Artist
Statement:
My
paintings and constructions are a response to the contemporary world of
post-modern art and its history, fame and celebrity, technology and the
infinite expansion of information. The units can be hung in
any order vertically, diagonally or around corners and in combination
they become a site-specific painting/sculpture hybrid. The content and
meaning of the units reflect and influence the others, introducing the
idea of a visual ‘grammar' and of the combination of boxes as ‘sentences'
written around a space. Each piece might contain purpose-built boxes,
‘ready-mades' and conventional paintings and be built in a range of materials.
Viewers/clients can ‘make' their own art by choosing pieces and combinations
to suit their own spaces and ideas.
I start with
the idea of 'artist as witness'. Information from the private sphere is
pasted over and around quotations from the public sphere - the history
of art, scientific oddities, puns and word-games. The layering of private
& public makes them indistinguishable in my work, as they are in lived
experience. Their complexity is a reflection of the information-rich environment
in which we live. The viewer, entering their labyrinth, is rewarded with
irreverence and humour.
I have recently completed an MA in Fine Art at Sunderland University.
My work is represented at the Brockdam Gallery in Northumberland and the
Biscuit Factory in Newcastle. I have been exhibiting regularly since 1992
and was shortlisted for John Moores 22 in 2002.
Exhibitions
1986-89 ‘Opens’
in Sheffield, Stockport & Manchester
1992-98 Annual exhibition in Oldham area
2000- Annual Tynedale Artists’ Network Open Studios programme
2001 Open exhibition, Letchworth Gallery
2001-03 ‘People Show’, Northumbria University
2002 Short-listed for John Moore’s Exhibition, Liverpool
2002 Mixed exhibition, Shire Gallery, Alnwick
2002 Mixed exhibition, Dial Gallery, Warkworth
2003 Opening exhibition, Xhibit Gallery, Leeds
2003 Mixed exhibition, Hatton Gallery, Newcastle
2003 Foyer exhibition, Rotterdam House, Newcastle
2004 ‘Bona Fide’, Bishop Auckland Library
2004 ‘Diverse’’, Brockdam Gallery, near Ellingham, Northumberland
2004 Shrewsbury Open Art Competition
2004 ‘Eye Candy’, Brockdam Gallery
2004 Sefton Open Exhibition, Southport
2004 Art of Words Exhibition, Basingstoke
2004 Biscuit Factory, Newcastle (November)
2004 ‘All Present’, Brockdam Gallery (November)
2004 ‘A Fine Line’, Euroart Gallery, London (November)
2004 Open Eye Gallery, Edinburgh (December)
2005 Euroart Gallery solo exhibition, London (May)
2005 Patriothall Gallery solo exhibition, Edinburgh (June)
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