Artist statement
Primarily my artwork is self-portraiture, but not in the traditional sense. In the work I create a photographic copy of myself and photograph it in my place.
She becomes a substitute and my visual representative. My work forms an enquiry into the act of looking and being looked at. Referring to psychoanalysis and phenomenology I examine my own experience of becoming an object of sight and also consider the experience the viewer has when looking at me as a photographic object.
By producing artwork that establishes me as an object it could be argued that I reinforce stereotypical images of the female body (Substitutes 2007 and Beneath the Surface 2007/08). But by depicting my body as an image I am able to suggest my presence while confirming my absence. The man who is being deceived, he seems satisfied by the encounter, with a reciprocating being who can’t reciprocate, because she is only a representation. Their relationship symbolises the fictitious nature of idealisation. There is a suspension of disbelief taking place in the seemingly gratifying embrace of the male; and the viewing public colludes in it, seeing image and body simultaneously.
In my current work (Interloper 2008) I have continued to play on this illusion of reality and idealisation, using installation and video. This work does not recount the relationship between a man and a woman but places the viewer in direct interaction with the cut-out. The overtly sexual nature of the cut-out compels the viewer into the position of voyeur, only to reveal itself as an inanimate object.
There is a strong performative aspect to my work and it is often difficult to determine whether the photographs are the artworks or documents of performances that have already taken place. This ambiguousness allows me to play with the conventions of photography.
Qualifications and training
- 2008 Photography, Royal College of Art, London
- 2001 Fine Art Print-making, Manchester Metropolitan University, Manchester
Solo exhibitions
- 2012 Visual Pleasure, Vilniaus Fotografijos Galerija, Lithuania
- 2012 Short Lived Pleasure, Bloc Projects, Sheffield
- 2011 Visual Pleasure, Ffotogallery, Penarth, Cardiff
- 2010 Interloper, Oriel Davies, Newtown, Powys
- 2010 The Substitute, Newhall College, Cambridge University, Cambridge
- 2008 Interloper, South Square Gallery, Bradford
- 2006 The Other Woman, The Lighthouse Gallery, Wolverhampton
- 2003 Because I'm worth it, Blackburn Museum and Art Gallery, Blackburn
- 2002 Contact Scheme, Community Venues, Lancaster
- 2002 Because I'm worth it, Open Artist's Studios, Manchester
Group exhibitions
- 2012 All Your Women Things, Paper, Manchester
- 2012 Look Attractive, UMKC Gallery of Art, Kansas City
- 2012 Create, Observe, Perform, Alkovi Gallery, Helsinki, Finland
- 2012 Manchester Contemporary, Paper, Manchester
- 2012 100 Curators 100 Days, Selected by Matthias Harder, Chief curator, Helmut Newton Foundation, Saatchi Online
- 2012 Visual Pleasure, Photography and Performance, Wall Gallery, Newport Univeristy, Newport
- 2011 Worldwide @ Young Portfolio, Kiyosato Museum of Photographic Arts, Kiyosato, Japan
- 2011 Time After 2011, Gallery Kortil, Rijeka, Croatia
- 2011 Expo et Reflexions sur les Stereotypes Sexistes, College des Bourg Mestre et Echevins de Schaerbeek, Brussels
- 2011 Portmanteau, Halle 14, Spinnerei (curated by G39), Leipzig
- 2011 Virtually Real, The Audrey and Stanley Burton Gallery, Leeds
- 2011 Artemisia, St David's Centre, Cardiff
- 2011 Objects of Desire, Freud Museum, London
- 2010 Virtually Real, Blyth Gallery, Imperial College, South Kensington (more info)
- 2010 New Media, Sex, and Culture in the 21st Century, Museum of New Art, Detroit
- 2010 Auxesis, Tactile Bosch, Cardiff
- 2010 Nude, Loudoun Gallery, Lexington, Kentucky, USA
- 2009 Cream International Festival for Arts and Media, Tokyo University of the Arts, Bashamichi Campus, Yokohama, Japan
- 2009 Abandon Normal Devices Festival, FACT Centre, Liverpool
- 2009 Failure / Success, Tactile BOSCH studios, Cardiff (more info)
- 2009 Evolution Media Arts Festival, Burton Art Gallery and Hyde Park Picture House, Leeds
- 2009 The Human Canvas, Centre for Fine Art Photography, Fort Collins, Colorado
- 2009 Transfixed Motion/Transitory Still, SIAD Gallery, Sheffield Hallam University
- 2009 Cross Fire, Oriel Canfas, Cardiff
- 2009 Art V Film, University of Wisconsin, Madison
- 2009 Zero de Conduite, Elevator Gallery, London
- 2009 Sensitive Material, NEU Gallery, London
- 2009 Contemporary Art Projects, London Art Fair, London
- 2008 Crash Worship, Tactile Bosch, Cardiff
- 2008 Ending Feminist Futures, University of Aberdeen, Scotland
- 2008 Videophile, Phoenix Art gallery, Brighton
- 2008 Collision 08, Area 10, London
- 2007 Success / Failure, Photomonth Festival, Krakow, Poland
- 2007 I'll Be Your Mirror, Primo Alonso Gallery, London
- 2007 House, Elastic Residence Gallery, London
- 2006 I'll Be Your Mirror, Liverpool Biennial Independants, Liverpool
- 2005 We Didn't Mean to be Bad Kids, TV Made Us do it, University of Hertford Galleries, Hertford
- 2005 We Didn't Mean to be Bad Kids, TV Made Us do it, Strathclyde University, Glasgow
- 2005 Young Portfolio Acquisitions, Kiyosato Museum of Photographic Arts, Japan
- 2005 Makeshift, Midlands Art Centre, Birmingham
- 2004 We didn't mean to be bad kids, TV made us do it, Warrington Art Gallery, Warrington
- 2003 The Dog and Partridge, Castlefield Art Gallery, Manchester
- 2002 Art Take Away, Cornerhouse Art Centre, Manchester
- 2002 Family, (8 artists), De Montford Hall, Leicester City Art Gallery, Leicester
- 2001 The Mancunian Candidate, Degree show, Holden Gallery, Manchester Metropolitan University
- 2001 Fresh Art Fair, Business Design Centre, London
Curated projects
- 2006 Making Love to my Ego, Castlefield Gallery, Manchester
- 2006 Another Product @ British Art Show, Cornerhouse Art Centre, Manchester
- 2004 Processor, Warsaw Project Space, Manchester
- 2004 Peepshow, Warsaw Space, Manchester
- 2003 Show Home, Urban Splash, Manchester
Live/Performance
- 2010 Cut to the Measure of Desire (Homo Bulla), G39 Gallery, Cardiff
- 2010 Cut to the Measure of Desire (Homo Bulla), Shop Window, Castle Arcade, Cardiff
- 2010 Cut to the Measure of Desire (vogelen), The Park Conservative Club, Cardiff
Residencies
- 2008 Studio Residency, Cite Des Arts Internationale, Paris
Projects
- 2007 Another Publication, Various, Utrecht
Competitions, prizes and awards
- 2010 My World: Visions of 21st Century Feminism, European Women’s Lobby, Brussels
- 2010 Man Group Photo Prize, Royal College of Art, London
- 2009 The human Canvas Juror's Selection, The Centre for Fine Art Photography, Fort collins, Colorado
- 2008 Art Source / Land Securities Award, MA Show, London
Other
- 2010 Visual Pleasure Book Launch, Ffotogallery, Penarth (more info)
Personal website
