CAROLINE ALLEN: BAIR residency
The Banff Centre residency was recommended to me by my University of Brighton tutor, Jacqui Chanarin, who had completed the residency a few years previously. Having recently graduated I was really looking to expand my portfolio somewhere that had resources already in place. I also needed some technical guidance to support my transition from student to practitioner. It was important to meet artists from outside of my own network and discipline, for an insight into how artists from other countries and institutions approach their practice.
At university we were expected to follow many guidelines and criteria which inevitably effected our work, I wanted to realise some of the ideas that did not meet this criteria, that I had developed during this time; the freedom to explore just for the love of making.
My agenda was also to achieve more balance in regard to my work/life relationship—to be able to not make without feeling the guilt. Being in Banff, with the mountains and lakes and hedonistic social element demonstrated that you can be a ceramicist and talk to real human people and go outside sometimes too!
When I arrived I was really overwhelmed by the number of people at the centre. Having lived in quiet solitude for the previous year I found social interaction really challenging. Being forced to communicate with strangers really helped my confidence and was especially revitalising.
Being around such inspiring artists made me realise that you can achieve whatever you set your mind to, which was incredible motivating. Having critical dialogue with such a diverse range of people has enabled me to consider my work from different aspects. It was so interesting engaging with artists on the thematic residency (experimental comedy boot camp) that ran parallel to my own. Seeing different approaches to visual art, significantly changed my own attitudes to my own work and the work of others. It also gave me a clearer understanding about what my work is not about, which is just as helpful.
I am now more focused on producing work that enables social cohesion by making objects that facilitate interaction, social engagement, mutually beneficial exchange and enable ‘togetherness’, which I credit to extensive informal critiques with Lee Campbell, who challenged me to really explore what my work is about.
Being surrounded by mountains made everything I made, seem very small and insignificant! The seasons seemed to change so quickly from hot sun to autumn through to snowy winter, meaning that I lost all sense of time. I felt like I was there for such a long time which meant I approached my work with a much more relaxed attitude. Being outdoors so much enabled a lot of reflection time away from the studio, which helped give perspective. I loved the environment and the sense of freedom.
I think the residency was a little expensive as it was self-directed. Making funding available for self-directed artists would perhaps mean that a more diverse social demographic were able to attend, which would be really enriching—I think it would have been inspiring to meet people from wider cultural backgrounds.
