Artist statement
My work occupies the space between ideas of the Dionysian and the Absurd, moving from one to the other exploring themes of futility, pointlessness, hopelessness, nuisance, de individuation, death, rebirth and the irrational.
This activity becomes a strategy for affirming life in the hope of building links between individuals by examining and questioning moments of extremity and stagnation experienced in the everyday. Remnants of events that could be termed Dionysian are represented, located, exposed and injected into its opposite. The Dionysian becomes the counter subversion to the inert false economies of the Apollonian and it is hoped that this dialogue will reinvigorate, create new meaning and affirm life.
Working with a range of media systems including drawing, installation, sculpture, sound and video these ideas are examined through a gentle kind of system mocking, where the system is form such as image, object, machine or event the Dionysian manifests in some way as disorder, noise, glitch, corruption, dis function, dissipation, fragmentation, displacement disintegration or de individuation. This process on many levels could be termed as tragic giving birth to the next dialogue of meaning and through this change or end a new beginning is born.
Qualifications and training
- 2011 MAVA - Fine Art, Camberwell School of Art, London
- 2003 BA (Hons) Fine Art, University of Northampton, Northampton
Employment
- 2011 Mat Collishaw, Mat Collishaw Studio, London
- 2010 Mat Collishaw, AB3 Workshops, London
Solo exhibitions
- 2012 Idle Hands, The Artist Sanctuary, Northampton
- 2012 Dionysia - As part of The Festival of Chaos season, Royal and Derngate Theatre, Northampton
- 2007 Primordias, The Artist Sanctuary, Northampton
- 2004 Ontologies, The Artist Sanctuary, Northampton
- 2004 Drawing Essences, The Artist Sanctuary, Northampton
Group exhibitions
- 2013 The Infinity Show, NN Contemporary, Northampton
- 2012 15x15x15, Avenue Gallery, University of Northampton, Northampton
- 2012 Artefacts of Failure, Quad, Derby
- 2012 Past and Present, Occupy My Time Gallery, London
- 2012 The International Postcard Show, Surface Gallery, Nottingham
- 2012 Future Map 11, Zabludowicz Collection, London
- 2011 MA Group Show, Gasworks Gallery, London
- 2010 The 5th 100sqft Exhibition - Second Part, Cholmeley Boys Club Dalston, London
- 2010 Up The Wall, Chester Performs, Roman Gardens, Chester
- 2010 The 5th 100sqft Exhibition - Arts After Dark, Art Egg Studios, New Orleans, US
- 2010 Illumini - Secret Subterranean London, Shoreditch Town Hall, London
- 2010 ARC # 6 – Seeing Sound, The Vaults, Birmingham
- 2010 Sound Fjord, Dragonfly Festival, Falköping, Sweden
- 2010 Artificial Light, Lumen Ortis, Central Gardens, Bournemouth
- 2010 Police & Thieves, The Old Police Station, London
- 2009 100sqft, Boleyn's Boys Club, London
- 2009 BootCity : Shoe Town Festival, Northampton Museum and Art Gallery, Northampton
- 2009 Wanderlust 333, Wanderlust Gallery, Northampton
- 2009 Something for the weekend, Gallery S*X, Northampton
- 2008 Film Lab, The Picture Drome, Northampton
- 2008 The Fishmarket Art Fair 08, The Fishmarket Gallery, Northampton
- 2008 Where we were found, wanting, Purple Media, Northampton
- 2008 Excavations, The Fish Market Gallery, Northampton
- 2007 Freezing Art Fair, The Fish Market Gallery, Northampton
- 2007 Lost and Found, The Bricklane Gallery, London
- 2006 The worm in the bud, The Clifford Gallery, Northampton
- 2005 Open Studios, Central Museum & Art Gallery, Northampton
- 2005 Northampton Arts Collective, Delapre Abbey, Northampton
- 2004 The Artist Sanctuary Group Show, Artworks Gallery, Northampton
- 2004 The Artist Sanctuary, Royal and Derngate Theatre, Northampton
Degree shows
- 2011 MA End of Year Show, Camberwell College of Art, London
- 2003 BA End of Year Show, University of Northampton
Residencies
- 2012 Hospital Archive Project, Northampton General Hospital, Northampton
- 2012 AIR, Byam Shaw School of Art, London
- 2010 Private Commission, Panjab University, Chandigarh, India
- 2005 AA2A Scheme, University of Northampton, Northampton
Competitions, prizes and awards
- 2012 Future Map 11 Shortlisted, Zabludowicz Collection, London
- 2010 Juliet Gomperts Trust Award, Juliet Gomperts Trust, London
Publications
- 2012 Idle Hands... - Exhibition Catalogue
- 2012 What You Could Have Won
Personal website
