This is work in progress I think – I’ve been trying to work bigger (approx. 74x140cms) and also want to see how I can use printmaking as a means of mark making and/or keep a sense of repetition but maintain difference and individuality within the multiple. So there will be more of these to come and I am planning to layer them up even more, though I think I will leave this one as it is.
I have new charcoal drawings at Brew, Folkestone in BRINK, a group show curated by Karen Pamplin Browne.
BRINK
Brew is at 83 Cheriton Road, CT20 1DG and the exhibition runs until 21 October during opening hours. All the work is for sale.
Excuse the poor photo.
I will also have some monprints in Print Fair II at the Brewery Tap UCA project space, also in Folkestone, from 19-23 October.
The drawings and prints are all relate to Folkestone’s Lower Leas Coastal Park and reflect my continued interest in the theme of gardens – defined broadly to include public parks and other bounded constructed natural spaces – as sites of invisible labour, a theme I began to explore during my residency with the Wealden Literary Festival 2017.
I have discovered some amazing new frames from Germany – They are magnetic and are so easy to use; it means work can be exchanged with no hassle and there is an option to make them more secure. The only difficult bit is working out the size and mount etc. Also I had a bit of trouble initially understanding what was meant by insert frame, but actually it is just a way of creating a distance within the frame for pieces that are not float mounted so that the glass doesn’t touch the work. They are not cheap but by being able to swap work around (has to be the same size obviously), I think I will save money in the end. The mid-grey aluminium finish is working beautifully for my charcoal drawings that I am showing as part of BRINK (pic to come).
Apart from that I’ve been teaching myself to mount my work on Chinese paper using wheat starch and another think piece of Chinese paper. It is a bit or rather highly risky but I’m getting better at it.
Rather dreading the prospect of a knee replacement and not being able to get to the studio much next year, so strategy needed for work I can do sitting down!
It’s not always about work ….. Yesterday was about enjoying a BBQ in the fierce afternoon sun as a farewell party for one of the studio holders … But today it was back to work in the studio, trying out some combined monoprints from a collograph plate and a drypoint plate. These are on Xuan paper using water-based inks.
Was down in Folkestone again today and did this drawing, following the 3 rules I’ve set myself. The element of time is probably the most important rule – the drawing ends when the time is up rather than when I think or feel it might be finished and also I don’t allow myself to judge it early on as not working and so find an excuse to scrap it and start again; the drawing becomes a kind of commitment rather than a gesture.
Clare Smith's mixed English/Chinese heritage informs her perspective on issues of identity and categorisation. Her nomadic childhood and early adulthood have meant a somewhat ambivalent relationship to place, reinforced by the sense of ambiguity that comes from her mixed identity. Smith works with drawing, print media, collage and moving image to investigate this ambivalence, with references to craft, the importance of labour and the handmade. Through her choice of materials and approaches, she creates work which attempts to create a sense of unity, an interpretation of Homi Bhabha's "Third Space" - seen as a space in which different parts can come together to challenge dominant ideas of wholeness. Collaboration is part of Smith’s practice and she is also co-founder of Dover Arts Development (DAD) together with painter, Joanna Jones. This involves working with many different artists, curation, organisation, event management, creating networks across East Kent and influencing the public realm in Dover. Clare works from a studio in Dover. She has an MA in Fine Art from Central Saint Martins and has exhibited nationally and internationally.
