For the next 12 months I will be an artist in residence at a quarry. I hope to open up a dialogue about working in heavy industry as an artist. This residency has been made possible through the support of both SAFLE and Tarmac.
OPEN STUDIO
‘Letting the Light in…’
Justine Cook has been artist in residence at Gore Quarry over the last 12 months. It is possibly the first residency of it’s kind and Justine will be opening her studio as it comes to an end.
She will be showing studio works, experiments, comments and thoughts on her response to the working quarry. By opening her studio Justine will share her reactions to the harsh environment, her understanding of the process and her exploration of ‘letting the light in’. She is now working on a film which will form the culmination of her residency.
She will be creating an online exhibition of the work created during the residency in the near future.
The project has been supported by Tarmac and Arts Council Wales.
The studio will be open everyday 11am-5pm, 10th-18th September as part of H-art. Look for the pink signs just off the A44.
Hope to see you there!
Too long away…
Equinox
Yesterday was the first day of Spring.
I have placed two stone pieces outside my studio in full sun. My intention is to leave them there from the Spring Equinox to the Autumn Equinox and trace the daylight by the shadow it creates on the stones over that period.
The quarry residency work is becoming more about light and the passage of time.
The day after my last post I was taken ill with pneumonia and hospitalised. I thought only old or compromised people got pneumonia not fit healthy people! Anyway, it’s taken a while to get back on top of things and all I’ve managed this month is a couple of meetings. I’ve no more funding for the project but I’m still commited to it. Sound familiar?
I’m still really excited about the project and trying to convince Tarmac that letting other artists experience this environment would be amazing.
I walked along the footpath by my studio yesterday and found a crow’s skull – crow’s are sort of a motif for the project. The only carving I created so far is of a crow’s head.
I’m looking forward to getting back into the studio. I’m now allowed back into dusty places (with masks), so onwards and upwards….
On Sunday I was allowed into the quarry on my own for the first time. It was a gloriously sunny day with crisp white snow underfoot. Magical. I got to wander around and just look and think for an hour and a half.
The stillness was only broken by stones running off and bird calls. I found tracks of animals scaling quite high mounds of stones. The landscape had a sense of otherness. A world apart.
I got to do want I’d wanted to do from the beginning. I walked into and stood in the heart of the hill. Figures appeared out of the rocks like carvings on Chartres Cathedral; opened up by quarrying, stone was seeing light for the first time.
