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13/4/2018 0 Comments 12 Hours of AnswersI was thrilled and amazed to receive over a hundred thoughts on what my followers are "tired of" and having been inspired to develop a spur of the moment blog post into a full collection of artworks including handmade books, installations and diagrams. However, I still didn't feel satisfied that I had repaid the sharing of all those who commented. I knew that illustrating these issues may offer support to those who see my artworks on display but I wanted to send my thoughts to each person who had commented. To show my gratitude and to retain the personal connection in my works: Each of these people are human beings that allowed themselves some vulnerability to share with me in my project and reading them I felt each comment as if an outreach from a dear friend.
Therefore, I decided to write back. Not just the usual, "Thanks for commenting!", blog response but a genuine and focused time dedicated to these individuals and their troubles. For 12 hours (well 15 if you include breaks to eat and change camera) I wrote letters to each commentor from the original blog post. Writing every answer with the aim to offer empathy and support just as I would to a close friend. It was intense, emotionally and physically painful, but left me with a feeling of having repaid a debt and completed something important and meaningful. I hope that my work can inspire this kind of need to communicate, support and share the way that your comments have done for me. '12 Hours of Answers' was filmed and will be displayed as a video and installation in my upcoming exhibition 'Listening to the Masses' (Kunstpodium T, Tilburg, Netherlands, 3-20th May 2018). After which I will be photographing each answer individually to post here so that the original commentors (including anonymous commentors) can find my letter to them. 16/3/2018 0 Comments Pies to Pompoms
I then tried a couple ways of making the 'pom-charts' by cutting the cardboard ring to scale to the number of comments as in the drawn versions and drawing on the pie chart lines to fill each section with the relevant coloured thread. I found the most accurate way was to count each wrap as one degree of the pie-chart meaning once cut the pompom has a dense fluffy appearance with exactly two threads per degree. I then made tassels to separate the comments by who initiates the problem mentioned. For these each wrap equated to one comment which meant once cut every comment became two threads. The first group (pink, orange and purple) reflect the issues that are at least partially initiated by oneself. The second (blue) are caused by other people or society at large. The tiny third group (yellow) shows non-human initiated or 'situational' issues. I felt this was a great way to give a tactile representation of our own responsibility for the problems faced by ourselves and others whilst retaining a playful, upbeat aesthetic. These were connected to the original artwork with the same thread as used to bind my series of 'Tired' books that inspired the piece by piercing the centre of the correlating 2-dimensional pie.
2/2/2018 0 Comments Excel Art?
19/12/2017 0 Comments A written reflection on: MundanityYou travel through life as if waiting for a moment - a sudden brightness proving the existence of reality. Stare through a one-way mirror to the ghosts of a space that you reflect within but feel not a part of. Standing at a station you stare numbly across the void of empty tracks to witness others, like you, unseeing on their journey.
Then, one day, crack the mirror is broken, by a single soul that, staring ever-blindly as in any other day, finds your stare. And in a crash of realism the blind are seeing - seeing each other, for the first time. The other looks not only upon your mirrored existence but through the chasm of this blurred realm to see you. Through your bored expression and politely closed posture, into the reality you had thought to be but a dream of childhood. In a moment you are one, connected by the energy that pours from your souls, previously trapped by society. It dances in the air like tropical birds reunited with the wild. Spreading their colourful plumage, they touch this bland world with the light of reality. A reality not wasted in routine; but celebrated in emotion and togetherness. You have found your one. One of many. The one whom ignites the world and brings your soul to dance. But life soon calls to all: Your train will come and so will theirs. And you may simply shrug, as passers-by most often do in this routine existence. You board the train again. And find a seat alone, again. And as, again, you stare out of the window to the repetitive scenery of your existence, you allow just a hint of colour to filter into your daydreams - a remnants of a possible life beyond this route. Or perhaps, one day, you may just follow the dance... [Written sitting on the floor of a busy train.] 17/8/2017 0 Comments Graduated!
