This is another attempt at presenting a collection of stitched tissues from my Pocket Remains project, all from a particular year. This piece which is 1:1 scale, is from scans of the 140 tissues collected in 2019.
Pocket Remains #222 – 362
Pocket Remains #119 – 221
Returning to Pocket Remains, 1SSUE 45 and my collection of tissues.
I’ve been wondering about how I might present a collection of tissues from a particular year. This is one attempt, constructed from scans of the 140 tissues collected in 2019.
Returning to Pocket Remains, 1SSUE 45 and my collection of tissues.
I’ve been wondering about how I might present a collection of tissues from a particular year. This is one attempt, constructed from scans of the 102 tissues collected and stitched in 2019.
Wales – Japan art collaboration : Kyoto
As part of my developing relationship with artists and curators in Japan, this year I co-curated Lifting the Lid, a group exhibition at Gallery Art Spot Korin, Kyoto (August 18 – 30) with Masahiro Kawanaka. The exhibition brought together thirteen artists from Wales and Japan who are interested in the Everyday and the exploration of ordinary objects. Work ranged from glass, ceramics, sculpture and assemblage, to print, digital and mixed media. Given the travel restrictions due to Covid-19, each artwork was mailed to the gallery. Some artists used their packaging as an integral part of the artwork.
For me, what has made this exhibition distinctive is the range of ways in which each artist has realized their objects, responding to the things they encounter in their worlds. There are artworks which reference specific cultural practices such as Ikebana (the Japanese art of flower arrangement) and traditional welsh weaving. Some artists have explored particular objects associated with history, memory and nostalgia, others have drawn attention to the unseen, unloved or overlooked. A number of artworks have transformed the ordinary whilst others have invented completely new species of objects.
One highlight of the exhibition was a zoom gallery tour on Saturday, August 22nd. This was led by Osaka based artist and participant Matthew Fasone. It was a great way for artists from both sides of the globe to meet each other and to talk briefly about their work. It gave us new insights.
Thank you to everyone who contributed to the show.
Participating artists: Anne Gibbs, Aya Shimamoto, Chris Bird-Jones, Chris Nurse, Daniel Trivedy, Frances Woodley, Heather Parnell, Lisa Krigel, Masahiro Kawanaka, Nigel Talbot, Takaya Fujii, Yuki Tsukiyama.
Find out more here…
Short Walk Osaka : End to End
This series looks at variations of loops with a visible beginning and an end. The top image makes the surface more visible through a ‘Twist’.
Short Walk Osaka : Looping the Loop
Discarding the box, I’ve looked at lots of variations on this looping arrangement. More of the surface is revealed on each strip now it’s exposed and it also exposes the qualities in the latex. However, the configuration doesn’t make a lot of sense to me.
Short Walk Osaka – Box to Box
More variations – no longer a shoe box….. is the box then, redundant?
Underfoot – Closer to home
April – June has panned out rather differently for all of us than anticipated. I should have been undertaking a short residency at Elysium studios which was to feed into an exhibition at the gallery. It was to focus on the short journey from station to studio in much the same way as I had in Osaka last August, casting the ground with latex skins. Given the Lockdown restrictions in place during these Covid times, I’ve been exploring the ‘Underfoot’ project as a ‘home residency’ using latex to record what is underfoot in territory deemed ‘safe’ : the boundary of my home; Journey’s end.
I’ve taken this opportunity (where public safety is not an issue) to try casting large skins, to learn about the process and material properties at this scale. Physically, it’s much more demanding and the jury’s out as to what and how I might use such large sheets. I’m mindful of the associations that have been forming and shifting for me whilst here. I find myself thinking of my house as an island, sometimes I feel marrooned, closed off. I sometimes see the space around the house as turbulent water; an ocean which protects me and simultaneously keeps me prisoner.
Pocket Remains: A new look at tissues
Over the past few months I’ve continued to stitch into my pocket tissues and I’ve taken some time to test out another way of transforming them. I’ve been adding attachments without really knowing where it will lead. Having stitched tissue to attachment, I’ve started to explore what they might offer up or suggest.
I’m uncertain. I’m interested in how a nudge (eg stitching the edges of the tissues) begins to suggest new ways of seeing a familiar thing. The attachments are alien, rather than an extension of what is already present.
I’ve also been thinking about making some films from tissue scans. One idea that’s been in my head for some time is based on recording all the tissues I’ve ever collected; piling them up, layering them. A more recent idea is more is connected to the re – reading of ‘Vibrant Matter: a Political Ecology of Things, returning to thoughts about vitality in inanimate objects. I inadvertently nudged this cluster of suspended tissues and that has set off a chain reaction of thoughts. I’ve posted a very short filmclip on Instagram here: https://www.instagram.com/p/CBDQOerFWyA/
Again though, I’m uncertain about this direction of travel – the question I’m asking myself is what is gained and what is lost when real movement is introduced – literal movement that everyone witnesses – the suggestion of vitality and energy becomes a reality. A parallel might be the difference between reading something in a novel or seeing it in a film. The former relies on the imagination of each reader to close the gaps, make the leaps, invent something unique for themselves, that interests me more that a direct proposition.
Short walk Osaka : variations
I’m continuing to try out options for Short Walk Osaka. Today that involved making a black box and thinking about how I would attach it to a wall. Still a long way to go with the material and the fixing system. I ended the day with an unboxed version following the same rhythm. I think I liked it much more.
Short Walk Osaka : Lifting the lid
Previously I’ve strung this continuous latex thread of a journey from studio to station in Osaka in various configurations. The latest idea being tested is for a forthcoming exhibition. I’ve planned the show as a collaboration of artists from Wales and Japan whose work involves Objects and ‘The Everyday’. One key aspect of the show is the need to post artwork to the gallery, hence the title: ‘Lifting the Lid’. The second is the limited available space in the gallery, so my short journey is made even shorter, compressed and shifting from shoe box to shoe lid, making full use of the folding and rippling qualities of the material.
Key words: Object . Overlooked – The Everyday – Ordinary . Transform – Evoke – Uncover – Reveal . Appropriation – Representation – Invent – Invert – Subvert
