Artist statement
CONCEPT
Nicola Dale's imaginative work puts her at the forefront of contemporary artists who re-imagine the role of the printed text. (1)
What does knowledge look like? My practice visualises the acquisition of knowledge – how I capture, process and understand what I read. I imagine what a particular piece of knowledge might look like and create a physical form from this abstract idea. I am increasingly drawn to how we format knowledge and how this is changing over time; the book (the traditional but endangered repository of knowledge) inevitably recurs as both a theme and a medium in my work.
PROCESS
Growing slowly and patiently, formed without machinery or technology, becoming beautifully designed products almost accidentally… Dale values material objects, the physical sensation of existing and the total satisfaction of hand making or improving something mundane and rewards us with a refreshing take on the typical. (2)
My working methods are repetitive and deliberately painstaking, reflecting my ongoing pre-occupation with the passage of time. I revel in slow, human imprecision, challenging the speed and accuracy of the digital world. Whether cutting, folding, re-shaping, ordering or arranging, I seriously and relentlessly take my time. My process is performative: each action accumulates into a huge sequence of repeated actions; but my labours are invisible, hidden within the studio, in my own space and time.
PRESENTATION
Fascinated by the idea that playing with context and physical form can alter the way we look at things, [Dale] frequently makes pieces that take on radically different appearances when viewed from different angles or in different settings. (3)
My practice is transformative – I translate my understanding of a concept into a series of actions to be applied to an existing object. However, the transformation continues well beyond the studio: many of the pieces are intentionally malleable and can be re-arranged, re-ordered or re-configured to reflect new surroundings. They alter their appearance from one exhibition to the next and in this way, by changing over time, the pieces come to life. They are stubbornly transient.
1 Kate Flint, Provost’s Professor of English and Art History, University of Southern California
2 Jane Faram, Article Magazine, “Artist Profile No. 10”, September 2011
3 Christine Antaya, Book Art: Iconic Sculptures & Installations Made from Books (Gestalten, 2011)
Nicola Dale is supported by Mark Devereux Projects.
Qualifications and training
- 2005 Visual Culture, Pass with Distinction, MIRIAD, Manchester
Solo exhibitions
- 2013 Passage, Manchester Mosque and Manchester Cathedral, Manchester
- 2013 Intone (with music by Ailis ni Riain), Durham Brass Festival, Durham
- 2011 Kindle, John Rylands Library (with Untitled Gallery), Manchester
- 2008 Flashback, Southwell Artspace, Southwell (more info)
- 2007 On the Margins, Ballina Arts Centre, Ballina, Ireland (more info)
Group exhibitions
- 2013 Means of Feedback, Cube Gallery, Manchester
- 2013 The First Cut, Djanogly Gallery, Nottingham
- 2012 Fixation, WCS, Wolstenholme Square, Liverpool L1 4JJ
- 2011 Function, Bloc, Sheffield (more info)
- 2011 Re-Covering, Untitled Gallery, Manchester (more info)
- 2011 The Open West, Summerfield Gallery, Cheltenham (more info)
- 2010 Dream Machine, Metal, Liverpool (more info)
- 2010 Stories, Wolverhampton Art Gallery, Wolverhampton (more info)
- 2010 The Last Book, Zentral Bibliotek, Zurich, Switzerland (more info)
- 2009 New Contemporaries I, The Bristol Gallery, Bristol (more info)
- 2009 The Way We Are, Eckersley Mill, Wigan (more info)
- 2009 For the Love of Making Books, Salford Museum, Salford (more info)
- 2008 The Last Book, The National Library of Argentina, Buenos Aires (more info)
- 2008 Press and Release, Phoenix Gallery, Brighton (more info)
- 2008 Sitting Room, K Gallery, Rhythmix Cultural Works, Alameda, California (more info)
- 2007 Sitting Room, Academy of Fine Arts, Enschede, The Netherlands (more info)
- 2007 The Importance of Narrative, Chapel Gallery, Ormskirk (more info)
- 2007 The Search for the Impossible, Noosa Regional Gallery, Queensland, Australia
- 2007 Memories, Moments and Other Curiosities, Saltburn Artists Projects, Saltburn
- 2007 Turbulence, Surface Gallery, Nottingham
- 2007 Hit The Books, Hessenhuis Museum, Antwerp, Belgium
- 2007 Textual Healing, The Embassy Gallery, Edinburgh
- 2007 As If One Wasn't Enough, 20-21 Visual Arts, Scunthorpe, North Lincolnshire
Residencies
- 2011 Working Title, Aspex, Portsmouth (more info)
- 2011 Exchange – Experimentation – Collaboration, Chinese Arts Centre, Manchester (more info)
Corporate commissions
- 2011 The Bruntwood Award for Playwriting, Bruntwood / The Royal Exchange Theatre, Manchester
Competitions, prizes and awards
- 2006 The Alvaro Beccatini Prize, Fucina VACA, Russi, Italy
Publications
- 2013 500 Paper Objects, selected by Gene McHugh, Whitney Museum of Art (Barnes & Noble)
- 2012 The First Cut: Paper at the Cutting Edge (Manchester Art Gallery)
- 2011 Book Art: Iconic Sculptures and Installations Made from Books (Gestalten)
- 2009 "Bookcraft" by Heather Weston (Quarto)
Other
- 2010 The Manchester Contemporary, Spinningfields, Manchester (more info)
Personal website
