Debby Akam

Artist statement

My recent work has used printmaking and site-specific video installations in rural environments to explore characteristics that imaginatively evoke a Pastoral space. A fascination with the dissolving barriers between the natural and the artificial has led to the location of some work within the context of agriculture and food production, for example, 'Herd', Sewborwens Farm, Penrith in 2003. In 2004, I completed an art-practice research PhD at the University of Sunderland investigating digital art in the rural context. I also work in schools as a creative learning specialist.

New woodcuts are characterised by saturated colour, and repeating motifs, patterns and sequences and occurring within a shallow space that references Modernist abstract art and Cubism. They draw on organic and vernacular forms, and represent an impulse to make something that primarily uses natural materials: wood and hand- made paper.

Print and video both allow the possibility of repeating sequences in endless variations, allowing for serendipity and chance. Working in series with mono print uses very basic technology, and facilitates a process of dialogue with a selected lexicon of imagery and patterns. This involves responding to images as they develop, rather than having a fixed idea of the result when I start. When one pattern meets another, its integrity is disrupted, and a transformative process takes place, resulting in a new image. Implied is a feeling of potential, as these forms can be combined in many permutations and invite different interpretations.

Teaching Experience
1989/93 Part-time Lecturer, Creative and Performing Arts, Gateshead College, Tyne and Wear
2001 - 2005 Occasional visiting lecturer, University of Sunderland

Areas of work
Creative learning consultancy (Creative Agent for Creative Partnerships Cumbria 2008-2011)
Exhibiting
Healthcare arts
Lecturing
Practice-based research
Public art
Residencies
Workshops

Collections
Northern Arts, Newcastle upon Tyne