I have hit life in UK back with a bump, and although I am enjoying the food and company, I have all the job/home/studios issues to sort out as expected.
I arrived back to Chongqing from Xian on the 9th July, where I met Helen, the next resident practitioner at 501, so we had a good chat about logistics etc of navigating the residency. True to form, a lunch hosted by YanYan’s friend turned out to be a banquet for around twelve people including students, a soldier, a Texan man, a lively chinese/italian/american lady and a range of wives. Never a dull moment in HuangJuePing. The last evening we spent with a few European artists, and stayed with YanYan. In the morning Shu Wen cooked us a lovely breakfast and we took the plane to Hong Kong for one night, and then next morning a very bumpy flight, with an even bumpier landing back to Heathrow. After many hours travelling, we arrived back at Manchester airport ready for a long sleep.
So far since returning, I have been cleaning clothes, looking for work, following up possible job leads, and trying to get all my China affairs into order. I managed to transport all my drawings safely in hand luggage with no extra cost, so I need to get some good shots of these for my website and applications. I am also heading down to London at the end of next week to give an artists talk at the Camden Arts Centre, which focuses on recording and disseminating your practice, as well as a lightning paper at the INTERFACE conference at UCL. So I really need to get going on preparing for these. I will also be doing a little freelance work while down, having a group crit with fellow artists, and I need to start thinking about writing my evaluation for the Arts Council. I have a group show in October (three artists – myself, Hannah Westwood and Harriet Hill), and I need to have some meetings to start on research.
I am hopefully seeing a studio at Mirabel Studios in Manchester next week, so I hope its a winner, as I would like to get into a space asap. So much to get on with, so many ideas, it is a good position to be in..
(The photographs are from the Muslim mosque in Xian, China)
