Insight into another artist’s studio residency
I went to an inspiring talk in Matt Clarks studio last night. It was very interesting hearing about his studio bursary and what he has been able to do in the studio over the last year and a bit.
Matt (http://www.mattclarksculpture.co.uk) got the studio off the back of the School of Saatchi TV show and it is partly supported by Kensington and Chelsea council Culture Service.
Having previously done mostly installation work, he has spent the time in the studio developing more object based work. I was interested in the way he spoke about the space, with a whimsical affection, and how tied he felt his new way of working was to the space.
I quized Matt on timings – he really had developed a body of work that hung together and he was doing something interesting with. I was interested in how that had developed. He said he had effectively started working in the studio in about Feb last year and developed various ideas and works, but that it was really in September that the work he was showing us had started. The earlier work had been very important in leading to what he was doing. His girlfriend also said that lots of the pieces had been done very recently. It seemed like things had started coming together and was sort of snowballing into more and more inspiration and activity, but that it had almost taken 9 months to get to that point…
He had also managed to extend what had been a year, into two years, which he as really happy about as he felt that he was really getting into the work when it was originally due to stop.
This makes me a bit stressed about getting on with my residency (only 1 year with a birth in the middle!). But also made me think about initially developing ways of working and ideas, and not worry about results or finished works for a while…
This last thought may also be linked to something else I heard this week:
“free up and forget about results, and (do something that we) did as children, be completely creative and open to new ideas”
[This is at the end of Almuth Tebbenhoff video about her drawing workshop for proffessional artist: http://www.tebbenhoff.org/artclassvideo.php really worth watching, very interesting]
Meanwhile life and admin have still been getting in the way of me getting into the studio. Friday I finished the studio move and my assistant James was a star, helping me shift my boxes of sculptures into my attic, and the bigger ones into some storage I’ve got access to. The weekend was spent sleeping and trying to recover – on sunday I had wanted to visit my father who was in hospital after a big operation but I guiltily ended up just sleeping all day (and I think my bump is bigger as a result!)
This week:
Monday am: cleaned my old studio, bank, replaced bulb on car, parking permit
Pm: in studio pewter casting
Tues – teaching
Wed – am son sick, waiting for GP appnt, pm he was better so left w sister-in-law and finished pewter casts in studio, then went to talk in evening
Thurs, today – son has been worse overnight, had to cancel teaching, currently monitoring him and worried might have to go into A&E soon… but meanwhile we’re both watching cbeebies and I’m trying to write this.
Tomorrow morning I fly to Italy. This is to do the chasing on my bronze Pyruvate Kinase (I’ve sold the original that was cast from the wax, so this is the 1/8). It is going to be in an exhibition of RBS members work in Pietrasanta (Mar-Apr), along with some smaller works I’m taking with me on the plane tomorrow. I’ll be there for 6 days and will also catch the DonnaScultura show that opens this weekend. I’m wondering whether I should ship my moulds back to the UK to get cast here, but it is nice to maintain the like to Pietrasanta and the amazing community of sculptors there.
I can’t believe when I get back it is then the last week in February! Time’s flying…
