Artist statement
Artist statement
I am a Bristol-based sculptor equally drawn to working with light and movement as I am to objects and architecture. This combination of media reflects by preoccupation with exploring the complementary relationships between mind and body, observation and the imagination, the physical and the ethereal. In some works kinetic assemblages takes the place of the body whereas in others, such as Exchange, the body of the audience member is the sculptural element. I have been using archaic projection techniques to playfully explore the dynamic between a physical object and its de-located luminous image where a lens is the only mediating factor.
My artistic and professional career to date has acted as research into the technologies and techniques of creating spectacle. Many spectacles lead to a gaze of detached awe and leave little room for the viewers‘ own reading and imagination. I believe visual wonder can trigger surprise and puzzlement that can interrupt habitual judgments thereby liberating the viewer’s imagination. It is important to me that the viewer is aware of and actively complicit in their suspension of disbelief; something far more empowering than passive dazzlement.
I am interested in this quality of interactive looking that can be both analytical and receptive; analogue projection is a medium with which I can explore these different ways of seeing. After many years working with digital production and projection I became disillusioned with the qualities of the image and light whilst the technologies involved clouded the process of production. Through researching into early optical instruments and pre-cinema techniques such as magic lanterns, camera obscura, phatasmogoria and Megascopes, I rediscovered direct projection methods that had the power to create images that transfix the audience without pretence. Looking at these devices, I can sense the wonder felt at the first use of optical and electrical processes that we now take so for granted. The complex evolution of these technologies and our familiarity with them has led to detachment from the fundamental optical and perceptual processes at work. Episcopic or Opaque Object projection is the most direct projection technique possible as the projections exist in the present time with no recording or representation. The alchemical qualities of magnification, repetitive movement and focused light can transform mundane materials into transcendent projections that encourage the viewer to re-access their visual perception.
My practice has evolved, in part, through an active involvement in collectives such as The Cube Cinema and Blackout Arts and through VJing, film and production design work.
Qualifications and training
- 2008 MA(dist) - Fine Art, Contemporary Practice, University College Falmouth, Falmouth, Cornwall
- 1996 BA (Hons) Fine Art - Sculpture, Glasgow School Of Art, Glasgow
Employment
- 2012 Production manager - Art Trail, Big Chill Festival, Eastnor, Herefordshire
- 2012 Technical consultant - Illuminate Bath, Bath Spa University, Bath City Centre
- 2011 Visiting Lecturer, University College Falmouth, Falmouth, Cornwall
- 2011 Production designer - 'Do What Thou Wilt', Spill Festival, Barbican, London
- 2010 Visiting Lecturer - MA Fine Art, University College Falmouth, incorporating Dartington College of Art, Cornwall
- 2009 Visiting Lecturer: Contemporary Performance,2nd Year BA. Performance incorporating Video module., RSAMD, Glasgow
- 2006 Partner, Artistic Director ~ Blackout Arts LLP, Various, Bristol
- 2003 Proprietor ~ Beam Productions, Various, Bristol
- 2000 Director ~ The Cube Cinema Ltd, The Cube Cinema, Bristol
Group exhibitions
- 2010 Small World Fair, Metal, Southend (more info)
- 2009 Exchange, (A Rules & Regs commission in conjunction with the AND Festival), The Bluecoat, Liverpool (more info)
- 2009 Paint Can,Reflecting, (An installation as part of Flatpack Festival) Floodgate Kino, Floodgate St, Birmingham (more info)
- 2008 The Mare Street Bienniale, Artistspace, 143 Mare Street, Hackney, London
- 2008 Underlap, AVSocial, Late At Tate, Tate Britain, London
Degree shows
- 2008 You Are Here, MA show, University College Falmouth, Falmouth, Cornwall
Live/Performance
- 2012 Sonic Acts performance with Roly Porter, Sonic Acts - The Paradiso, Amsterdam (more info)
- 2011 Fallback - With Roly Porter & Cynthia Millar, Faster Than Sound - Aldeburgh Music, Snape Maltings, Suffolk
- 2011 Lighting Design / Production design for 'Do What Thou Wilt', Spill Festival, The Barbican, London
- 2011 Exchange, One-on-One Festival, Battersea Arts Centre, London
- 2010 Exchange, Inbetween Time Festival - The Arnolfini, Bristol
- 2010 Modes of Al-Ikseer ~ Lighting design, Various including: The Arnolfini, New Art Exchange, The A Foundation, Bristol, Portland, Newtown, Nottingham, London
- 2009 A Ritual For Elephant & Castle: Marcus Coates & Chrome Hoof with live visuals by Rod Maclachlan, The Coronet Theatre, Elephant & Castle, London, SE1 6TJ
- 2008 OCEANO ~ Murcof with BCN 216 and Flicker, Venues : The Arnolfini, Purcell Rms, The Bluecoat, The Sonic Arts Research Centre, UK Tour (more info)
- 2007 Point to Point with live soundtrack by Granzon Nodo, Leeds International Film Festival .The Carriageworks, Leeds
Workshops
- 2012 Video Mapping workshop, Animated Exeter, The Pheonix, Exeter
- 2012 Rotation - I Am Making Art, Spike Island, Bristol
- 2004 Vision & Vibration Workshop For The Deaf and Hard Of Hearing, The Cube Cinema, VisionSign Film Festival., Bristol
Residencies
- 2010 Mac-Lab, Midlands Art Centre, Birmingham
- 2009 Rules And Regs at The Bluecoat residency in Collaboration with The AND festival, The Bluecoat, Liverpool
Public commissions
- 2010 Screen, Metal at Chalkwell Hall, Southend-on-Sea
Corporate commissions
- 2006 'It Is All Around Us' part of: intimate~INTIMATE Presented by Blackout Arts, Tollgate House, Bristol
Competitions, prizes and awards
- 2008 Sandra Blow Fellowship, University College Falmouth, Cornwall
Personal website
