Sunday, 12 June 2011
In Honour of Polly Garter, G39
In Honour of Polly Garter will be a ritualistic performance, which will see me bless the space. This blessing will prepare the site for its new future, whilst honouring its past. I will also remember Polly Garter whilst performing the action outside the Gallerie's main entrance. Poor Polly Garter from Dylan Thomas's Undermilk Wood who has a love of being loved and making babies.
¿AreWeNotDrawnOnwardToNewEra?
preview 2 July 2011
On 2 July g39 will close its doors on 13 years of history in advance of our imminent relocation. Before that happens we have one last exhibition and one final special event to say goodbye to number 39. Please join us to welcome in the new era.
After 12 years in its three-storey townhouse, g39 as we know it is coming to a momentous end. The organisation must relocate to new premises and the space will be given back. In a parting gesture, we have invited a selection of artists to contribute to a final grand exhibition. They will be making work that marks the end of the building’s use as a cultural hub and a centre for artistic development in Wales.
Over the last twelve years the building has seen extensive renovation work and temporary conversions in order to display artists’ work. Walls and doorways have been built and unbuilt, apertures have been sliced into ceilings and floors, windows have disappeared and reappeared. These conversions are being entirely undone in preparation for our departure. The space is back to its bare, undecorated state. It is this environment that the artists have been invited to work with, and they will be responding to this de-purposed building with a meaningful gesture that marks their time here.
Throughout the duration of exhibition they will contribute to an accumulation of works and ideas, culminating in a final closing event thoughout the day and night on 2 July 2011, the eve of the gallery’s thirteenth anniversary.
This special event will give audiences and artists alike a chance to say one final goodbye to the building, and possibly to announce the latest developments in our relocation.
Long Live the Website!
Finally, after months of lovingly labouring over my website it is complete and ready for you all to see. Building it was a brilliant process in which I had the chance to reflect chronologically on my practice.
Please visit it for context on my artwork- both old and new. It will be regularly updated as I have a lot of exciting projects coming up. However, I will still be a committed blogger as I find addressing people through this direct medium very liberating.
Saturday, 14 May 2011
A Series of Uncertainties (A new series of performances, Chapter Arts Centre 27-29.04.2011)
Three new performances were created over the three-day Perfformiad event at Chapter. The event was a brilliant success, and myself and the other two artists were humbled by the amount of support we had from our audience. They showed great patience and commitment to the developing work.
Threshold was my first performance at the Arts Centre, during which I placed myself in front of the main entrance and invited people to carry me across the threshold. Participants struggled with my weight as they tried to walk the short distance with me in their arms. The act fostered a real sense of trust between the carrier and myself, as I often had to sense their strength whilst also taking into account their physical safety (the last thing I wanted was to injure someone’s back!) Overall this action was very enjoyable and created a very festive atmosphere- people clapped, whistled and cheered as people succeeded in the task. It felt like a village wedding.
The second performance lasted five hours, without a break from 2pm until 7pm. Curiad/Beat was an invitation for people to come and find my heartbeat using a stethoscope. The intimacy this action prompted was intense as people had to concentrate and move in closely. People smiled with delight once they had located the heartbeat, and regularly commented on how steady and calm it was.
The final performance Home is where the heart is, lasted five hours and forty-four minutes. During this work I aimed to fill the front courtyard with small house shaped cardboard structures, which had a red heart inside. My intentions for making the work were to stress the importance of belonging, and my frustration at not being able to afford property. Much like the other two pieces, this work focused on my desires to settle. I laboured over these houses for three hours, carved the shapes from the cardboard, and painted red hearts. I felt trapped in this making process, it was too focused and I found it difficult to engage with onlookers. After a while I felt that I needed to change tack and began building myself a home. The structure was solid and provided good shelter from the wind. I sat in my new found home for two hours and forty-four minutes. People began to join me to discuss the series of performances they had seen me undertake. The work became far more socially engaging than the previous action.
Having the opportunity to change the course of a work whilst making it publicly was liberating and stems from the freedom of making new work over three days. Often artists working in the realm of performance have to prove themselves within a two-hour slot. Perfformiad’s structure allowed all three artists to establish a bond with the audience, whilst allowing the work to grow more organically over a period of time.
Photocredit to Cathy Boyce
Images of Threshold will follow shortly
Wednesday, 23 March 2011
Perfformiad
From April 27th-29th I will be creating three new durational works outside the main entrance of Chapter Arts Centre, Cardiff. ‘A Series of Uncertainties’ is a new body of work, which will aim to articulate my current experiences of having an uncertain future, and the need for security as a young woman entering her late twenties. Perfformiad is a three-day event that will showcase new work by myself, Sam Hasler and Iwan Morgan. The work has been commissioned by ‘What’s Welsh for Performance’ and Chapter Arts Centre.
Please follow the link below for the April issue of the Chapter guide which includes further information about the work.
St.David’s Day Celebration’s
Thanks to all those who took part in my St. David’s day performance. The participants wholeheartedly took part in the welsh language story session. Most of the audience were not Welsh speakers, but I was very impressed with how quickly the adult group began to recognise the repetition in the language patterns, and could repeat the words perfectly. There was singing, the story of St David was told and Miss Ashill introduced the Welsh words ‘Cenhinen’ (Leek) and ‘Cenyn’ (Daffodil). We all enjoyed the bara brith, Welsh Cakes and tea at the Welsh tea party which followed the 20 minute performance.
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