My degree course had a sense of community, working in a creative hub. Constant feedback, communication, experimentation, sharing ideas. Space to create, explore, learn, reflect. The studio spaces were open plan and fluid. I made work on the ground on the walls and in the rafters. Transient and ever changing spaces that fed each other. We learned to explore processes, ideas, research and seek out the fundaments of our practice. What are you making art for? I made work in the sculpture studio using domestic materials. Clingfilm organic skins, car stockinette filled with barbecue skewer skeletons then covered in wax, mimicking huge sea cucumbers. I recorded these through photography, before deconstruction. A life cycle. I studied the art of the mid 20th century, and discovered Eva Hesse. Her use of domestic materials to create organic forms fascinated me. Transformation and transitions. Connections and fluidity. Breaking boundaries and perceptions. Regularly I would meet with mentors, discussing, debating, reflecting. These were the only years I had with so much space to think, time to explore and develop. Here I was setting out the grounding of my artistic practice.
When I left university after my MA course, I was left to find my way. How do you take studio practice skills into the world? I took a fairly safe option of seeking employment, I took a job in a graphic design shop, and then a gallery and corporate fine art company. Alongside this I tried to continue creating my own art. I had a small studio room in our house and continued to treat it like my uni studio space. Once I made a 5’ high piece made from white noodles painstakingly insert into oasis. I enjoyed the process, but it never left the space.
Just continuing to work has been important. In finding my way, coming back to my fundaments of practice has been a lesson I have learned. Back to transformation, translation, exploration of boundaries and potentials of materials. Context has shifted and changed, the time I have to spend is less. Progress is slower and in pockets of time. My creativity is shared between teaching and my own work. My learned practice has been, in part, lost along the way. More recently I have found new paths forward that relate. Metamorphosis of purpose, thinking about audience and where my art belongs. I have always been existing in the cracks in between.
Finding a purpose for my art outside of the university bubble proved to be a long journey for me. With hindsight every part of the story has mattered.
Creative Life in Suffolk 