First Bristol meeting (1)
I just had my first trip up to Bristol. As well as the excitement of a museum project/solo show on the horizon, there is also the added bonus of some really good friends plus some family who live there who I will now get to see on a regular basis for the next year.
I met with Julia Carver, who is the assistant curator at the museum and my main contact. She seems very sensitive and open and looks like a pre-raphaellite painting, with a wonderful profile and poetic demeanour. I also met the Exhibitions Manager Phil, Reetha who works in the community development section and Louise who is the Learning /Participation Officer. There is a lot to plan for so we talked over some practical issues plus some ideas based on my proposal, which will no doubt develop and adapt to the space and audience (especially having just done The Bibliomancer’s Dream’ at Southbank where I learnt a lot about interactive work in densely occupied spaces!).
Julia showed me around the museum, it is a beautiful space and has been carefully curated with an emphasis on appealing to families. What do I remember? A David Bomberg painting (the teacher of my first drawing teacher, Roy Oxlade) among a collection of interesting modern work, an array of large stuffed animals, a small deep blue glass vessel, the old maps of Bristol around the first floor atrium space, the enormous books in the curators office, as tall as my daughter.
I have till September to research and develop my ideas to a point where we can start to plan the exhibition and start talking with the 3D designer, the marketing team etc. That isn’t really very long although the seed of this idea has been with me for many years and I think it will find its form comfortably within this time.
I am also back in the studio continuing to work on my ‘Gifts of the Departed’ series which I realise is very much related to this project and has pre-empted it in some way. For the selection we had to take an object along and I took my first piece in the series, apprehensive as to the reaction since it feels so new. The response was very positive and this has helped me to decide on investing in a good chunk of time over the next few months to make a series of up to 20 pieces. I enjoy the relied of working with my hands on something small after so many big commissions and teams of people over the last year, it is a real and intimate treat. Also, having a space in Pop-up studios here in the old fire brigade buildings overlooking the river in Lewes here is such a privilege and gives me the space I need to really focus away from family and domestic /professional concerns.
