In my work I combine textile human sculpture with melancholy drama. Underlying a darkly playful theatricality, the puppet-like figures are a psychodramatic exploration of the dynamics of life and death.
I am fascinated by the concept of the ‘Uncanny,’ and Sigmund Freud’s investigations into of the ‘return of the repressed’; ideas that were turned into a visual form by the Surrealists. Through looking closely at the uncanny devices, of combining irrational disparate items and ideas, I seek to create unsettling new realities. The familiar is changed to become unfamiliar. My process of binding and layering strips of fabric to form the figures is reminder of the mummification of dead bodies and I am drawn to the study of bog bodies and other ancient remains. The work aims to repel and attract simultaneously, in a Bataillean embrace of the death drive – "in a persistence of life and the pull of death" (Bataille).
Made using a process of layering fabrics over a wire skeleton and finishing with gesso and paint, the slowly formed, half-life sized human bodies are a vehicle for revealing uncomfortable emotions or memories. The figures are child-size but their wizened faces hint at a lost innocence and weary experience of life.
The materials are often the starting point for the work. Found items from around the house initiate contemplation, followed by a process of imaginative transmutation. Abandoned domestic objects, materials, and furniture are used to create dramatic claustrophobic scenarios. The installations recall traumatic events, random accidents, wars, and natural disasters. I enjoy the process of merging and weaving together real events with imagined anxieties, dreams and fairy tales.
Projects and Exhibitions
2 0 2 4
In With In
Group show curated by Maeve Rendle
The Hanover Project Gallery
Preston
April 2024
UN/FAMILIAR
Group Show curated by Kevina Badoye
Fox Yard Gallery
Stowmarket
Suffolk
January 2024
2 0 2 3
We, All, Us, In the Room
MA Graduate Show
New Adelphi Building
University of Salford
October 2023
Shades of Red
Group Exhibition curated by Kevina Badoye
Fox Yard Gallery
Stowmarket
Suffolk
August 2023
2 0 2 2
In Between The Worlds
Symposium
University of Salford MA Event
Bankley Gallery
Manchester
December 2022
Murder Stone
A collaborative show with Uncanny Stitch Collective
The Green Man Gallery
Buxton Fringe Festival
July 2022
Manchester Open 2022
A group show at HOME, Manchester
January - March 2022
2 0 2 1
Momento Mori
A group show at AIR Gallery
Altrincham
November 2021
2 0 2 0
The Artist's Dream
The Sleep of Reason produces Monsters
Levenshulme Fringe Festival
Sculpture Installation with Julie Howse
Bankley Gallery, Manchester
October 2020
2 0 1 9
Neo:artprize 2019
Shortlisted artist.
Bolton Museum Temporary Exhibition Gallery
Sep - Oct 2019
The Attic
Window installation
Nexus Art Cafe
Dale Street, Manchester
June 2019
Lancashire Open Exhibition 2019
Chapel Gallery
Ormskirk
May 2019
2 0 1 7
Bluebeard's Cabinet
Hidden Altrincham Art Trail Commissioned Installation.
Mort Subite
Altrincham
September 2017
The Thread that binds us...
A collaborative exhibition by Vernon Mill Artists
Stockport Memorial Art Gallery
July 2017
Hope Gallery
Liverpool
August 2017
Echo Chamber
Manifest Arts Festival
Group show with Bankley Studio Artists
Bankley Gallery
Manchester
July 2017
Strange Little Things
Group exhibition
Bankley Gallery
May/June 2017
Emporium
Bathhaus Artist Group Show
Nexus Art Cafe
Manchester
May/June 2017
2 0 1 6
Things of Darkness
A solo sculpture installation for Manchester Fringe Festival
Hope Mill Theatre for the production of 'Things of Darkness' a play by Mark Murphy, Out of Kilter Theatre.
July 2016
The Blue Cloak
The Blue Cloak
Hidden Altrincham Art trail Commission
Mort Subite
Altrincham
June/July 2016
2 0 1 5
Artsmill Winter Fair 2015
Group show
David Wright Gallery
Artsmill
Hebden Bridge
Nov/Dec 2015
Hoard
Towards an Archaeology of the Artist’s Mind
Year long project in Leeds
A group of artists are hoarding objects and artefacts relating to their practice
Final show at Corn Exchange
Leeds October 2015
DADA100
Seminar and Exhibition
Islington Mill, Salford
Internationally coordinated art programme for 2016 to celebrate the 'Birth of DADA'
Group exhibition at the Merzbarn residency in May 2015
Red Mother
from The Egg, the Womb, the Head and the Moon
The Egg, the Womb, the Head and the Moon
Website to show existing work and research-driven practice about the maternal by the Mewe arts collective.
Exhibition in May 2015 at Artsmill
Hebden Bridge
2 0 1 4
BAA SHOW
Group exhibition and launch of the BAA Project
Bury Art Museum
August / September 2014
In Time Over Time
Group show
Neo Gallery
Bolton
July / August 2014
New Mills Arts Festival
Art Trail commission
June 2014
The Bedroom
Sculpture Installation Solo show
Stockport War memorial Art Gallery
May 2014
2 0 1 3
152nd Open Exhibition
The Society of Women Artists (SWA)
Mall Galleries, London
June/July 2013
Altrincham Arts Festival
Installation at River Island empty shop fitting rooms
Revelation
Group Show
Cupola Gallery
Sheffield
Dec - Feb 2013
2 0 1 2
The Uncanny
Group show
Chapel Gallery
Ormskirk
Sept - Nov 2012
The Darkening Green
Solo Show
Domino Gallery Liverpool
July – Sept 2012
The Echoing Green
Commissioned installation for Barnaby Festival
King Edward Street Chapel
Macclesfield
Residencies
MerzBarn Residency
Weekend residency at the MerzBarn Project - Kurt Schwitters in England. Cylinders Estate, Elterwater, Cumbria, UK, LA22 9JB.
May 2015
Babayan CultureHouse Residency
Two week installation art residency at Babayan CultureHouse, Ibrahimpasa, Ürgüp, Turkey. An invitation to make work in the volcanic
landscape and caves of Cappadocia.
September 2014
AA2A
Artists Access to Art Colleges Scheme hosted by Salford University.
Making work within the environment of the Visual Arts BA studios,
Sept 2009 – 2010
School Workshops
Sacred Heart Primary, Gorton, day workshop, June 2015
Parklands High School, Chorley, 3 day project, July 2015
Kingsway High School, 2014
Wilmslow High school, 2013
Human-like sculpture at the entrance of a cave in Ürgüp, Turkey