MY THEMES / ABOUT MY WORK

Within this exhibition project I have been looking at how artists have been working during lockdown, and the importance of art in the world.

These are some of the things that occur within my work:

Space - Domestic, virtual, internal and external, interior and exterior

Time - Slowing down due to the current situation

Movements - Slowness in pace due to the world slowing down

Technology - Communication, bringing people together. We are all using different forms to present ourselves and apply a sense of normality

Restraints - No contact, social distancing, limitations

The use of the body within my work represents the idea of taking back control.

Community - Workshops benefiting the community, social

Cleaning - Heightened awareness or consciousness of the activity due to current times

Performance - Direct, liveness

Clap for the NHS - Performative act

Rainbows - Hope and positivity

Colour, mark making, scale, space and presentation are appealing to me. Action painting through gestural marks seem to evoke emotion and expression of myself as an artist.

Inspired by Marc Quinn's 'Viral Painting' series. Viral Paintings (2020) are a visual diary of the Covid-19 pandemic, during which Quinn is spending lockdown in his London studio and producing a painting per day, depicting the latest news about the virus. Each artwork is taken from a screenshot of Quinn's iPhone newsfeed, which is pigment-printed on canvas and overpainted in gestural splashes, pours and strokes.

The topic of past and present seems relevant. Speaking in a historical context; in a few years Covid will be a part of history. All that will be left is documentation of the event.

When I create work, I am acting in the present and activating the piece with my body. The work is very much momentary, and then after the work has ended it will exist as film and photographic pieces; a record of the event. I feel that the subject of past and present is fitting for now, and for my performance work.

ABOUT MY PRACTICE AS A WHOLE

I employ my body to interact with materials and objects on a surface. I've found this approach intriguing because it allows me to understand how I use my body to get physically involved with the work. The work is more about the activity than the product because my bodily control is presently the primary focus. This methodology explores art as a felt, momentary experience through the activity of production. My practice is a time-sensitive activity that explores space, objects and movement.

Through my practice I constantly questioning what the work is and who is performing.

My work has developed from using improvised, spontaneous movement to make marks on a surface, as a record or trace of the event, to using objects as part of the piece. These objects are heavily loaded with meaning and purpose, so within my work I am giving them a new language in a sense, challenging the expectations and associations we may have with them.

Now that we are working at home, it's quite hard to create the liveness of a performance just from using a flat computer screen. I have included camera and spoken word to attempt to make the situation more united.