The portraits were well received with many visitors finding a deep understanding of my concept: The complexity of humanity and the lack of genuine social connection we have with one another. I noticed many more people than expected stopped and spent a good length of time reading and becoming involved with the portraits. Looks of interest, concern and humour crossing their faces as they scanned the variety of personal information supplied from each subject.
This was a huge success for the project and the motivation I needed to plan my next stage: Picking out these statements that get these visible responses from visitors and illustrating them in their own statements. A way of highlighting the oddities of human conversation that get us so emotionally involved in conversation. My criticisms for this exhibition would be that my room was difficult to find on an upper floor of a side wing to the building. This along with the complicated maps provided meant many people visited the central exhibition and simply avoided the wings. Whilst I had little control over the curation of the exhibition I will keep this in mind when considering future exhibitions in this type of building that needs at least a clear route made to ensure areas are not missed accidentally. Secondly, most visitors are very uncomfortable using the tablet which meant most ignored entirely or read only the part of the page that was showing, not scrolling to see the explanation or comment box. This may be helped in future by printing a full explanation on paper and having the tablet only on the comment box or simply leaving a comment book with printed explanation. It is expected that some will be entirely irrelevant contributions but I do believe more would get involved with this more inviting medium. 9/5/2017 26 Comments I'm Tired...
Whilst researching empathy and social connection for my dissertation (of which I will certainly share parts with you soon!) I kept stumbling across this same method - Loving-Kindness Meditation. A Buddhist mindfulness technique to spread compassion and refocus the mind on selfless love. Of course as any good researcher would I took a first-hand approach at discovering the truth and value behind this technique. Any one who knows me well will know that despite my hippie-dippie style and Buddhist beliefs I struggle with meditation - I have the knees and back of a 60 year old and a rather high spirit which is better grounded with dance meditation than still practices. However, I relish new ideas and have written below my own explanation and thoughtfulness on the process as tested by me, using the led-meditation audio clips on the site quoted below (- I would always recommend such led-practices for newbies and it certainly supported me). A quick description...Loving-kindness or Metta Bhavana is a meditation practice taught by the Buddha to develop the mental habit of selfless or altruistic love. Metta Bhavana literally meaning, in the Pali language, (Metta) 'love' (in a non-romantic sense such as friendliness or kindness), (Bhavana) 'Cultivation'. So 'Love Cultivation'. ~ Beautiful enough to make you want to try it from the title alone huh? It is a 'heart-meditation' that does aim to affect your daily life - to increase your compassion and openness whilst diminishing judgement and discrimination. The process is traditionally a still meditation that tends to cultivate in a series of steps, developing from your inner circle of care to your adversaries and eventually to all the sentient beings of the World. It is a way of crossing borders of disagreement and judgement, distance and situation. The steps...1. Think of yourself, smiling, light moving into your heart. Forgive yourself, love yourself. "May you be well and happy." 2. Think of a friend, smiling, light moving from your heart to theirs.Think of why you like them, send love to them. "May he/she be well and happy." 3. Think of a neutral person, you may see them around but hold no feeling towards them. Think of their humanity, cultivate a feeling, send love to them. "May they be well and happy." 4. Think of an 'enemy', one you have a disagreement with. Forgive them, focus on their qualities, send love to them. "May they be well and happy." 5. Think of all 4 together, yourself, friend, neutral and enemy. Sharing light and receiving equal love. "May we be well and happy." 