What’s next
What’s next?
How can I begin to process this mass of visual information and inspiration I acquired while on residency in Florence? I’m still reeling from the unsettling duality of woman’s position in Italy, and the mass amount of historical objects, some granted a position of adoration and some left to decay down the graffitied side streets. How will I take what I experienced in Italy and apply it here in the UK? What will come out of the commonalities and tensions between the ritualised Catholic religion of Tuscan life and the rural lore and superstitions I’ve found here.
I spent Christmas with my family in the North of England and already I could feel the Italian ideas of ritual and idol pumping through my work. Small pilgrimages out to the woods led to a playful take on shrines; using birthday candles, pop socks and bacon to build miniature offerings to fallacious deities. I want to push this further mimicking the market shops at Piazza dei Chompi, enjoying how the accumulation of everyday objects built up into a bizarre alters to the obsolete and outdated. Tools becoming detached from their original purpose as they become appreciated for aesthetics alone and get recycled into new instruments.
A couple of weeks ago I met with Will Maclean, Bill Scott and Dick Cannon in Edinburgh to submit the work produced in Florence. I handed over a book I’d produced showcasing my 35mm photographs and I can now proudly say that I have work in the Royal Scottish Academy Permanent Collection. The day was also a chance to catch up with the other John Kinross Scholars and talk about the London show, which has now be officially titled ’WHEN THE MOON HITS YOUR EYE’. It’s all getting rather exciting and although the RSA can’t offer us any financial support, they’ve kindly offered to promote the show on their website which is brilliant.
So for now it’s on with the art making and on with the art showing! What surprised me while I was away was the how valuable this blog was as a tool for clarifying my thoughts. So with that in mind I’m going to keep up dating this a-n blog as I work on my show in London and seek out further artistic endeavours.
Now, to get a studio, and a job, and a flat… perhaps not in that order…
