Artist statement
I am a multi-disciplinary artist working in performance, installation, text, spoken word, choreography, drawing and video, as well as painting. My work is about process and the body. Since 2008 I have completed a transition from my training in Fine Art to a point whereby I have integrated and utilised both my skills and identity as a movement artist and visual artist.
I make work through a process of investigations using improvised movement scores arising from site specific spaces. I then translate those responses into installations and performances, often with a live audience.
In a site specific residency for '25sg' I used Authentic Movement processes to develop improvised movement scores. This work explored my relationship to the spaces and developed material which resonated with me physically and emotionally. Out of that process, themes of the elemental, injury and nurturing emerged, resulting in three installations, part of which was video and live performance. Please see the 25sg link on my CV.
My work has investigated the different body systems through the experiential training of Body-Mind Centring in the USA and Germany; particularly the Skeleton, Organ and Nervous systems. These explorations manifested into text and poetry, were embroidered onto clothes, embossed on copper sculptures, and then developed into soft white multiples of felt sculpture.
In two solo exhibitions of paintings I focused on the use of improvisation through colour, gesture and mark making, using oils, acrylics and mixed media.
As a dance performance artist I have made over twenty five pieces of performance and dance theatre. My movement and dance work is influenced by the experimental movement forms of Contact Improvisation, Release and artists such as Rosemary Butcher and Pina Bausch. I have made performances for theatres, galleries, cabaret evenings, parks, poetry and women's events; often using text as part of the performance.
Public realm
- 2012 A Word From Each - Site Specific Installation, St Gabriel's church- part of Heaton Arts Festival, Heaton, Newcastle upon Tyne
- 2012 'An Age' by and in collaboration with The Paper Birds, Northern Stage, Newcastle upon Tyne
- 2012 'blue II' - A performance installation exploring improvisation and the spoken word, Baltic 39, Studio 5, Floor 2, Highbridge studio's, 39 Highbridge, Newcastle upon Tyne
- 2011 'Waiting II' film showing for 'Fresh' event, in collaboration with video artist and animator Laura Crow, Dance City, Newcastle upon Tyne
- 2011 d.i.n.e. dance improvisation north east, Wylam Institute, Northumberland
- 2011 CELL, Gateshead old Town Hall, Gateshead (more info)
- 1993 'The Colour of Mother II' - performance and choreography with original score by composer Geoff Smith, The Garage Studio, Dance City, Newcastle upon Tyne
- 1993 'The Colour of Mother', Performance, Old Museum Arts Centre, Belfast
Solo exhibitions
- 2010 'Dream Boat' -Video Installation, High Bridge studio's, Newcastle upon Tyne
- 2009 PULL, Waygood Hanging Wall, Harkers Studios, Byker, Newcastle upon Tyne
- 2008 CHROMA, Atrium, Dance City, Newcastle upon Tyne
- 2008 CHROMA, Square Yard Gallery, Newcastle upon Tyne
Group exhibitions
- 2012 Summer Salon, Studio Q, Sunderland
- 2011 Dream Boat video installation, 25sg Retrospective Documentation open weekend, Heaton, Newcastle upon Tyne
- 2011 Asuntos Pendientes, Highbridge Gallery and Studios, Newcastle upon Tyne (more info)
- 2010 Age of Austerity, Hyem Bar and Venue, Newcastle upon Tyne (more info)
- 2008 Open studios and Christmas show, Mushroom works, Newcastle upon Tyne
- 2008 FIVE, Bailiffgate Museum and Art Gallery, Alnwick, Northumberland
- 2008 Interim, Square Yard Exhibition Space, Newcastle upon Tyne
- 2007 Lustrum, The Gallery, The Peoples Theatre, Newcastle upon Tyne
Curated projects
- 2012 A Corporeal Heart - An experimental video showing by 3 artists, '25sg', 25 Stratford Grove, Heaton, Newcastle upon Tyne
- 2010 Age of Austerity - Multi media event, 'Hyem' Bar and Venue, Newcastle upon Tyne
Live/Performance
- 2011 'Waiting', Leazes Park, Newcastle upon Tyne UK
- 2010 'Wind Power', '25sg' - 25 Stratford Grove, Newcastle upon Tyne
- 2010 'Dream Boat' - video performance, '25sg' - 25 Stratfrod Grove, Newcastle upn Tyne
- 2005 'Holding' and 'The Watergirls', Chiemsee Studio, Chiemsee, Germany
- 2003 'Building Materials Co-operative' or BMC', Amhurst University, Massachusetts, USA
