Linocut, work in progress

Being a resident at the Muse Gallery for the past two months has provided me with interesting interactions among artists and visitors, as well as with the opportunity to work on my practice in a concentrated and methodic manner. It has been intriguing to present my work in all its various stages of production from beginning to end and invite meaningful dialogue with the viewer.

I consider the opportunity of practicing my art within the Muse Gallery as a time of communication and sharing. I always aim to develop my practice within shared studios and I consider working alongside my fellow residents as a great source of motivation. The duality of the space, being both a gallery and a studio, offers an intriguing dynamic for my current ideas which are related to the elements of interaction and audience engagement. The programme not only has provided me with a much needed workspace, but also with the opportunity to meet and discuss with gallery visitors and to examine firsthand the public reaction to my practice.

The first work I have made within the Muse Gallery is a puzzle created from a linocut print under the title: The Endless Landscape Puzzle. The puzzle provides a space to test out the dynamics between the human element, geometry and structure, challenging the relationship between all three. This work reflects my interest in bridging the dichotomy between urban construction and the natural environment. The Endless Landscape presents the immense non-organic flows of life that constitute the landscape, such as mountains and seas, attempting to depict the environment in its pure state of wilderness and solitude. This powerful representation is being fragmented as a result of the equally strong presence of geometry, a symbol of the synthetic and human made. The puzzle’s complexity allows the viewers to interact with it from different aspects and comprehend it in multiple layers regarding its playfulness, form and lastly discovering the enclosed conflicts between the natural and the artificial.

Time at the beginning of The Muse residency has been spent diversifying the use of material and process. Casting is essential during construction, many of the materials are mixed, measured, and are essential to the concept. Recently, I have experimented with slip-casting, producing two and three-part plaster moulds, using a polyurethane maquette. I have trialed environmentally friendly alternatives to epoxy resin, including rice-starch variants.

Metal working is a new asset within the sculptures. Alongside The Muse Residency, I was fortunate to be awarded a scholarship with Morley College, enabling me to attend two casting workshops on bronze production. Pre-emptively I created a plaster and grog core sculpture coated in foundry wax. Bronze was cast into the plaster and grog mould and left to cool. The mould was smashed and the work cleaned. The sculpture is currently undergoing filing and refinement before considering a patina.

It will form part of a lager work produced for The Muse final exhibition.

Further metal experimentation includes working with titanium. Colouring titanium is achieved using heat via a blow torch or anodising techniques. Anodising involves placing the titanium into an amnion sulphate bath and running electric currents through the metal. The colour of the metal is dependent on the voltage running through it.

Glass working has also been trialed as a material, introducing techniques such as tacking and slumping in a kiln. A favourite process involves creating a stencil with ceramic fibre paper and placing it beneath the glass in the kiln to create a permanent indentation. Metals interact interestingly with the glass. Coppers for example change colour to either a deep maroon or aquamarine.

Printmaking has become an extension of drawing, its allowance for experimentation encourages fast-paced and diverse results. Techniques trialed include caustic etching, where exposed lino is placed into an acid bath and dissolved. Carborundum, where grit is mixed into a paste and applied to a plexiglass plate at different levels of intensity to create texture and shade. One preferred method to work with is metal etching, experimenting with ways of interfering with hard-ground on a zinc plate using solvents, water, dust, sand and touche.

Research has also been running alongside practical development. Upcoming artworks will continue to explore the value of orbital objects in outer space, critiquing the economic and political incentives for this form of expansion. Recent interests have extended to consider the ways apocalyptic narratives impact humanity’s approach to climate change. The research considers humanity’s psychological need to anticipate the future and theories on survival.