MA Degree Show,
Bath Spa University,
19.9.20-22.9.20 and then online
Bath Spa University,
19.9.20-22.9.20 and then online
29.9.20
I was very privileged to be part of the MA Degree Show, alongside the graduating cohort of full time and part time students. We set up our work for assessment in the studios at Locksbrook Road, not knowing whether we would be allowed to open to the public at all. It was so good though to have the chance to set up a physical exhibition and for me to have such a great space to trial my installation. It made me remember how much I enjoy setting p my work and how much I have missed exhibiting this year.
Because of all the uncertainty of lockdown, we planned an online show and had the exhibition photographed by the Photography staff. Some of the students also made a video walk through of the exhibition, which is fabulous. I felt very proud to be part of it all.
At the last minute and at very short notice we were told that we could arrange timed, tracked tours for friends and family so we had a few happy days being able to show local people around. That made such a difference to me too. I have reflected elsewhere about the wonderfully supportive audience I have found online, through social media, and I know that same audience is still out there but somehow to actually be able to show my work to my family and a few friends in real life meant so much to me. It has been a long time. I think my work translates quite well to a video and photographs, but there is something about its presence and physicality, details of surface, form, colour, which are missing when viewed through a screen.
So, this has been my only show since September and it had actually, sadly, all been taken down before this module began. I thought it was important though, so I've included it here.
Setting up my work is always a form of research for me. There's always lots of problem solving involved and this time was no different. Check out Parts of me for details of the final installation of 4 sculptural assemblages. I had set up 3 assemblages a couple of days before the deadline, for a crit, but as a result of the crit I changed the installation quite dramatically ... and I was very pleased with the final result. Just before the crit, I had found that my steel body forms wouldn't stand independently with the Jesmonite feet so I had to try various ways to make them stand... after the crit, I decided to balance or suspend them instead and I think that was much more effective.
I was very glad to be exhibiting in one of the large studio spaces on the first floor of Locksbrook campus alongside Alyson Minckley and Palina Gurinovich. I think our work complemented one another's very well. Alyson constructed a large white cube in the centre of the space and invited viewers to go in to it to experience a couple of immersive projections. On the outside, she had another video playing, and a print on one side and some bright ceramic sculptures of torsos on another. Palina showed a selection of her abstract oil paintings, some of which were on canvas, some were experimental paintings on steel. Our spaces had been given to us by Andrea at the beginning of the summer when we were allowed back in to the campus after the first UK lockdown, so were curated in that sense, but apart from that we had no other external curation. I think the whole space worked very well.
It does make me wonder what the situation will be next year though, when we graduate. At least we've had the opportunity to have a few physical visitors this time and we've also been able to practice setting up a physical show in this space and also working with University staff to build a website to showcase our work. I was on the committee who made decisions about the website, so that will be useful when we graduate. I suspect we'll have to have an online show, but who knows?
I was very privileged to be part of the MA Degree Show, alongside the graduating cohort of full time and part time students. We set up our work for assessment in the studios at Locksbrook Road, not knowing whether we would be allowed to open to the public at all. It was so good though to have the chance to set up a physical exhibition and for me to have such a great space to trial my installation. It made me remember how much I enjoy setting p my work and how much I have missed exhibiting this year.
Because of all the uncertainty of lockdown, we planned an online show and had the exhibition photographed by the Photography staff. Some of the students also made a video walk through of the exhibition, which is fabulous. I felt very proud to be part of it all.
At the last minute and at very short notice we were told that we could arrange timed, tracked tours for friends and family so we had a few happy days being able to show local people around. That made such a difference to me too. I have reflected elsewhere about the wonderfully supportive audience I have found online, through social media, and I know that same audience is still out there but somehow to actually be able to show my work to my family and a few friends in real life meant so much to me. It has been a long time. I think my work translates quite well to a video and photographs, but there is something about its presence and physicality, details of surface, form, colour, which are missing when viewed through a screen.
So, this has been my only show since September and it had actually, sadly, all been taken down before this module began. I thought it was important though, so I've included it here.
Setting up my work is always a form of research for me. There's always lots of problem solving involved and this time was no different. Check out Parts of me for details of the final installation of 4 sculptural assemblages. I had set up 3 assemblages a couple of days before the deadline, for a crit, but as a result of the crit I changed the installation quite dramatically ... and I was very pleased with the final result. Just before the crit, I had found that my steel body forms wouldn't stand independently with the Jesmonite feet so I had to try various ways to make them stand... after the crit, I decided to balance or suspend them instead and I think that was much more effective.
I was very glad to be exhibiting in one of the large studio spaces on the first floor of Locksbrook campus alongside Alyson Minckley and Palina Gurinovich. I think our work complemented one another's very well. Alyson constructed a large white cube in the centre of the space and invited viewers to go in to it to experience a couple of immersive projections. On the outside, she had another video playing, and a print on one side and some bright ceramic sculptures of torsos on another. Palina showed a selection of her abstract oil paintings, some of which were on canvas, some were experimental paintings on steel. Our spaces had been given to us by Andrea at the beginning of the summer when we were allowed back in to the campus after the first UK lockdown, so were curated in that sense, but apart from that we had no other external curation. I think the whole space worked very well.
It does make me wonder what the situation will be next year though, when we graduate. At least we've had the opportunity to have a few physical visitors this time and we've also been able to practice setting up a physical show in this space and also working with University staff to build a website to showcase our work. I was on the committee who made decisions about the website, so that will be useful when we graduate. I suspect we'll have to have an online show, but who knows?