I’m reminded that I’m someone who likes order and structure. These things have been rather absent from my life recently and I have found it very unsettling and stressful. When I look at the next few months it seems completely crazy to think that I could be ready to move to Sweden by March, but if I stop thinking and starting doing I’m sure it will be possible.
I want to find ways to keep making things. Last night I went to an exhibition and open studio not too far from home. The studio runs screen-printing courses which four friends have done and really enjoyed. I’m thinking of doing a course myself. It could be a good way to do something creative and I enjoy learning new skills. Just starting to think about printing has made me realise how material based (rather than image based) I am – it’s a challenge to start thinking about working in 2D.
• do something completely different and new
• something 2D in relation to my installations/sculptures
• just play!
• start and see what happens
It would be great to see if I can make artworks that might be more readily exhibited, or even sold!
Betweenness
Catching up with a-n and other magazines that stack up during the months I’m travelling between London and Stockholm is a strange experience these days. I’m starting to feel a distance from some of the current discussions and debates that are UK specific, and at the same time I have opinions about things and want to talk them through. The situation isn’t helped by not having a studio and not regularly spending time in the company of other artists. Online forums are not the same as sitting in a studio and chatting over coffee. I’m looking forward to settling down in the not to distant future and getting involved and active again.
I’m going to see if I can go on the waiting list for a studio at wip:sthlm. Not only do I want a studio there but I want to be on the artists’ management board – I’d like to be involved in running the residence studio.
My presence at the Supermarket art fair continues to grow! Robert Ekholm (artist and Michael Petry’s assistant at MOCA London) has invited me to one of the artists representing MOCA at the fair next year. I really like Supermarket and I’m looking forward to being there again. I’ve also been asked to be do the children’s snow sculpture again – of course I said YES!
Supermarket is in late February (18-20) and the snow sculpture project is at the beginning of March so it looks like I’ll be in Stockholm for about three weeks in total – there’s no idea to come back to London for six days between the two events, not unless I get offered some very lucrative work.
Things are coming together for next year. I’ve just received the dates for a group show – it’ll open on March 18. I’m really pleased that the date doesn’t clash with things in Stockholm.
If anyone is going to be in Stockholm before December 12 I recommend seeing “Trice Upon a Time” at Magasin 3. It’s the first time Magasin 3 have shown work from their own collection. For me it was really exciting and interesting to see such breadth and depth of work. The curation and presentation is really good, in addition to contextual information about each of the three “chapters” of the show there are texts alongside certain pieces that explicitly state that those particular artworks could, with different curation, be equally valid in another chapter. What I really appreciated was that these text (and the others) were so well written, they balanced being informative and accessible with being challenging and (dare I say it) adult. It seemed to me that the educative material in the show was intended for an interested adult rather than for child or first time gallery visitor. It was wonderfully refreshing to be in a public gallery that acknowledges the artist as part of its audience!
