Artist statement
Concepts/themes/ideas My art practice has been concerned with the nature of the creative process, the condition of the art object in the expending field of sculpture / installation. Located in a wide range of socio-cultural contexts, including public and non-art spaces, my work explores the concepts of ‘the art making in the everyday’ (de Certeau, 1980), ‘making special’ (Dissanayake, 1995), ‘crafting of space’ (Alfody, 2008).
While I have continued to maintain and develop a studio/gallery-based practice, I have also developed a practice that has evolved and brought together concerns about site specificity, engagement with and response to situations and contexts and exchanges/ collaboration with individuals and communities.
The main context for my research is the project here and there, launched in September 2003 at the Irish Museum of Modern Art, Dublin, Ireland with my residency de fil en aiguille... snáth nasc. The aim of here and there is to research and develop a practice of spatial intervention within the context of an ethical artist-led collaborative-participatory model of art in the public sphere. This is realised through a series of artist-led public art projects. Other projects realised in collaboration with artists or commissioned by cultural institutions have also contributed to this research.
The collaborative-participatory model has first focused on the model’s structure and logistic and the intersubjective engagement between artist, participants, communities and places. My research has expended upon ‘dialogical art practice (Kester, 2004) and the ‘relational’ model (Bourriaud, 1998), to emphasise the need to maintain the production of a meaningful and tangible public artwork, in the form of textile-based spatial installations.
Two interconnected notions have underpinned my research and have been used strategically in the development and realisation of my projects and installations. The first one is the perfomative quality of knitting and stitching and its contribution to the process of identity formation and well-being. The second one is the transformation of space through ornament and crafting.
Qualifications and training
- 1997 MA in Museum & Gallery Management, City University, London
- 1990 MA History and Theory of Modern Art, Chelsea College of Art and Design, London
- 1982 BA (Hons) Fine Art, Sculpture, Camberwell College of Arts, London
Employment
- 2007 Part-time Senior Lecturer in Fine Art, Birmingham City University, Institute of Art and Design, School of Art
- 2001 to 2009, visiting lecturer, BA Multi-Media Textiles programme, Loughborough University, School of Art & Design,, Loughborough
- 1999 to 2001, Tutor in Constructed Textiles, Royal College of Art, School of Fashion and Textiles, London
- 1996 to 2003, visiting lecturer, BA & MA Contemporary Culture & Gender Studies, London Contemporary Dance School, London
Solo exhibitions
- 2012 AOI ((origine d'appellation inconnue), La Vitrine, Paris, France
- 2012 étoile (star), The Gallery at The Idea Store Whitechapel, London
- 2011 autre mers(other seas), Women's Library, London Metropolitan University, London
- 2011 Spirals, Lion Brand Yarn Studio, New York, USA
- 2009 Mille-fleurs, Ćejvan Ćehaja Hamam, Mostar, French Cultural Centre, Bosnia & Herzegovina
- 2007 joie de faire (the making of stuff), last stage of the Alexandra Reinhardt Memorial Award, Menier Gallery, Menier Chocolate Factory, London SE1 (more info)
- 2004 Parterres, residency and exhibition, Charles Darwin University Gallery, Darwin, Northern Territory, Australia
- 2004 snáth nacs, de fil en aiguille, residency and exhibition, Irish Museum of Modern Art, Dublin and 72 John St Gallery, Kilkenny, Ireland