6. Think further, to those in the building, the city, the country. Share the light and love further still, to all beings across the world, human and animal. "May they all be well and happy." My thoughts...I am known to be loving. Sometimes overly so. It confuses people. In this day and age love is a misunderstood word; but the Buddhist Metta Bhavana puts it into its correct perspective. Strange however loving you are thought to be the struggle one faces to focus, train and accept this metta. To see yourself without today's multi-million dollar trend of flaw-focussing. To give yourself time and realise that you are human and so are 'they' - the friend, the neutral and the 'enemy'. To see your adversary and release those pent up arguments - the stored hostility and barriers built up in some strange self-harming strategy of safety. To release yourself from societal built barriers and allow the mind to transcend beyond the minuscule number of known individuals to the entire world, the entire universe, surrounded by your loving-kindness. A golden ball of warmth and respect encircling all of life and just because of you; because you gave it the time. Perhaps it is nothing. Perhaps you are simply sitting in an over-flexible position that you'll probably later regret and imagining: Creating a fantasy of infinite proportions that is forever beyond reach. And yet. If you go out tomorrow and encounter that 'neutral' and feel a smile spread across your face - an involuntary symptom - and subsequently receive one in return - a simple biological response displaying the work of in-built mirror neurons within the brain - has the world not already become a little kinder? When you stumble into the 'enemy' and forget to replay your recent indiscretions through your mind before greeting them, will you not be more loving and therefore likely fix some small difficulty between you. Will these tiny things not ripple through the ocean of beings in the world and change things? Is a ripple in a pond truly inconsequential, swallowed up by the overarching volume? No, I think not. How can any energy scientifically go to waste - it must move, transform. Nothing is without consequence whether noticeable or not, all is Karma. And so we come to conclude that anything done with pure and good intentions is worthwhile. And there can be no rationalising to discourage such positive attempts or indeed the quality of such 'alternative' methods. No? Further reading...If you want to research this and other methods of Buddhist practice, firstly good for you! And secondly here is a couple of sites I found useful and accessible teachings:
https://thebuddhistcentre.com/text/loving-kindness-meditation http://www.buddhanet.net/e-learning/loving-kindness.htm The audio I used for my meditation was from: http://www.freebuddhistaudio.com/audio/details?num=M11B
A few weeks back I visited the 'Hacking Habitat' exhibition, set in an old prison in Utrecht. Much as the title suggests its focus centred around the technological advances of humanity and sported a large collection of politically fuelled artworks.
The space itself was a refreshing and strongly relevant location that proved to be highly inspirational to the artists involved. Each cell provided an individual experience in which the artworks became an installation - communicating with the very present memory of the buildings former use and the feeling of restriction and hierarchy this produced.
​Despite my love for this concept the message that stayed with me all three hours homeward bound was the unbelievably reliant nature of modern society on technology. And what more the ability to learn about one another remotely and our willingness to allow our privacy to be bought from us in the name of safety, sales or simply social media. This has inspired me to continue to question such things and bring this argument into my work.
As a socially engaged artist myself I have a keen interest on such works but due to the usual negativity instilled in such collections I was wary of this visit. However, I am pleased to say I was blown away, inspired and truly touched by the experience; leaving with a feeling of increased awareness and a passion for those who choose to question and improve the system. My Position as an Artist in Society:
The term 'Political Artist' brings to mind a stereotypical collection of confrontational artworks inspired by a somewhat cynical view on our societal systems. For my own work, I find better identification with 'Social Art': Art that is inspired by humanity and communication. Of course these two labels are not mutually exclusive but with a strong belief in creating approachable, equalising art I believe these initial expectations can be a detriment to an artist's practice if not used with caution. Furthermore, with the ongoing rise of political, cynical and shocking art - just as in news media and cinema - this now regular experience is becoming redundant. Shepard Fairey said that if you repeat something enough it becomes important. However, a person cannot be shocked and appalled into action every day. Walk around a political exhibition or watch a shocking film and you will see people discussing skill, innovation, maybe even the bravery of the artist - but how many will show true emotion towards the message and how many of those will go home and do something about it? I am not unaccustomed to the feeling of helplessness: The hopeless wishes to improve a world much too large. And so with complete sympathy for those who separate themselves from the problems of the world - teaching themselves there is nothing they can