With the end of the Mythomania project upon me (it finishes today). I’ve decided to make this the last official post. I’d hoped to chronicle much more of the project, including the production of the final work – but time has just passed so amazingly fast.
One thing I’ve discovered with this project is that new, experimental work takes far, far longer than expected. Something can make perfect sense in your mind but if you’ve never done it before then it can often prove to be much tricker than you imagined – or involve hidden steps. This is definitely the case with my fabric sculptures…I honestly had no idea what I was in for!
At the same time, it’s been the most rewarding artistic experience I’ve had in years. I’ve been itching to have some time to just create my own work (i.e. work not constrained by somebody else’s brief) and to try out some new ideas. This project, and the Arts Council England funding that came with it, has been a transformative moment in my practice – sending it off in a whole new direction.
There have been two immediate positive outcomes of this project that have happened already. The first is that MYTHOMANIA is going to become a touring exhibition, and will be on display at galleries around England over the next year or more – the first happening this Spring (details to be announced soon).
The second outcome of this is a new major commission I’ve received involving the production of a large piece of ‘sculptural furniture’. Because I’d successfully produced some cloth-based work for MYTHOMANIA, I was able to effectively propose to do something similar for this new commission. But this time, it also involves wooden elements and foam – things I’ve never worked with before, and which I’m excited to engage with.
One of the real joys of being an artist is getting to challenge yourself – and propose to achieve things that you don’t even necessarily know how to do. And when you get the project, you have to learn everything, and experiment, and push yourself beyond your comfort limits. That’s what MYTHOMANIA has been all about for me. For this reason I’m very sad that it’s finally coming to an end – but I’m really excited for the future things it’s made possible.
In conclusion I just want to say thanks so much to Dominic Mason and Janine Parrish at 20-21 Visual Arts Centre, who invited me to exhibit in their gallery – and who supported me through the Arts Council application process. I would also like to thank all of the other staff at 20-21 for all their incredible help with administrative, technical and logistical issues – before, during, and after the show. I would of course like to thank Arts Council England for their funding support, without which I couldn’t have done any of this project (their telephone support staff has also been amazing in terms of helping me at various points in the process). Finally I would like to thank my wife Sara, who has supported me the whole way and has been incredibly patient during these many stressful days and weeks and months. Thank you all so much!
