Degree Show Work (2011)

This is a piece that I created during my last semester of third year. It comprises of casts that I created using offcuts of wood that I engraved using the CAD/CAM machine. The varying colours were achieved by mixing a variety of aggregates to plaster such as sand, recycled glass and layering compound. The aim behind the piece was to create a fractured memorial walkway encompassing the lives of the people that were born, had lived or died in the Leeds area. This is because the embossed memorial script was selected specifically from existing gravestones that stand in St Georges Field within the Leeds University campus.
By displaying the piece in fractured pieces shows how our memories are often distorted over time and the fragility of issues such as time and memory, things we often take for granted.

Print 1st year

This piece was a set of two consertina's that I made in print during my second semester of 1st year. They were created using two etching plates one plate per consertina, I did this because I was interested in how the print faded with each application. From doing this I arranged them in a sequence of dark to light which would emphasise the journey a leaf progresses through, from life until death.

I especially enjoyed working with dried out leaves when printing as they resulted in a much more defined impression, showing the prominent skeleton of the the leaf. I found through trial and error that fresh leaves were less successful in terms of printing as they would purely soak up the ink and bleed onto the card.

By looking specifically at leaves it allowed me to look at the life cycle and the obvious signs of age and decay, since these signs of ageing manifest themselves quicker in leaves than in any other material that I used within my practice.

Studio work from 1st semester of 3rd year

I believe I am drawn to the gravestones that show manifestation of desuetude and decay, as they embody a whole complex of historical associations. The remains of organic elements that once slowly ate away at the embellished exterior are vaguely visible in the above image. I wanted to create a rustic almost unearthed piece to contrast the sharper, clearer, and crisper piece that i created with the plaster cast. I feel the piece above can be related to the geological strata of the landscape built up over the years, merging different materials together to create a visible layered effect on the outer walls.

The work I have created above deals with the notion of entombment and concretising memory. I decided to look at funeral works such as gravestones, mausoleums, sarcophagi, and tombs as they are concrete forms of remembrance. I am interested in capturing time and memory within permanent materials such as concrete, and plaster; in a sense preserving the deceased's existence before it becomes a forgotten, distant memory.

My primary concern is about the form and structure of a piece rather than the underlying meaning of the text that’s included within the work, hence why the text is often upside down  and back to front. I feel my work is analogous to artists such as Rachel Whiteread who is also drawn to the surface qualities, the physicality of an object, and how light can illuminate a sculpture enabling it to appear three-dimensional.

13th International Artist's Book Fair, Parkinson Court, Leeds

I recently took part in the Artist's Book Fair held at Leeds University. 5 students including myself represented the School of Design showing work that related to our individual studio practice. Four of the students showed work that they were going to exhibit in their Degree show as they were 3rd years, whereas i showed work that i have created during my 2nd year in the sculpture studio. 

This is the first year that the School of Design have taken part in the Book Fair, however it was a huge success and our work gathered a great deal of interest from the general public and other stalls that took part in the event.

The above Picture shows the location of our School of Design stall. We had a prime spot as it was situated next to the back entrance of the Parkinson Building therefore it was easy to approach with plenty of room for people to stop and view our work.                 

The above image is one of the 5 pieces of work that i exhibited at the Artist's Book Fair and received masses of interest from the public. This maybe because it was very different to the majority of work that was exhibited on other stalls and has a eerie feel to it. Many people were intrigued by it and often asked me what the inspiration for the piece was and why i had decided to create it. My work differed also to the other students from the School of Design who were on my stall as their work was craft based as they had handmade their books very accurately. My work may have been considered more sculptural with the use of materials such as glass, plant foliage, plaster and resin compared to other people who used the expected materials of paper and card to created their book works.

Leeds University Art and Design students held an Open studios event on wednesday 9th December 6-8pm whereby the public were welcomed to view artwork from all areas of Art and Design: Painting, Sculpture, Print and Digital.

The above image shows all the sculpture work that i had created up until the Open studio event. The project title for this semesters work was 'Object, Image, Space' and this is what i made in response to this.

Time, Place and Memory

The starting point for my work in the Time, Place and Memory project fitted adequately with my work in the previous semester as I was interested in the notion of entombment and concretising memory. To carry on this theme I decided to look at memorial stones as it dealt with issues that I felt I could pursue further.

Graveyards are often found in woodland areas so this allowed me to introduce organic elements of the cycle of life and death, natural and human forms. I incorporated this notion into my practice by growing water cress in the inside of an old thick book and then documenting its succession from life until death. I explored this idea further by pressing clay into the engravings inscribed on the memorial stone and when I peeled it back the moss had fixed onto the clay. I then encased an open book with the clay and filled the spine with water cress reiterating the cycle of life and death working simultaneously.

I often found that when the engraved clay dried it would often crack and break therefore I incorporated this into my work and embedded the broken pieces into different materials such as plaster and wax, in a sense capturing time and memory in a contained place.