do - I chose to focus on small achievable differences with faith in the ripple-effect they cause: My main aims are to bring understanding, positivity and gratitude to our varied society. I place my viewer in the shoes of another, spreading awareness of the differences between people and helping them to empathise with one another. In doing so I fight against stereotyping and prejudice in a more subtle way and without just negatively portraying the issue. As well as social differences I also take inspiration from philosophy, psychology and opinion. I believe the route to contentment lies within the practice of appreciation and gratitude and therefore attempt to 'teach' people to observe and enjoy the little things that are special to them. You will notice here I refer to the viewers interests and not to my own - this is where opinion comes in. I see a simultaneous issue with the art world that is the Ego. The idea of the humble artist is overtaken by the elitist nature of the market which can fuel artists with a sense of personal power or leave the 'uneducated' viewer feeling belittled by unclear artwork excelled by high prices and long terminology. Whilst I don't believe an artist needs to be poor I believe everyone can gain from humility and so as well as creating work with a wider audience in mind I view myself as a tool to facilitate communication where it otherwise lacks. This is why for the past year the majority of text in my artworks are direct quotes from conversations with others, whether directly (preferable) or via social media (to contact a larger audience). This removes stubborn or biased information from myself and instead proves the importance of the opinions of those around me no matter who they are. It is also of high importance that whilst my work has positive aims it is not there to fool or coerce the viewer to agree. Art should be the beginning of a conversation not the persuasion of an argument. After the success of our recent group exhibition I thought I would take time to update you readers with the process, experience and outcomes of this project. Firstly, we were lucky enough to come into contact with Talentweb Groningen, an organisation that aims to utilise unused buildings to nurture and provide for the young talent in Groningen. For anyone looking to hold an event I would greatly recommend first searching for such companies, as this provided us with a beautiful old town house in the city centre for two weeks - our only charge the general improvement of the space and good publicity of Talentweb. *cough cough Talentweb is amazing everyone support them* So after a rather substantial 'lick of paint' and a day's hard-core cleaning the five of us found ourselves with a pretty perfect (if a bit desolate) studio and event space complete with storage basement, kitchen and toilet. Our next move was to spend some time meeting in and becoming accustomed to our new space. To construct our group concept we found inspiration in the building itself - emphasising the 'aura' of a previous house to become an exhibition space based on the ideals of home and comfort. Our aim was to facilitate open-minded discussion in a safe and comfortable environment: A break in the space and time of the city centre: A stillness to contemplate, communicate and enjoy. We titled this experience; "They'll drop you know" - Mother. A joke stemming from one of our brainstorming sessions on the concept of 'home' and its meaning… The discussion developed from talk of houses to families to emotions and memories, circling around numerous clichés without finite end in sight. However, as we began to tire the discussion loosened and extraditing our box of clichés we started to name the first thing we did when we got 'home'. As a group of five women we soon received the comment "I take my bra off as soon as I get home", to which I felt the need to insert the anecdote of my mother's repetitive warnings against going out without a bra because, well, "They'll drop you know!". And so '"They'll drop you know" - Mother' was born. Having an exciting new space and a motivational team we decided to get started straight away with two weeks of open studios in the exhibition space. From 11am to 7pm daily we offered tea, coffee and conversations with the public and each other. This was strategically and personally our best decision of the project. By the end of the first week the space was transformed with an entirely new feel. Articles accumulated on the walls, magazines piled the toilet floor and flowers, drinks and artwork littered the surfaces. Somehow the vibe combined both a calming effect with a productive motivation and daily discussions and 'Thoughts of the Day' inspired philosophical and critical thinking on a variety of subjects keeping each day a new learning experience. By the second week we were ahead of schedule - work was being installed and the public was beginning to take more notice of the curious happenings in this usually dark space.
