I think my dad has had all his tests for now. While waiting for him to emerge from his last scan, I started talking to someone in the waiting room who turned out to be a former local journalist (working for a paper in Dover), now freelance writer. I suppose the chances of meeting someone with connections to the people I know are now quite high but it really did go to show that the “small world” cliche is a cliche for a reason.
I can’t help thinking that this one is baring its teeth at me. My dad has been in a lot of pain and seeing what he has been going through – “wear and tear pain” according to the doctor – makes me wonder if that is what is coming for me too, once the osteoarthritis starts to take more of a toll.
My father is at the age when he seems to be either at the doctor’s or at the hospital for tests and I feel like I am running from one meeting to the next and taking him to his appointments in between. In reality it is not as bad as that, but still, a couple of hours in the studio to create a quiet space of my own out of scraps of paper is a welcome opportunity to still the rushing about of my mind. But I can’t help wondering how long he still has and wishing that he will have time to enjoy the new bungalow he and my mother are moving to in the next few weeks (provided all goes to plan).
In the spirit of trying to create better titles this year I am trying to relate them to everyday experience and to eents going on at the time the work was made, because although the work is not consciously illustrative of a particular moment or event, it must somehow relate. At the same time, I don’t want the title to tie the work down. So, for this one, I’ve been thinking about the difference between a surprise and a shock, surprise gifts and the effort it takes to keep a planned surprise secret and not give the game away. So maybe something like “…nearly giving the game away”
Clare Smith's mixed English/Chinese heritage informs her perspective on issues of identity and categorisation. Her nomadic childhood and early adulthood have meant a somewhat ambivalent relationship to place, reinforced by the sense of ambiguity that comes from her mixed identity. Smith works with drawing, print media, collage and moving image to investigate this ambivalence, with references to craft, the importance of labour and the handmade. Through her choice of materials and approaches, she creates work which attempts to create a sense of unity, an interpretation of Homi Bhabha's "Third Space" - seen as a space in which different parts can come together to challenge dominant ideas of wholeness. Collaboration is part of Smith’s practice and she is also co-founder of Dover Arts Development (DAD) together with painter, Joanna Jones. This involves working with many different artists, curation, organisation, event management, creating networks across East Kent and influencing the public realm in Dover. Clare works from a studio in Dover. She has an MA in Fine Art from Central Saint Martins and has exhibited nationally and internationally.