- 2003 French Knitting, The Gallery, Stratford-upon-Avon, England
- 2002 Les merveilles de Françoise Dupré, Can'Art galerie, Toulouse, France
- 1999 Creatures, Beau Monde, London
- 1998 Ephemeras, Conductors Hallway, London
- 1998 Materna, Bond Gallery, Birmingham
- 1997 Bookinism, Book, Monger, London
- 1997 Hybrids, Somerfield store, Mavies goes Shopping, Camden High Street, London, Camden Women in Focus Festival, London
- 1997 Hybrids, Beau Monde, London
- 1996 Fait Maison, Adam Gallery, London
- 1996 Beasts, Beau Monde, London
- 1994 Sculpture and Work on Paper, Beau Monde, London
- 1993 Sculpture and Work on Paper, Beau Monde, London
- 1992 Assemblage, Beau Monde, London
- 1991 Nesting, Beau Monde, London
- 1989 Iconography, Camden Arts Centre, London
- 1989 On the Borderline, Bedford Mill Gallery, London
- 1989 Rituals, Beau Monde, London
Group exhibitions
- 2012 States of Being: Constructing identities, 198 Contemporary Arts and Learning, London
- 2011 Mailles, Maison du Danemark, Paris, France
- 2010 ARMA, Alexandra Reinhardt Memorial Award, 5 year celebration, North WAll Art Centre, Oxford
- 2007 Radical Lace & Subversive Knitting, Museum of Arts and Design, New York, touring USA
- 2005 (dis)comfort, Angel Row Gallery, Nottingham, England, UK
- 2005 Knit 2 Together Concepts in Knitting, Crafts Council Gallery, London, touring UK and Ireland (more info)
- 2005 Art in Romney Marsh, Ivy church, Romney Marsh, UK
- 2004 Hats and Gloves, Leicester City Gallery, touring UK
- 2004 The Garden of Earthly Delights, Brockwell Park, London, England, UK
- 2003 Material Spaces, Tullie House Art Gallery and Museum, Carlisle, England, UK
- 2001 Itinérance, touring exhibition, Galerie Éphémère, Charleroi Belgium, Galerie Les Singuliers, Paris, France, Borsa Cattanie Icleia, Porto Allegre, Brazil
- 2001 ExtraOrdinary, Bowes Museum, County Durham, England, touring UK
- 2000 A different Kind of Show, Whitechapel Art Gallery, London
- 2000 Blue Land, Installation in windows of Woolworths, for Walsall New Art Gallery opening programme, Colouring Walsall Blue, Walsall, England, UK
- 2000 Méssagers de la Terre, Espace Contemporain RUR'ART at Rouillé near Poitiers, France
- 1998 Behind the Scene, Ikon touring exhibition, Birmingham
- 1998 Me and You, Walsall Museum and Art Gallery, Walsall
- 1998 Housebound, Contact Gallery, Norwich
- 1997 Waxworks, Collins Gallery, Glasgow
- 1997 Unfolding, Fetal Medicine Unit, St George's Hospital, London
- 1997 Rose and Blue, Fetal Medicine Unit, St George's Hospital, London
- 1996 Angels and Mechanics, Riverside Studios, London
- 1992 Personal Stories, Brixton Art Gallery, London
- 1992 Interior Collection, Midlands Arts Centre, Birmingham
- 1991 Light a candle for Peace, Diorama, London
- 1991 A search for Self, Ikon Touring Exhibition, West Midlands
- 1991 Group exhibition, of Xeroxed Art, Contact Gallery, Norwich
- 1991 Chronicle, Brixton Art Gallery, London
- 1989 Three Sculptors, Islington Arts Factory, London
- 1989 Three-dimensional 1989 National Sculpture Exhibition, Small Mansion Arts Centre, London
- 1989 Paper Tiger, Minories Art Gallery, Colchester
Curated projects
- 2011 Brixton Calling! An archiving and community project that connects contemporary Brixton to its past - through the history of the late Brixton Art Gallery & Artists Collective, 198 Contemporary Arts and Learning, London
- 2003 - 1997 emplacements International artist-led cross cultural and trans-national project in collaboration with Gail Pearce and Roxane Permar, London: Woodlands Art Gallery, Museum House. St Petersburg:New Holland, The Red Banner Knitwear Factory,State Russian Museum, London, UK and St Petersburg, Russia