During this project I not only gained experience of running a professional, self-initiated exhibition but tested my teamwork and organisation, connected to my fellow artists in a new way, found a passion for event organisation and reinstated my faith in the power of the creative community. These few weeks were the best experience of my studies so far and really opened my eyes to the possibilities of my future career: It was certainly a sad moment to pack up and say goodbye to Poelestraat 28. To see my artistic contributions to this exhibition and how this project has excelled my practice please visit the Exhibition Outcome posts:
5/6/2016 0 Comments Project Outcome: PostersInspiration
I also found a huge amount of inspiration in the Open Studio environment, from including the dead bird from Suhela's 'Alter of Inbetween' to being inspired by discussion with my fellow artists to display all of the photoshop experiments as a series and collaborating with Suhela again to curate a flower arrangement from her working style above my own single poster. The ProcessThe OutcomeWhat Next?I feel this project is just beginning and the works still have a long way to go to reach their potential. However, I have discovered that this format of working on two contrasting projects at once supports my motivation and enthusiasm for my work and opens my practice to a wider audience.
Moving on from here I would like to experiment with size and display formats as well as what kinds of comments I want to portray. What would you like to see commented in this visual format? The Idea
However, to me he is a friend, a confidant, a cuddle and an inspiration. With his own creative skill and typographical interest he regularly looks at my work and is a great support to my progress. Whilst discussing my 'Diagram as Art' exploration he explained that they remind him of a mind process; specifically the way he writes things down when thoughts get stuck in his mind or he needs to work something out. He elaborated that with his schizophrenia this process often becomes a huge collection as if his mind were flowing out across the wall. This immediately sparked my interest and we began to debate the possibility of really visualising a persons mind. How close could you get to a complete picture? How much do we understand of our own minds? And could this make a person more understandable to a 'reader'? Soon I asked if he would let me base this process on his own mind as a test of these ideas and as an attempt to spread awareness of the honest and direct effect of schizophrenia, without the dramatisation, rumour or stereotype usually attached to such terms. Thankfully he eagerly agreed and became devoted to the project and to the improvement of the term 'schizophrenic' in our society. The Process As with all good social art it began with communication. In fact make that hours and hours of communication. Over a two week period we met repeatedly and discussed the ins and outs of his thought processes. He explained what it's like living with the diagnosis, how the psychosis effected him and how his thoughts could be separated into personalities. We went through explanations and examples, mind maps and diagrams, good parts and bad parts. For him the analysis was tiring and I did my best to support rather than intrude. At times it would get too difficult and we'd take a break - we would doodle or watch shows or lay on the floor and discuss our weeks. Sometimes I would notice a hesitation to share a darker side of himself and I'd make myself busy whilst he wrote in silence. Eventually this delicate process resulted in a board full of pages and pages of notes that I could then shuffle into some sort of coherent layout. The main 'thought processes' took on a pie chart composition in the centre encased by a 'Sanity boarder' that restricted the flow of schizophrenic thoughts into his main consciousness. Connected to this were his schizophrenic 'safety nets' that encourage darker actions in order to protect himself and often become confused with or even take over his main thought processes. Then of course the better known side effect of voices - or 'wobbles' as he finds a better descriptor - surround the mind. I endeavoured to include all of our notes and so this outer layer also included some his own explanations: his description of schizophrenia, why hearing is effected, what sanity is to him and so on. The piece is drawn entirely by hand, first in pencil, then in fine liner on a large sheet of white paper. The work directly copies our notes, which considering his dyslexia and multiple languages makes for an interesting read. The aim of this was to create a human interpretation. The piece itself is an oxymoron - a minimised, formal schematic of one of the most complex and unclear concepts of our understanding: The mind. By disregarding a ruler, computer and even correct spelling this work proves itself to be an entirely humane construction with all of the beautiful struggles, contradictions and incorrectness of life itself. The OutcomeThe ReactionI am really pleased to say the understanding and appreciation for this piece was way beyond my expectations. People not only respected it's position as art despite its minimalist design but took time to read, consider and discuss the information it provides. Strangers began in depth discussions on societies interpretation of sanity, their own understand of schizophrenia and other diagnoses they have experienced first or second hand. Visitors described it as "interesting", "beautiful" and "informative" with people often revisiting it multiple times to discover more. In this way the project not only achieved its goals but improved my faith in the communities eagerness to understand and appreciate both these socially fuelled works and each other. What Next?Thanks to the hugely positive reaction received both by the public, the school and the owner of that 'unique mind' I can happily say this is not the end for this project. My initial aim is to continue our discussions and build some smaller mind maps to give the reader a more direct experience of how these processes effect every day life. From here I can also consider the usefulness of such a personal analytical process on other people and perhaps continue similar processes with multiple 'minds'.
