Combining the natural with the unnatural

Setup for critique

I took the group critique as an opportunity to gain some feedback on the various experiments I have been doing in the studio with food. I set up my space with a variety of sculptures, collages and drawings.

I wanted to display the small sculptures in a way that they could be scrutinised from all angles. The stands that I made for speakers for a previous installation are an ideal height to view the sculptures, so I placed a plank of wood on top of the stands and used it as a makeshift plinth.

Earlier in the week I used the large scale digital printer to print one of the photographs of the sculptures.

I also hung a new work; a bird feeder bag filled with rainbow drops as opposed to the natural peanuts or seeds that are usually contained within bird feeders. 

Pumpkin seed sculpture

Back in the studio

After handing in my dissertation on Friday, and completing my tax return this weekend, it felt great to have a full day in the studio.

I must admit that I feel a little anxious about making work as it feels like I have lost touch with my studio work over the month of January.

So I started to cut out images from magazines and create new images from these. I believe that i just need to get back into making and things will begin to happen!

B. Wurtz exhibition at BALTIC

"American artist B. Wurtz is best known for his carefully assembled sculptures and installations made of a wide range of commonplace, discarded materials. A prideful appreciator of lowly objects, his practice is highly concerned with the ethics of re-use, yet is also highly engaged with art history.



Meticulous structures made from food wrappers, plastic carrier bags, shoelaces, locks, mop handles, takeaway trays, mesh bags and wooden blocks all, in some way, refer back to the human essentials of food, shelter and clothing. Highlighting the overlooked, never allowing the visitor to lose sight of what the pieces are made of, and how they are put together, Wurtz’s works succeed in channelling the many possibilities of these everyday materials."

http://www.balticmill.com/whats-on/b-wurtz



Prior to visiting this exhibition I was not familiar with the work of B.Wurtz, and somehow this made the exhibition even more enjoyable. However, I must admit that, feeling a bit frustrated, I couldn't help thinking "if only I had done that!"



Despite the serious, considered and formal quality of the work, Wurtz uses materials in a playful manner, altering their function, and changing the context in which they usually are found.



Wurtz executes his ideas with rigour and commitment. In order for this work to have the impact that it does, it was important that he filled the space and used such a range of aluminium trays. It is through the mass that we appreciate the uniqueness of each individual item.





Ordinary objects and materials are given significance through their formal compositions.



Balance - Fragility - Precision - Instability - Elegance

Skeletal cereal plant

Surface of Cheerios

I recently purchased a glue gun along with a supply of coloured glue sticks. My urge to use the gold glue stick led me to creating a surface consisting of Cheerios and Cocoa Cheerios.

New species of seaweed

Some ongoing experiments

Encased clusters of gem-like sweetie seeds

A new species of physalis fruit

Change of base

Following the cross year exhibition in the Long Gallery, one of the comments raised about my work was that the base of the sculpture was made from the same materials as the 'flowers' attached to the tomato vine.

I therefore decided to make a sculpture that had a base made from different materials than the 'flowers':

In this instance the base is made from Shreddies, Coco Shreddies, Cheerios, Choco Wheels, and Golden Nuggets, whereas the 'flowers' are made from Rainbow Drops.

Cross year exhibition number 4 in the Long Gallery, Newcastle University

The start of this academic year at Newcastle University saw the launch of the cross year exhibition. Every week, one Fine Art student from each year (both Undergraduate and Postgraduate) participate in a group exhibition in the Long Gallery. The group meets on Monday afternoon to discuss the curation of the exhibition. The artists then install their work, and the exhibition opens at 5pm on Monday night. Each Wednesday morning a crit is held in the Long Gallery in which the exhibiting artists, along with anyone else who wishes to join in, discuss the work included in the exhibition. The exhibition is destalled on Wednesday afternoon.

The cross year exhibition is a great way of meeting students from the other years and establishing links with each other. The emphasis is on the artists taking part to organise and curate the exhibition and lead the crits, often without the involvement of staff. The cross year exhibition is a great opportunity to test out work in an gallery setting, without it being too pressurised, and with support.

I presented 2 works, both made from food items such as cereals, marshmallows, liquorice all sorts, crisp breads and the stalks from vine tomato. 

One sculpture was fairly small, and was positioned off-centre on a rather large rectangular white plinth. 

The other taller sculpture was placed on another plinth, the same size, shape and colour as the other plinth used. The larger sculpture was encased in a bell jar, whereas the other sculpture was uncovered. 

I positioned the plinths at opposite ends of the gallery so that each sculpture could be enjoyed in its own right, rather than being in a direct comparison with each other.

I had tried having the smaller sculpture covered by the bell jar (see below), but I felt it was swamped by the jar.

I had also tried positioning the sculpture in the centre of the plinth, but I chose to position it closer to an edge as I thought the sculpture had more character then as it appeared, to me, to be slightly mischievous.

I also tried having the larger sculpture without the bell jar, but I was interested in getting feedback from people about the effect that the bell jar has on their reading of the work.