Introduction to the Induction
I feel like a student again going to university for the first time. The Fine Art Department at The University of Salford is a neat and compact building made up of studios, workshops and project spaces. After our quick tour around the building I got to have a lunch with another AA2A’er John Powell Jones who is an illustrator & designer (http://www.savwo.co.uk/home/). It’s always nice to see who else is involved in the residency and get to know new artists. From this introduction the residency feels very open and flexible which suits the way I work. My mind is going already thinking of ways to engage the students with my work and adapting my ideas to the space. I thought I would need a studio space, however the project spaces feel a better fit. I tend to only use the studio to accumulate materials and make props for a performance, which happens just before the live piece. Most of my research is done online and outside of the studio. I plan to work towards a project one day a week that will be shown at the university. At the moment I am fixated with this image I happened to come across titled ‘An oriental (Turkish/Algerian) woman’ by the artist Jose Camarón. I like the title of the piece and the contrasting figures of the lady in the fore ground demanding my gaze and the servant waiting in the background. I wonder if the title of the piece came from the artist or has been named by someone else as I don’t believe the forward slash was invented back in those days…