So if you feel intrigued and inspired keep an eye on the development of this work here in the near future. And of course if this sparks a specific importance with you please share your feedback in the comments or directly to me via email. :It is my pleasure to announce this upcoming exhibition right in the centre of beautiful Groningen! Teaming up with Talentweb Groningen, myself and 4 other female artists from the Netherlands, England and as far as Australia have taken over an empty building for a two week period of open studios, music, discussions and a conclusive 4 day exhibition. This project aims to create a place of comfort. A home-like experience within the city that not only inspires a closer community but provides a platform of supported communication across a variety of topics. For more information please visit the project website: Or our Facebook event where you can register your interest and see daily thoughts and updates once open studios begin on the 17th May:
17/4/2016 0 Comments Portfolio Updates!My two most recent projects now have their own portfolio pages! - Take a look to keep up-to-date with a perhaps unforeseen jump into 'The Diagram As Art'... An investigation into the very essence of human life and how - or if - it can be visually described.
Art school can be seen as a kind of spaghetti junction of art practices. Tutors shape and direct the flow but in the end each student will always have there own individual passions propelling their work through the maze. However, at very special moments practices cross at a junction and here a new road altogether can be formed. For myself and fellow student Kamile the result of this has been a fun little book experimenting with the connection between lettering and drawing - the current fuels to each of our practices. In order to test the strength of meaning in both text and image we each bought a small sketchbook. I fill my pages with lettering and she with drawing, then we swap and work on top of the others with whatever comes to mind in reaction to the content supplied. This process is repeated regularly each time with new surprises at the return of the books. The questions remaining are: Has the other understood your meaning? How long will it take to fill the books and how can we retain motivation with the project? Will it ever become difficult to come up with new designs? How will this mini-project and collaborative experience effect each of our practices? [Ps. Some of these images show just the first stage without development from Kamile.]
31/3/2016 0 Comments Bookbinding
20/3/2016 0 Comments March EXPO
Throughout the process I surrounded myself with photo's of my family and the work of Margaret Kilgallen who was the major inspiration for the design of this project. This was hugely important not so much to keep me motivated but to keep me focussed on what I was portraying. Even so, I still found times where I began to make choices aesthetically, forgetting the people being represented; at which point I would need to return to the images and reconsider what needed to be shown. I feel I am still learning to allow my work to spread outside of what is seen to be visually appealing but this technique of immersive research is a huge help towards clarifying priorities. The IdeaThis project was inspired by the awkward conversations you have when meeting new people and trying explain an unusual family situation. I hate the impulse to apologise when trying to discuss which dad I'm talking about or the "my brother who isn't actually my brother" confirmations. This work celebrates the crazy family realities in my own life so that my spectators can open up about their own situations. Families aren't simple any more; they are full of colour, laughs and ugly truths and this is the only way I want to see them. The piece displays my own family tree from me and my siblings to my grandparents using my own visual language to include divorce, death and the unknown in my family narrative. The illustrations mounted on top of this are quotes from conversations with my mum that to me display the realistic ups and downs that make us who we are as a family unit. As you can see from the illustrative styling they are not to be taken too seriously, because after all if we had never fought, never laughed and never cried I don't think we could say we'd had much of a family life at all...
Being just over a year from graduation, this event provided an opportunity to really question where my practice should be going and what I will be creating for the daunting final degree show that's sauntering towards the near future. With much to improve but much to be proud of, I am happy to have taken risks and made a firm leap in a new direction that feels a positive and natural development for my work.
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