Well where did the time go? The last few months have flown by and I’m pleased to say that my first solo show, ‘Firmament’ is taking place this week at Thirtyfive Gamble in Nottingham.
It feels like its been a mammoth trip, both mentally and physically but I’m excited with what I’ve achieved so far and can’t wait to see it all set up at the venue! Bring on Thursday when it’s time to set it all up!
The show is taking place at Thirtyfive Gamble, 35 Gamble Street, Nottingham, NG7 4EY. Thirtyfive Gamble is an independent studio, gallery and community space in the centre of Nottingham. It’s such a lovely venue, a bit quirky and Sue Turton who runs it is lovely and relaxed!
I’ve put together a mix of work, the one I’m really excited about is a large petri latex installation featuring 80 petri dishes in 10 colour ways. The piece was two months in the making from conception through to implementation. It made me quite emotional as I wanted the whole piece to work but also for each of the dishes to work on its own. Once I saw the finished pieces mounted in the MDF I was thrilled and can’t wait to see it mounted over a window at Thirtyfive Gamble.
This is one of 9 light installations (from over 150 petri dishes) that will feature at the show
To complement the petri latex light installations there are a range of my works on paper which are all concerned with energy and motion, trying to capture the invisible and obscured. All the pieces are framed and ready to go, its great to see them all complete. I’m hoping that they will be vibrant and evocative companions to the light installations.
Firmament Show Information
Firmament is taking place at Thirtyfive Gamble in Nottingham on the 28th and 29th of October (10.30-18.30 Saturday – 10.30- 16.30 Sunday) and the Private View is at 18.30 on the 27th of October! Hopefully see some of you there!
Hope to see you there!
Now that there is less than a month to go I’m busy ticking items off what seems like a never ending checklist. There’s a lot to think about from advertising it, finishing the work and thinking about how it’s all going to fit together when it is time to set it all up. It brings up all the emotions and reactions that we develop through life and seems to shine them up to be considered. It’s an emotional roller coaster but one that will be worth it in the end.
The process is making me take some big steps in how I’ve historically added value to my work and how I perceive it. There will be various framed works on paper, am really looking forward to seeing them all ‘finished’; sometimes I think its not till this point that one can really evaluate its success. One of the pieces has a much more emotional connection; it was my first large work on paper – a diptych, each piece 1.5m high. It means a lot to me but I’ve never seen it fully finished, the last time it was shown it was just tacked onto a wall so this time it will, for me at least, a much bigger deal.
Visiting the framer felt like a huge obstacle, and not just for my wallet. Considering the effect I wanted, how the frame relates to the images and many more questions, formed part of a great discussion and I’m happy with my choices. There will be two distinct types of frames that I hope will work well with each other and the light installations, a sample is shown on the left.
The one piece that is taking up a lot of time and mind space is the showcase piece; 80 dishes in a large cluster. I’m using a set recipe to make all the dishes with several points when unique colours are added to differentiate how they fit together. It’s really exciting as it puts me in a meditative space where the process takes over completely and I become obsessed with what I’m doing. I’ve done 8 of the sets so far and they’re coming together nicely, each one a little world with its own identity and feeling. The picture in the gallery shows 80 in various stages of drying.
As I navigate this process I’m using it as an opportunity to not just present my work but to also look at my work pragmatically, to consider where I’ve come from, what I’ve achieved and where I can go in the future. It feels good to not just be making but to think about it all too.
One thing I like to do is to look closely at what I’m making in the moment, the single dish in the gallery is right at the beginning of the process before the accent colour was added. It contains so much potential at this stage, there is more work to do on it, its’ just forming and my actions are creating something truly unique. I love that what you see here will completely change, once the white of the latex disappears its true essence will appear and I’ll be able to evaluate the success of the set as a whole.
More posts will be coming up in the next weeks so watch this space!
