On the table

I had originally planned to display the work as a table cloth, over an authentic wartime table but once done I felt it didn't have the impact I wanted. Instead I am thinking of hanging it either against a wall or hanging in space. It is so useful to have the time to 'play' with the presentation of the work, it can completely change the way it is read.

Playing with paper

This shop window for Urban Outfitters spotted in Manchester recently.

Getting there

Many sleepless nights and a frantic surge of mounting and framing later, and today we started hanging the work for the open house. It is great to be showing my new work in such an intimate setting and it really helps that Claire has such a lovely house. As we started to lay everything out it just seemed to look good with all the soft colours and surfaces of the walls and floors.

But please don't come over just yet, we don't open until Sunday. So still a few last preparations to do before then.

You can find myself, Claire & Hugh at:

13 Bromley Road
Shipley
BD18 4DS

on Sunday 3rd, Monday 4th & Tuesday 5th June from 11am - 4pm

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On the cutting room floor...

... and table, and every other surface in the house. I contemplated spreading out into the garden but that seemed a step too far. It is a mammoth job finishing and mounting everything for the open house/studio. I just hope we get some visitors.

Above are some of the viewfinder photos I took, which I will be putting in mounts for sale this weekend.

Boxing things up

I have been feeling really worried about the up coming Bradford Open exhibition. I think it's because it is such a long time since I have exhibited professionally that I feel really lacking in confidence. Everything needs rethinking from scratch. One of my worries was display, but after some conversations   I have been playing with  boxes instead of frames. Putting an edge around the work seems to help to add a finish and definition.

Sticker Project

It's was a relief this afternoon to submit the work I have done for the sticker project at Bradford College, having beavered away all this week. I have been making a series of six handmade textile and paper 'stickers' titled 'Enter the Woods' based on a found verse (I think from an old hymn). If anyone knows who wrote this please let me know.

I think God gave the woods to us,

That we might steal away,

Alone to those green solitudes,

From all the noise of day,

I think God gave the woods to us,

To teach our souls to pray.

Each sticker includes a line from the verse enclosed within a folded piece of plant dyed cloth. I have used fine silk and metallic fabrics in subtle colours that seemed to mimic the colours of weathered concrete, wood and metal. This work aims to entice the viewer to explore green spaces, escaping the noise and bustle of city life. I imagine the stickers positioned around the urban environment, to be found in an intimate encounter with an unexpected artwork.

Below are some photos I took to see how the stickers might look in situ.

The stickers will join a large number of self-adhesive mini artworks by fellow Bradford staff and students, in locations in Spain and England to coincide with the Bilbao Art Fair. Rather than exhibit work in a gallery or art fair the project seeks to explore alternative, temporary locations for art by placing stickers outside the gallery, in urban spaces, on walls, pavements and unexpected public places. If anyone manages to see one let me know!

You can look at more fabulous sticker inspiration here.

Infinite Variety

Probably one of the most amazing exhibitions I have ever seen, Infinite Variety nearly brought me to tears as I stepped into the 55,000 square foot Wade Thompson Drill Hall of Park Avenue Armory. The vast space was hung with 650 red and white quilts spanning three centuries or American quilt making. The show was created as a true visual spectacle, making you feel as a tiny Alice might have done with a whole pack of playing cards falling around her. Despite being the stars of their own show the visual impact of the quilts relied upon their display; contrasts of pattern juxtaposed in such diversity. To see so much pattern in one glance is a very rare thing indeed, and completely joyful. As one lady commented 'everyone is walking around with smiles on their faces, I've never seen that before at an exhibition'. 

Organised by the American Folk Art Museum, Infinite Variety: Three Centuries of Red & White Quilts showed just part of the vast quilt collection of Joanna S. Rose. 'While the idea of hundreds of quilts is impressive in the abstract, in actuality it is an unprecedented and immersive experience, both visually and physically.' The exhibition was designed and installed by New York company Thinc Design and is an absolutely inspired creation. 'This magical but ephemeral moment will ultimately be captured in the pages of a fully illustrated catalogue'... I can't wait, but I am so glad I was able to experience this phenomenon for myself. I will cherish the memory.



If you would like to see further photos or read more about the exhibition design take a look at this blog.

