts would be much appreciated- I've changed my settings so that anyone can comment so hopefully this will help!

Some photos of new work

Work in Progress, 2011. Acrylic and emulsion on MDF. 1220 x 610 mm

Close of up of work in progress, 2011, details above
This is a painting I am currently working on and playing around with quite a bit. Again, a sense of massive scale is what I'm trying to achieve. I'm also experimenting with making the paint surface more interesting by building up thin layers rather than just slapping it on! Another challenge here is that the final complete image will contain only painted surfaces; I am attempting to move away from photocollage for the time being. Below are some other smaller experiments that have fed into this piece.

Any thoughts and suggestions are, as always, greatly appreciated!

New Developments

Have finally got back on with some constructive work! After an excellent trip to London during the week with a friend from school, where I saw loads of amazing art including Miro at Tate Modern and Toulouse Lautrec at the Courtauld, I am feeling quite inspired! Photos to follow as the week progresses :)

Missing My Studio!!!

It's now the Easter vacation from Uni and I've cleared my studio in preparation for the third-years' degree show. It will be really exciting to see another degree show but I'm feeling sad about being out of the studio until October! I'm hoping to continue experimenting over the summer months while I'm at home but at the moment I'm being distracted by an up-coming presentation about my influences and contextual references. I'm going to talk about artists such as John Stezaker, Giorgio de Chirico and David Thorpe as well as architects like Le Corbusier and the Smithsons. If anyone can think of anything to add please let me know!!
In the mean time, here are some more pics of work I made for my Debut 03/11 show... let me know what you think!

Untitled (Portico), 2011. Photo-collage and paint on board.

Kite House, 2011. Photo-collage, permanent pen and paint on aluminium.

Taking Stock

Having the show has really made me think about where my work should go next- a bit annoying really, with less than a fortnight till the assessment for my Uni module! Looking at my work, I can see an increasingly Sci-Fi influence. This is quite surprising given that I have never really been interested in Sci-Fi and I don't think I'd ever watched a Sci-Fi film until I came up with this idea for developing my work!

The piece below was the one that really got me thinking about the world I am depicting in my work.

Photocollage and acrylic on copper

There's also been a lot of theory that's fed into my ideas lately. Imogen Rasz's lecture a few weeks ago about the way Modernists considered the home as needing to be separated from the domestic inspired me greatly.
Some feedback and suggestions for interesting Sci-Fi stuff would be really appreciated!!