- 1998 -1997 Rose and Blue, group exhibition, Fetal Medicine Unit, St George’s Hospital, London, England, UK
- 1998 Touching Matters, group exhibition, Camden Women in Focus, Swiss Cottage Centre, London, England, UK
- 1997 Unfolding, group exhibition, Fetal Medicine Unit, St George’s Hospital, London, England, UK
- 1997 Off Centre, group exhibition, Camden Women in Focus, Swiss Cottage Centre, London, England, UK
- 1988 - 1983, co-founder of the Brixton Artists Collective and Women’s Work, Brixton Art Gallery, London, England, UK
Artist talks
- 2012 Categorising the Artist: A discussion, States of Being: Constructing identities, 198 Contemporary Arts and Learning, London
- 2011 In conversation with Dr Jessica Hemmings, The Women’s Library, London Metropolitan University, London
- 2011 Spirals, Lion Brand Yarn Studio, New York, USA
- 2011 Brixton Calling! People Get Ready: The Protest Years 1970 – 2000, Victoria & Albert Museum, London
- 2011 Women Artists Feminism in the 80s and Now, Goldsmiths, University of London, London
- 2011 Brixton Calling! TrAIN Conversation, Chelsea School of Art, London
- 2010 OUVRAGE [uvra:ž] and exotic mk, IN THE LOOP 2, Shetland Museum and Archives, Lerwick, Shetland
- 2010 OUVRAGE [uvra:ž], Herbert Museum and Art Gallery, monthly talks programme, Coventry
- 2010 Activating Brixton Art Gallery, 1983-86: Archives and Memories, University of Westminster, London
- 2010 Second International Women’s Art Colony, Traditional Art, Bila, Bosnia and Herzegivina
- 2010 Taking Part, Goldsmiths, University of London and Southbank Centre, London
- 2009 Public Space, Art and Collective Memory, BCU, School of Art, Birmingham
- 2008 Archive Fever 2 Building Material and Virtual Archives: Collections in the Making, Goldsmiths, University of London, Constance Howard Resource and Research Centre in Textiles, London
- 2006 Eastern Africa Visual Traditions, British Museum, London
- 2006 Diasporic Futures Women, the Arts and Globalization, Victoria & Albert Museum, London
- 2005 Joie de faire (The making of stuff), art and healthcare context, BCU, School of Art, Birmingham
- 2005 Meet The Knitter, Crafts Council, London
- 2004 MOOT 1: Painting The Superior Art form, Butler Gallery & Kilkenny County Council, Kilkenny, Ireland
- 2004 Louise Bourgeois, Irish Museum of Modern Art, Dublin, Ireland
- 2003 Interrupt: Artists in Socially Engaged Practice, Arts Council of England national symposia, BCU, School of Art, Birmingham
- 2001 beauty is truth, truth beauty, North Land Creative Glass international conference, Lybster, Scotland
Residencies
- 2006 joie de faire, Alexandra Reinhardt Memorial Award, John Radcliffe Hospital, Feto-Maternal Medicine Department, Oxford, managed by Paintings in Hospitals, London, England, Uk
- 2005 fujaan, knitting project in collaboration with Back to Basics, the London-based Somali Women's group, for Knit 2 Together exhibition, Crafts Council, London, England, UK
- 2004 here and there research residency, Charles Darwin University, Darwin, NT, Australia
- 2003 de fil en aiguille... snáth nasc, a here and there research residency, Irish Museum of Modern Art, Artists Work Programme, Dublin, Ireland
- 2002 to 2003 Tell me where you live, part of emplacements project, Red Banner Knitwear Factory, St Petersburg, in collabo, Woodview Primary School, Birmingham and Ikon Gallery, Birmingham. In collaboration with the State Russian Museum, Centre of Pedagogic and Children Creativity, St Petersburg, Russia
- 1999 to 2000 Blue Land, Linden JMI and Clothier St. Primary schools, Walsall, for Walsall New Art Gallery opening programme Colouring Walsall Blue, Walsall, England UK
