Art, Forums and new Taxidermy series

Sorry I haven’t posted for a while, been a bit pre occupied with the upcoming show plans. I thought I would give you an update on what’s happening in my art world.

Interviews with Escapists

Well, I have 3 more paintings to finish for my show, Interviews with Escapists. I am really pleased with how my pieces have turned out and hope you all like them. These last 3 pieces are egg tempera paintings. I love working with egg tempera, it’s such a delicate paint to use and you can get great layers and colour built on top of each other.

I have also been working on the booklet for the show. I decided to create a story book so those who don’t read my blog can read about the interviews and what it all means whilst at the gallery. I thought it was important to share the stories with everyone and to give some sort of context about what’s going on in my head. Here’s a look at the cover of the book:

Lesa Gallery (pronounced L’Sa)

I have sent my paintings to Lesa Gallery for the group show in June. Feeling really excited about this and can’t wait to see the other works on show. Here is a blurb from the Lesa Gallery website about the show:

Painting is such a personal art form and every viewer will bring their own thoughts and vision to any work. Picasso said he wanted his paintings to fend for themselves when they left his studio. They took on a new significance from that point, his interaction was over – a new relationship starts with the buyer and his viewers.

An Open Narrative in painting is where the viewers are dependent  to interpret the story of painting or to decipher meaning. You could argue that this happens with all artwork, as the viewer can take whatever they want from the work, and disregard any personal statements on offer.

Thus the artwork cannot perform its true function: interaction without the viewer.

OPEN NARRATIVES/ NEW PAINTINGS  will open June 25th  friday night @ 6pm

Taxidermy

Well I have started a new series of taxidermy sculptures. This series is looking at the escapism relationship between nature, consumerism and consumption. I found that there were common themes showing when interviewing people for my show in July. Not many actually identified consumerism as their form of escapism but many of them identified consumption as one. Escapism is not defined by the behaviour itself, but the motivation behind it. Anything from sport to fashion to sex can become escapist activities. Certain escapist options are socially accepted, such as consumerism, others are not, such as recreational drug use which could come under consumption. I will go in to more detail about this topic later as plans develop.

The Depot Artspace – 5Five Forum

The Depot Artspace is holding a new forum for artists next week called 5Five. Wednesday 16th June at 6pm. It’s a forum for discussion amongst artists, musicians, writers and creative practitioners. The evening will be led by artist Robyn Gibson followed by an opportunity for participants to have the floor to discuss their own work and projects.

Emerging Artists Forum

Another forum that is happening each month is the Emerging Artists Forum. The next one is being held at Satellite Gallery on Sunday 27th June, 2-5pm.

The Emerging Artists Forum is a peer-to-peer information session, a chance to network and swap tips. The Forum’s point of difference is that it is participatory and uses a round-table discussion format. Rather than didactic speeches by invited experts, topics are nominated by the group and then someone with a special interest in the field is invited to kick off the discussion.

Currently the organisers are: Lewis Bostock (social media artist and filmmaker), Meghan Geliza aka SisterDarling (visual artist), Yee Yang Lee (theatre producer and director), Renee Liang (writer) and Mark Leonard Watts (photographic artist and gallery manager).

Check out their Facebook page HERE