Compartmentalisation Exhibition

This series of works resulted in an exhibition at Stafford College, my first solo exhibition.
Taken from the exhibtion:

Painting Exhibition - Compartmentalisation

The paintings in this exhibition show my progression from a primary interest in sculpture to the realisation of the sheer joy of going back to work in two-dimensional works, with the informed mindset and influence of a sculptor.

The paintings as a whole explore my own mindset and the way in which I think day to day. Looking at compartmentalisation, pigeon-holes, boxes, small and large confines, endless lists, and the fact that in everyday life we are all governed by the geometric structure around us rather than our own organic one. My personal frustrations with this way of living are reflected in the paintings, as is the irony in my own juxtaposition with structure; as creative mind I need a way of organising my thought patterns and everyday tasks, and thus resort to lists, mind maps, and emotion and thought suppression through compartmentalisation of my mind.

Paintings - Compartmentalisation

I began starting to paint on a large scale and explore the actual process of painting in this way. It also lead me onto ideas of compartments within myself and my mind and the way that I think. This came to be the title for this series of works and sculptures that I do.

Then there was Paint...

I learnt to paint... it came out of nowhere. In early 2008 after an inspiring trip to Australia and getting to see Aboriginal works up close, and get an understanding of painting and sculpture in a completely diferent context and culture.

Collaborative Recycling Project

From late 2006 I became part of a collaborative Art Group - Art From the Spokes set up by Adam Wilkinson at Stafford College and the Back to Bikes Team at Stafford Borough Council. We worked towards an exhibition of sculptures made out of old bikes recycled into insect based sculptures. It turned into a sculpture Trail at Shugborough Hall for the summer of 2007 and was very successful in raising issues about recycling and encouraging the use of bicycles as a means of transport and exercise.

A series of works produced for the exhibition in 2007. Including the memory works. A productive period exploring interactivity and participation within the gallery space. Particularly using soft materials, fibres and paper.

Memories

Memories, Photos and Balloons. Mixed Media Installation. Dimensions Variable. 2007.
Installation with varying filled balloons that rise and fall in the space in the presence of people. Exploring the concept of memories and ambitions.How they rise and fall. Looking to memories from childhood and teenage years, some missing and fragmented. With photographic materials triggering family memories, and situations.

Memories seem to be a subject that artists, writers and scientists visit time and time again. Questioning the nature of memory, and looking at its limits.Whether through niavety or because its a fundamental element of being human, that we are drawn to what we can't see or quite understand. With our minds able to store vast amounts of memory, creating the people that we are with an indepth intuition and thought processes based on learned experience. I think that memories are key to artists so many of us work with narratives, stories and memories that interest them that they feel they need to create art about. I'm no different and can see this type of work to be very rewarding particularly having a massive resonance with Art Therapies which I have an interest in. Alongside current theories of Neuroaesthetics and the work of Semir Zeki puts forward theories- that the way the brain sees colours is an inherited concept, however– the way in which the brain thinks and its constant changing of the ideals of concept is through acquired experience. Looking at the brain in response to specific stimulus, concept building and abstraction. (Zeki, 2008).

From the same series of Installation works -Spiral. 2007. Working with a different set of
thoughts based on natural lighting. Looking at light and shadows within the space and the landscapes that can be explored through the gaze of the camera format.