22/04/2022 - Interim Show

As the semester draws to a close and all the work is being readied for assessment, the interim show set up has been underway. Grays Foyer as the venue, group show curation has come together, with a lot of vastly different work.

When choosing which work I would be exhibiting, I had a few ideas, but also wanted to take into consideration all the factors of the show: how the work would interact with the other artist’s works, the size of the space (relatively small for the amount of work to be shown), and that the space is really quite bright – the kind of lighting I normally avoid when showing my works involving any kind of projection or digital inclusion.

So for these reasons, I chose not to go with anything involving a projector or the need for controlled lighting. I had worked for a long time on a costume this semester which has only been seen by a select few people so decided it was best to use this opportunity to show this.

Originally, I had thought to show it on a mannequin, though I learned early on that this would not be possible as there would not be one available. There was the option to put it on a wall, but it benefitted from the 360-degree view. It was at Michael Agnew’s suggestion, that we utilise the coat hanger to create an instrument to hang the costume from the ceiling. The original coat hanger hook was removed, and two smaller hooks were put in on either side of the hanger and attached to the ceiling with wire. The costume was then lifted onto the hanger and as it was let go, in all honesty, I half expected to see it fall down and bring half the ceiling with it (we reckon the costume ways around stone), but by a miracle it stayed there.

So, this is the work I have hanging to the right of the staircase as you are coming up it, an ominous bulbous presence outlining where some kind of body should be, and further to the right on the wall just behind it, there is a simple A3 digital print of the full costume, including head piece being worn.

I think that this is an important consideration whenever participating in a group show, how well will your work fit? That sometimes what you consider to be your ‘best’ work might not actually be the best work for that show, due to the location or other content/context of the show. And I guess it also a good skill to have to be able to recognise this. I bring this up as for me the curation of my work is something that I am still working on/through, as I make such a large quantity of work that sometimes I struggle to make decisions on what work, works best for which context. There has to be a level of acceptance, I think, that some work will find its home in a cupboard. Maybe it will get shown in the future but its not always necessary to show every work made, that often simplicity is actually the better option – unless it is part of an installation or is an intentional choice, but that’s another matter.

The fun of group shows though is seeing how the work of different artists or designers comes together and how they interact. In this case, most of us don’t really know each other or each other’s work. This means that the work included is vastly different but is all sitting together. There are paintings on either side of my sculptural work, giving it a backdrop that I never would have expected, and likewise the painters probably wouldn’t have thought that there would be a costume hanging from the ceiling near their work – for one of them, even assisting with creating the low lighting they desired.

I think this show has set us up really well for moving forward into the final stage of the MA. Though it has been one of the most hectic hand ins I have had throughout my time as a student, a good show has been put together, all the other work is ready to go in the studio, and after a day off, I will be ready to get back to it to put together the dissertation and the final work for the MA degree show. In some ways, as always, I just have to hope that all the work has paid off.