Seven artists, six residencies, one group show.
Claire Weetman, Ian Jackson, Alice Bradshaw, Rebecca Long & Cameron Muir, Leah Hislop, Tom McGinn
5 Dec 2014 – 25 Jan 2015

Opening night 5 December 7pm
Join me on the opening of Residual Projects to see the beginning of my mini residency as part of this new exhibition or come and visit on Saturday 6th & Sunday 7th December 12-3pm.

Residual Projects is the culmination of an annual traineeship programme between South Square Gallery and The Hepworth Wakefield, which sees Curator Charlie Booth make her debut. Charlie explains;

‘Residual Projects is a critical look at traditional artists residencies, where work will be created and installed whilst the gallery is open. The result will be a group exhibition which grows week by week as different artists enter and leave the space. This is an interactive project, where visitors are invited to engage with the work being created so as to better understand the processes used and decisions made.’

Residual Projects is a series of miniature residencies with seven nationwide artists using the gallery to explore their own artistic interests whilst the gallery is open to the public. The work they create during their residency will be left for the next artist to negotiate. The aim is to create a dynamic group exhibition which explores how artists can work collaboratively.
All participating artists will be creating new work which responds directly to the physical architectural or social history of South Square Gallery and the history of Thornton.

Throughout the evening of the 5th December I will create an instinctive performance piece inspired by South Square’s domestic history as a collection of Stonemason cottages. My intervention will involve the audience on the night; dividing lines will intersect the galleries floors and walls, marking out different possibilities of living arrangements within the confined space. This new work is a continuation of the socio-political piece Residential Mosaics shown at the Brindley earlier this year and ‘a remarkable architecture of stairs‘ which looked at the proliferation of high rise flats of Shanghai.

Residual Projects | Group show | 05 December 2014 – 25 January 2015
Opening night – 05 December 7pm
Christmas Closure – 29 December 2014 – 05 January 2015
Closing celebration – 23 January 7pm

Participating artists and residency dates (Exact dates are subject to change):1. Claire Weetman – Fri 5th Dec – Sun 7th Dec
2. Ian Jackson – Tues 9th Dec – Fri 12th Dec
3. Alice Bradshaw – Tues 16th Dec – Fri 19th Dec (dates tbc)
4. Rebecca Long and Cameron Muir Tues 6th Jan – Fri 9th Jan
5. Leah Hislop – Sat 10th Jan – Mon 12th Jan
6. Tom McGinn – Thurs 15th Jan – Sun 18th Jan

South Square Centre
South Square
Thornton
Bradford
BD13 3LD

Opening Hours | Tuesday – Sunday | 12 – 3pm | And by appointment

During October I’ve been working with St Augustine of Canterbury Catholic High School on some varied drawing activities.  The bulk of the time was spent with Year 7 on a project using footprints, although I also got to spend some time with pupils from Years 9, 10 & 11 on a range of drawing activities too.

Over the course of a day I worked with each Year 7 pupil using frottage to capture an image of their footprint, before they layered tracing paper over the top to create a black and white graphic design.  These drawings have then been transformed into digital files suitable for cutting with the school’s laser cutter – a piece of kit that more and more high school technology departments have in their arsenal.

Their very helpful technology teacher then cut the files that I laid out into mylar stencils and rubber stamps for an after school session where Year 7 pupils returned with their parents for an evening of jet washing and animation.

The stencil designs are inspired by the transitional journey that Year 7 pupils have taken from primary to high school and feature footprints, maps, school names and words to describe the emotions of moving to this new community.

 

I’m currently working out of Metal’s Southend venue, Chalkwell Hall for a fortnight, developing works towards my solo exhibition this June.  You can follow my progress on my artists talking blog. Here’s some images at the half-way point:

During the autumn of last year I was working with two secondary schools in Halton as part of the Inspired Responses programme.  Inspired Responses is a mini artist residency programme where an artist visits a secondary school, sharing their practice and passing on the skills that they use, before the teacher develops work with the students during the term.  The artist returns at the end of the programme to advise on presentation of the work in an exhibition at the Brindley Gallery.

The exhibition is currently showing at The Brindley until 22 February 2014.

The after-school club at the Grange looked at a selection of my works about movement and chose the ‘One Minute’ drawings on paper to be inspired by.  These works are about how people move around spaces as viewed from the top floor of a building.  The new building that houses the Grange school is sleek and modern, with curving balconies and staircases where pupils pass through, much like the places in my ‘One minute’ drawings.