Keighley Green Trail - unveiled

Saturday was the launch of the Keighley Green Trail and the window displays were finally revealed. It has been an interesting project which has introduced me to working on public commissions. At times it has been frustrating and stressful but I have learnt a great deal about the process and met some lovely people in the process. Below are some images of the 'Wild About Keighley' window I created with Liz Melling. I created the large map piece and Liz created the large willow and tissue paper flowers and bugs  through children's workshops.

Installing the work

The finished display

I chose to use tissue paper backed onto cloth for the map to compliment Liz's sculptures. I was also inspired by a recent tutorial with one of my students were we discussed cloth backed maps... funny how things come together!

There was something interesting about the work as seen from the inside looking out; by using tracing paper my work gains transparency and luminosity. I think this might be something to explore further.

Speaking in Silence

Today I was part of a crit group led by internationally renowned textile artist, Alice Kettle. I have been finding these crit groups incredibly helpful, having a dialogue between groups of people I wouldn't normally hear from is so useful. Sometimes we get too stuck within our own ideas, so this has been helpful to shake out the cobwebs. There is a certain degree of divergent opinions, but I feel this is also helpful in showing me areas that are less resolved.

In this morning's crit I chose to use a 'Silent Crit' format to start with. In this I did not introduce the work, but listened while the group explored, investigated, looked for clues and discussed how they felt about the work. Through this process I learnt that my work largely communicates what I want and that people are responding to the space through emotional and sensory means. There seems to be a primal, instinctive understanding of the work (yipppeeee!). The work certainly seems to translate my own emotional position. People seem particularly taken with the large 'canopy' piece, although they perhaps talk about this less. I don't mean to sound smug, it's just that I feel like it's been such a struggle at times and I really wasn't sure if my work was able to communicate my ideas successfully, so it's a big relief to know I am making progress.

One thing that is clear to me is that I need to review all the different elements, considering how the different pieces might form a dialogue. Alice picked up one of the bundles and placed it on the embroidered woollen piece, and I began to see how this is something that can become much richer and rely less on my pre-conceived ideas of display.


So much to think about and more crits to come...

How to Create an Installation...

Thinking and planning towards testing time I have been considering how other artists tackle the display of objects. How objects are displayed can influence our perception and how we interact with the artwork.

I think it might be useful to consider the qualities I want to express within my own work. I do not just want to transfer elements of the site to the gallery space; for me it is very important that the work is transformative and speaks of my own transformation within the woodland space. A brief list that might encapsulate this:

space

light

sensory stimulation

tranquil

atmospheric

encompassing
intriguing

So how can I make sure this comes across in my work? Perhaps by looking a little at some examples of artists creating a similar mood, I can unpick what it is I am looking for.

Ruth Moillet - Bluebell, installation at Hebden Bridge sculpture park

light, airy, vast, encompassing...

...but does the work have greater resonance in photographic form?

Dome d' Ombre - Source, installation in the crypt of St-Martin-on-the-Hill, Scarborough

eerie, cool, tranquil, sensory, space, particular to place...

...but both of these works rely upon being in a specific site...
...how can this experience be translated to another location?

Henny Burnett - Uncle Eric's Box, 2001

atmospheric, intriguing, detailed, textured...

The Shoemaker's Shrine, 2008

light, luminosity, sensitivity, detail, space

Chika Oghi - Floating Grass

light, space, tranquility, gentle movement

Andy Goldsworthy - Wood Room and Leaf Stalk Room, 2007

...weightiness, space, light, enveloped, atmospheric, textured, scented, physical

...awareness of light and space, vast, delicate

Jorge Otero-Pailos - The Ethics of Dust: Doge's Palace, 2009

...traces, light, space, illumination, presence

So where does all this get me? Having spent hours on this I must now sum up and consider what I can learn from my research; the things that speak to me have the following characteristics:

• LIGHT is an important media - artworks are illuminated, often from behind, showing transparency/translucency
• I need to use a big SPACE to give my work the chance to speak on a larger, landscape scale. I also need to make sure I am adventurous with the space
• Weightiness/weightlessness can convey a sense of tranquility, air and movement - several of the works above are SUSPENDED and appear to almost hover in the space
• TEXTURE & DETAIL create interest on a minute scale and add to the sensory quality of the work
• I need to consider elements that might stimulate more than the visual sense; SMELL, TOUCH, SOUND... but without creating a corny woodland themed space.

Plenty to be getting on with then!