Public commissions
- 2012 flowers (bonne mamans), stripes and flowers, Vital Arts (Barts and The London, NHS Trust), Antenatal Clinic, Royal London Hospital
- 2012 Homage to Tijou, St Alfege Millenium Project, Greenwich Royal Parish Church of St Alfege, London
- 2009 exotic mk, Milton Keynes Gallery, thecentre:mk, Middleton Hall, Milton Keynes, England
- 2008 spirals, The Barkantine, Barts & The London NHS Trust, Isle of Dogs, London, England
- 2007 Spiral and Cells, John Radcliffe Hospital, Feto-Maternal Medicine Department, Oxford, Oxford, England
- 2006 Flowers, Paintings in Hospitals Loan Collection, London, England, UK
- 2005 fujaan, Crafts Council, London, England, UK
- 2001 Vermis Albinos (3 of a kind), Bowes Museum, County Durham, England
- 1998 Young things, Walsall Museum & Art Gallery, Walsall, England UK
Projects
- 2011 Brixton Calling!, 198 Contemporary Arts and Learning, London, England, UK
- 2009 OUVRAGE [uvra:ž], French Cultural Centre in Mostar, Mostar, Bosnia and Herzegovina
- 2009 to 2012, St Alfege Millennium Project, Greenwich Parish Church of St Alfege, London, England, UK
- 2007 to 2008, Project B, sebilj (2008) and avlija (2007), in collaboration with artist Myfanwy Johns, architect Sabina Fazlic and the Bosnian Cultural Centre-Midlands, Birmingham New Generation Arts Festival and Architecture week (2007), Birmingham. England, UK
- 2003 here and there, ongoing research project, collaborative-participatory residency, Mostar, French Cultural Centre, B&H, 2009; parterres, Charles Darwin University, NT, Australia, 2004; de fil en aiguille... snáth nasc, Irish Museum of Modern Art, Dublin, Ireland, 2003.
- 1999 to 2003, emplacements project, transnational situational events in collaboration with artists Roxane Permar and Gail Pearce, Manchester Week, St Petersburg, 2003; The Red Banner Knitwear Factory, St Petersburg, Russia, 2002; New Holland, St Petersburg, Russia, 2000; relocation, Museum House, Bethnal Green, London, 1999; disEMplacements, Woodlands Art Gallery, London, 1999, England, UK (more info)
- 1997 Naturalisation, ongoing intervention in various venues, Grizedale Forest, England, 1997; Sculpture by The sea, Sydney, Australia 2001; The garden of Earthly Delights, Brockwell Park, London, England, 2004 (more info)
Competitions, prizes and awards
- 2006 Alexandra Reinhardt Memorial Award, John Radcliffe Hospital, Oxford, managed by Paintings in Hospitals, London, England, Uk (more info)
Publications
- 2011 Brixton Calling!, ISBN: 978-1-902770-13-0
- 2011 Textile: The Journal of Cloth and Culture. Front cover Volume 9 Issue 3
- 2009 OUVRAGE [uvra:ž] project booklet, French Cultural Centre, Mostar, Bosnia and Herzegovina
- 2009 exotic mk, exhibition booklet, Milton Keynes Gallery's Offsite Education Programme
- 2008 Project B: sebilj, exhibition booklet
- 2008 Making Stuff, commissioned article, Dialogue journal, Axis
- 2007 Project B: avlija, exhibition booklet
- 2007 joie de faire (the making of stuff), project publication, Article Press, Central Books, ISBN 1-873352-69-4
- 2007 Radical Lace & Subversive Knitting, exhibition catalogue, Museum of Arts & Design, ISBN 1-890385-12-3
- 2005 de fil en aiguille... snáth nasc, commissioned article, CONTEXTS Arts and Practice in Ireland, Vol 4 issue 2/2005, The Art Work Issue, pp 60-67, ISBN 16492676
- 2003 The Red Banner Knitwear Factory, conference transcript, Arts Council of England Website Interrupt: Artists in Socially Engaged Practice, national symposia
- 2000 Little Volcanoes, conference transcript, Contemporary Glass Society Conference
Web links - gallery/work/projects
