Approved: 09.06.2017

Mary Rouncefield

Artist

Archived
Approved: 09.06.2017

In 2003 I embarked on a part-time Art Foundation course at Bristol School of Art, where I was introduced to the magic of print and encouraged to develop my skills in drawing, textiles and 3D. From that beginning, I progressed on to the University of the West of England, and a degree course. While still a student, I had work selected for the Jerwood Drawing Prize exhibition in 2007. I graduated in 2009 and then continued with my  membership of the Spike Print Studio (artists’ cooperative), in Bristol.

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  • Location: Bristol, South West

Artist Statement

In 2003 I embarked on a part-time Art Foundation course at Bristol School of Art, where I was introduced to the magic of print and encouraged to develop my skills in drawing, textiles and 3D. From that beginning, I progressed on to the University of the West of England, and a degree course. While still a student, I had work selected for the Jerwood Drawing Prize exhibition in 2007. I graduated in 2009 and then continued with my  membership of the Spike Print Studio (artists’ cooperative), in Bristol.

My work at that time focussed on my feelings and ideas about mathematics springing from my career experiences of teaching maths prior to 2003. I had experienced some frustration while working within a very logic-driven academic discipline with prescriptive methods, processes and trains of thought. I felt too that the role of the female mathematician seemed to involve additional constraints and these themes are expressed in that early work I print and drawing.

Recovering from two bouts of major surgery in 2012-13, I underwent a period of introspection and re-evaluation which has resulted in a new direction in my work.

While my work exhibits many figurative elements, I strive to include conceptual elements and to communicate my ideas about human rights issues. I am also using a variety of different media as part of those processes. I see the artist as ‘Communicator’ of ideas, a voice of protest and a catalyst for change. The female artist potentially can have a special role; voicing the concerns of women, highlighting injustices and problems faced by particular groups of women, and focussing on themes of common interest.
My most recent work has been directed at expressing exactly these themes of prejudice and injustice but also exploring restrictions and limitations placed on the education and growth of all children - both boys and girls.

 

 

CV & Education

I graduated in 2009 with an honours degree from the faculty of Art Media and Design at the University of the West of England, where I had studied as a mature student.

Past exhibitions include the Jerwood Drawing Prize in London, 2007, ‘Titanic 100’ in New York and various exhibitions held at The Royal West of England Academy in my home city of Bristol.

In 2014 a series of drawings on Human Trafficking were exhibited by Guerilla Galleries in London. I also contributed work to ‘Traditions Run Deeper than Law’ at the Red Gallery in 2015. A conference held at the Center for Women’s Health and Human Rights at Suffolk University Law School (Boston MA) also featured my work, in June 2015. I also have work included in the Wellcome Images biomedical image library. Last year I was part of a collaborative project 'Find Another Bath' .and was one of a  group of artists producing a book about the hidden places of Bath and forgotten histories of the people who lived and worked in the city. My contribution to the project involved research into the working conditions of women employed in Britain's first corset factory and comparing their lives with the lives of the women able to buy the corsets.

 

Selected Exhibitions

2017 ‘Refuge’ FaB Fringe Arts Bath

2017 ‘Hatched 2017’ The North Wall Gallery , Oxford

2017 ‘Red Line Artworks’  Commendation

2016 WAS Worldwide Apartment and Studio Biennale

2016 ‘Conflict’ Little Buckland Gallery , Broadway

2016 ‘Stopjectify’  Gallery Different, London

2015 ‘Passion For Freedom’ Mall Galleries, London

2015 ‘Sphinx 2015’ Thebes, Thiva, Greece (also 2016)

2015 ‘Traditions Run Deeper Than Law’  Red Gallery, London

2014 ‘Urban Life’  (Trafficked series) Guerilla Galleries, London

2014 ‘Wellcome Images’ The Wellcome Trust, London

2013 ‘Drawn’  Royal West of England Academy, Bristol

2012 ‘Titanic 100’ Noble Maritime Museum, New York

2011 ‘Print Out’  Embrace Arts , Leicester University

2011 ‘ The Golden Ratio’, Nexus Arts Cafe, Manchester

2011 ‘Wrexham Print International’ , Wrexham and touring exhibition