Past Experiences
Completing the
application also gave me room to reflect on relevant past experiences, as an
artist who find public outcomes central to their practice, I found this
activity insightful as I do tend to exhibit widely. However, I was able to
pinpoint the experience which have been more beneficial to the development of
my art practice and what it was each consisted of. Below are the five past experiences that I chose to include. I made the conscious decision to look back over all past experience, picking the most relevant, rather than the most recent ones.
2019
Fold, Lewisham Project Space: For this exhibition I have
created a set of paku-paku’s which contain randomised wording, these have been
designed to allow audience members to pick up and play with these to create
nonsensical text patterns.
2019 CAS at the Beecroft, The Beecroft: As part of this I exhibited a
collection of plaster playing cubes – styled after children’s playing blocks,
each with a letter etched into each side of each cube. These can then be
interacted with by the audience to create their own text.
2019 Unfamilaiars: WONDER, The Minories: For this pop-up I installed a
floor-based string installation. The installation was designed to be fleeting
and by interacting with the artwork the audiences also start to destroy the
installation.
2018
Art, War and Reconciliation, The
Minories: In direct response to the
theme of the exhibition I was able to reposition pre-existing war time text to
the modern day. This allowed the audience to experience the text in a
completely different context and to view how this changes the reading of the
text.
2017 Float: Identity, Firstsite: Work for this exhibition was made up of screwed-up pieces of A4 paper, each with a drawing concealed inside relating to an aspect of my identity. These pieces were discarded onto the floor and could be interacted with the
2017 Float: Identity, Firstsite: Work for this exhibition was made up of screwed-up pieces of A4 paper, each with a drawing concealed inside relating to an aspect of my identity. These pieces were discarded onto the floor and could be interacted with the
Examples of Work
The application also asked for three example of work. I chose to include two images of previous work and one image which was the basis of my bursary proposal. I felt that the images I included visually summed up my art practice well and showed how it has developed. It is always at the point in application that you are reminded of the importance of ensuring that you document work effectively and with high quality images - especially if, like me your work is ephemeral.
it’s all over
it’s all over
It’s
All Over is part of a
larger collection called The Initial
Wooden Lettering Collection.
Works in this collection
were made at the end of my MA Fine Art degree, which I completed at University
of Suffolk, Graduating in 2018 with Distinction. The work is commenting on the
context of the MA exhibition and the MA coming to its conclusion with the
opening of the exhibition.
The text is direct and to
the point. It is self-descriptive to the situation. While the text used is
neutral, it can be read as negative or positive depending on the viewers
outlook. The intention is to provide closure to the situation. However, by not
expanding on what it is that is all over,
the work is left open to be interpreted by the audience. There is an air of
story-telling within the works, the notion of stories draws me in. What is the
story behind the work or the meaning of the work? It’s All Over, the work says,
but what is all over? Asks the audience.
The curation of the wooden
letters is not fixed, they are easily moved and repositioned within the gallery
space; this chose was made to ensure that the physicality of the work echoed
that of the context of the work; relating to both the mutability and
breakability of language.
These letters have been used subsequently in a Colchester Art Society Exhibition at The Minories. However, the lettering was used to create a new series of words, based upon the limitations of the few letters that I had previously created. Further playing on the notion of mutability of language. By reusing these letters, I felt that they were able to keep their authenticity and aura of being originals.
KEEP GOING
2018. Vinyl. 132x17cm. Installation View
Keep Going was created as a
moment of personal reflection for Cairns, made public. It is open to interpretation and will
resonate differently to each reader, with the meaning possibly changing on each
viewing depending on personal mood. The only
limitation to the number of interpretations of the work, is the number of
people who view it.
Keep Going:
Continue to move forward.
The repetitive
nature of Keep Going is reaffirming the definition of the text and becomes
mantra-like.
The Road Sign Collection
2019. Digital Drawings. Size Variable.
The Road Sign Collection started by chance after
an art walk during an art tutor CPD day run by NEAAT (Network of East Anglian
Art Teachers). As a group we were instructed to walk around the Fine City of
Norwich and document the walk with; photos, drawings, rubbings. During this
walk, I photographed road signs. I was drawn to these due to the nature of my
art practice, which is concerned with the relationship between text and site. During
this time, I was teaching a short course titled, ‘Exploring Drawing and
Illustration’, with one of the weeks focusing on line drawing techniques -
something that I am usually guilty of neglecting within my practice. However,
covering this topic and seeing my learners’ outcomes – particularly their
continuous line drawings, made me want to give it ago within my art
practice.
The intention is that each road sign drawing will
be an original, with each only drawn once, in one continuous movement. The use of colour in the signs felt important to their
ability to carry out their function successfully. I had to start to consider
the readability of the sign and our temporal relationship with them. Without
the colouring, there is a sense of unfamiliarity to them.
The more time that I
spend with the road signs the more I start to consider placing them into a new
context. The text is direct and to the point when it is within the original
context. Within my practice, I look to have public-facing outcomes and these
signs lend themselves to be repositioned into a new context, away from the
road. I look to explore what this does to our relationship with these signs
that we encounter every day once they are put into an art context. This starts
with turning them into drawings and will perhaps end in a gallery context,
allowing this new cultural framework to change the context of the road signs.
Artist Statement
Within the proposal we also needed to provide a 200 word artist statement. As you will have seen in my previous blog post, my artist statement is lengthy, around 550. This process of condensing text makes you consider every aspect of what you do and what is most central to your artistic process.
This version conveys my artistic practice, but does lack the depth of my current artist statement.
My art practice explores the use of text and site. I often use
found text within my work and will draw upon the texts original meaning to
guide my practice. The use of our shared public language is essential to the
works success.
Within my practice I create site specific installations and work
with the concept of text/context to create works which resonate with the site.
One of the aims of my art practice is to create situations in which dialectical
relationships can take place between; the art and the audience/the art and the
site.
My practice takes a DIY approach and I strive to use materials
that are inexpensive and readily available; such as electrical tape and ready
mixed paint and processes which are easily accessible. I feel that this also
links into my interests surrounding things that are ‘everyday’ – such as my use
of language.
My current research interests
surround my dual role of artist and teacher and how these two roles inform each
other. I would like to explore further the benefits of being an art tutor who
also has an active art practice, both for myself and for my learners.
