Ma (The Space in Between)

This is my graduating MA degree show at UWTSD, June 2014.

I loved the MA had an amazing time and met some fantastic people. The work I created for the end of year show evolved from the ‘Loose Lips Sink Ships’ at the Mission Gallery.

I created an installation made from thick black felt which I funded through kickstarter. The ‘cave’ I created was loosely modelled from the form of a boat turned on it’s side and made up of many pleats. The material and structure that create the form make the space really warm, dark and quiet. The black felt and the folds absorb the light and the sound creating a silent opening to seek refuge.

July 2014

The MA finished with ‘Where Silence Gathers’, an installation which evolved from the ‘Loose Lips’.

Here it is in progress during construction:

The role arrived. The excitement starts. It’s so big, I look up to it as it towers above me as work out how to move it.

I unroll it on the table. The length oh so long, the three tables end to end do not hold it the entirety of it. They try to help, but like most things ‘I want to do it on my self, by my own’.

With focused determination I begin the task of measuring, cutting, folding. Aware that every time I cut I am cutting off several pounds, that thought makes me feel slightly nauseous. The first half is folded, pinned and clipped in place. I feel accomplishment, content by the consumption of making.

Three needles snap. I am not deterred, I keep going. I Heave it onto my shoulder each time like a dead weight. Drag it across the space between the doors, from mapping to construction. It is a struggle, the weight drags. I fold it, I roll it, develop a technique.

The two halves are ready to come together. To thick to machine sew, I begin the hated labour of love that is hand stitching. I start, I un-pick. I start again, I unpick. Hours are lost but skill is developing. Two false starts but I am off. It may not be perfect but as long as it holds. Days of sewing go by. The skin on my fingers once sore have now thickened.

Finally done, it looks ready. I won’t be happy with it though until the details are perfect. That can wait till it is installed. I wrestle to turn it inside out. The shape not as rounded as I hoped. The space inside perfect, the folds echo as the decrease. The seam creating an even greater sense of interiority, of being inside. I will have to wait to step into my folds, my mouth, my vessel, my boat….

Co-respondents

MA contemporary dialogues group show, Mission Gallery, March 2014

Co—Respondents is a show that highlights one of the guiding principles behind the successful MA Contemporary Dialogues Art & Design programme at the Swansea Metropolitan campus of the University of Wales Trinity Saint David.

Curated by Angela Maddock and Catrin Webster

‘These lips might sink ships but loose gooses take trips…’

– Loose Lips, Kimya Dawson

My journey to this exhibition began with these lyrics. Listening to this song on a long train journey to visit family, the words became my starting point for Co-Respondents project and my continued research surrounding the mouth and lips. The phrase ‘loose lips sinks ships’ derives from the Second World War, it was used in advertising campaigns, aimed mainly at women, to discourage idol gossip that could cost lives.

These soft boat-like sculptures represent a means of travel, of getting from A to B, not only physically but also through language and ideas. The limp vessels that I have created are literally loose lips that can be altered and manipulated to create new forms and meanings. The calico used to created the sculptures references the toile, a test sample of a garment made by designers. The quality of calico means that the object is less precious inviting play and ease of alteration, while the lack of colour or print enables the design to be viewed in its purest form.

 

March 2014

This year I have been working towards completing my MA, I am about to come to the end and building up towards my end of year exhibition in June.

These are my trials for the loose lips that I made for Co-respondants at the Mission Gallery