- 1992 'Aquinas Dance' – Collaboration with Sharon Higgenson and Philosopher M. Bavidge, Durham University Cathedral Buildings, Heaton Community Centre, Crewe and Alsager College, Durham, Newcastle and Crewe
- 1992 'No Fear of Flying', Dance City, Newcastle upon Tyne
- 1992 'Quizzing Glass', Live Theatre and BBC 2 – 'Out of Our Heads' programme, a collaborative performance project with visual/performance artist Delta Streete, Newcastle upon Tyne
- 1989 'Control' - collaborative performance with Michael Cudlip, Chisenhale Dance Space and Gulbenkian Studio Theatre, London and Newcastle upon Tyne
- 1989 'Mrs Thompson', a solo performance, The Buddle Arts Centre, Live Theatre and Dance City, Wallsend and Newcastle
- 1989 'The Woman Within', a solo performance, The Buddle Arts Centre, Assembly Rooms Durham , DLI Museum and Art Gallery, Wallsend and Durham
- 1987 'Red Shoes', ''Not Quite Isadora, and 'Fishy Dance', The Rosemary Branch, Islington, London
- 1986 'Visions Rising', solo site specific performance, The Diorama and Barnet Arts Centre, London
- 1986 'Under the Surface', for six dancers with live electric double bass, Dance Theatre, Middlesex Polytechnic
- 1985 'Big Sea of their Dreams', a trio for three women, inspired by the Prologue of 'Under Milkwood' by Dylan Thomas, Dance Theatre, Middlesex Polytechnic
Artist talks
- 2011 Dream Boat - A showing of my video installation, Siobhan Davies Dance Studios, The 'Feedback Forum' for Independent Dance Artists
Residencies
- 2011 'blue' - one month, site responsive performance installation, Highbridge studios and gallery, Newcastle upon Tyne
- 2010 'Resonant Threads - 25sg is a large house where artists can make, reflect, think about and show work; where artists are encouraged to take risks, share ideas and develop fresh ways of making working, 25 Stratford Grove, Heaton, Newcastle upon Tyne
- 1990 'Hear Me', The Gulbenkian Studio, Newcastle upon Tyne, plus a weeks tour of venues in South Tyneside, South Tyneside, Tyne and Wear
Private commissions
- 2008 'Birth' and 'Death', two oil on canvas paintings, Newcastle upon Tyne, private collection, Newcastle upon Tyne
Public commissions
- 1992 Quizzing Glass II, Collaborative Performance with artist Delta Streete, Rochdale, Rochdale Art Gallery
Projects
- 2011 'Folding' - Text, poetry and three 12' drawings in response to dance cheorography workshops by Isira Makuloluwe, Dance City, Newcastle upon Tyne
- 2009 Medulla - a movement research project with two dancers investigating how we develop movement material when focusing on bone and organs, Dance City, Newcastle upon Tyne
- 2009 'Still Moving' - workshops with Elders, Dance City, Rowlands Gill Comunity Centre and Fountain Court, Bensham, Gateshead
- 2008 Consultant Somatic Movement Practioner, Hexham Queens Hall Arts Centre, Hexham
- 2008 Wallsend Women's Art Project, The Buddle Arts Centre, Wallsend, Tyne & Wear
- 1999 Riverain - collaboration with video artist Barbara Keating, Film Poem, site specific bankc of the River Wear, plus studio material
Educational experience - early years
- 2003 Movement and Music sessions for Babies and Carer's, Blyth Sure Start, Northumberland
Educational experience - primary
- 2010 P4C - Art and Philosphy workshops with a Primary School, BALTIC Centre for Contemporary Art, Gateshead
- 2010 Creative Partnerships, Thorney Close Primary School, Sunderland
- 2008 Creative Partnerships, Wylam First School, Northumberland
Educational experience - tertiary
- 2008 Visiting Lecturer, University of Northumbria, Newcastle upon Tyne
- 2002 Visiting Lecturer, Sunderland University, Sunderland
Site specific
- 2011 ‘Traces’, a site responsive installation-including performance from Soprano Rachel Dison, drawings, rubbings and text, The Sanctuary Art space,, Gateshead, Tyne & Wear
- 2011 blue - video of performance installation and live reading of text and poetry from that work, Highbridge studios and gallery, Newcastle upon Tyne
- 2011 CELL - part of GIFT - Gateshead International Festival of Theatre, Old Prison Cells, Gateshead Old Town Hall, UK
- 1998 'Riverain'- A collaboration with video artist Barbara Keating, Northumbria University and Northern Arts, Sunderland - Banks of the River Wear
Publications
- 2007 'A Tool to Liberate - The Role of Improvisation in Dance', Movement Languages in Early Childhood Education, Early Arts North East p9.
Web links - gallery/work/projects
Web links - article/press
