The Museletter - March 2021

Edition X March 2021 Editors Damian Rayne Gosia Malawska

About...

The Muse Gallery & Studio is proud to present a special nostalgia edition Museletter; a catalogue of work exploring past and current practices of our ex-resident artists (2004 to present day).

Over three editions, we’ll be publishing portfolios of alumni artwork; along with articles on arts practices and industry news.

The Museletter will be available online for free, and as a printed twenty-four page tabloid. To subscribe or order your self a printed copy, please go to: www.themuseat269.london for sales and subscriptions.

The Muse was established in 2003 as an artist-led organisation, supporting both gallery and studio elements. Our gallery is situated in the heart of North Kensington, amongst the Georgian houses of Portobello Market. We host an annual residency programme with subsidised studio space and further show opportunities for recent graduates. Throughout the year we open our doors to artists, curating the space to present a balance of emerging and established professionals.

In 2020 we are proud to support three new residents and a diverse list of national and international artists. We hope you enjoy a collection of work in this periodical; hopefully collectable images, whether online or printed — accessible art for our readership.

The Muse in 2021 Residency 2021 Competition group show

Yuichiro Kikuma Variations

Encounters Claudia Boese Jane Frederick Gosia Lapsa-Malawska Mary Romer

Paul Smith solo show

The MUSE Gallery (UK Charity for the arts No.1162300) 269, Portobello Rd. London W11 1LR www.themuseat269.com info@themuseat269.com Twitter: Muse_Gallery Instagram: Muse_at_269

We will be kickstarting our calendar again (once lockdown ebbs) with the 2021 residency competition group show; an exciting collective of graduate artists representing the volksgeist and vanguard of contemporary arts. This show features a short list of applicants for this years program; the six-month subsidised platform, ultimately awarded to three artists from the twelve showing. Although a tough stage of review, this exhibition is one of the highlights of our calendar; signifying the successful continuation of our manifesto and the seventeenth program since we were established.

The Muse will be continuing with online resources, tours, performances and community engagement throughout restrictions, so please explore our shop, socials and subscribe to receive invitations and free tickets for up and coming events. www.themuseat269.com/subscribe

Corinne Charton

(page 8) Following a career as a fashion model Corinne Charton decided to pursue her interest in art at Central Saint Martins with a BA (Hons) in Fine Art, 2003 and went on to complete her MA in Fine Art at Middlesex university in 2016. She has held three solo shows: The Muse at 269, London (2004) “Twin Obsession” ,StART SPACE, London (2006) and “Lips and Satire” The Muse at 269, London (2019) Her work is in public and private collections, including Central St Martins, University of the Arts London. www.corinnecharton.com

Pato (Patricio) Bosich

(page 9) Pato (Patricio) Bosich was born in Chile on April 1st, 1978. Graduated from Camberwell School of Arts in 2004, he is a London based contemporary artist whose practice is rooted in the tradition of painting and whose work brings about a vast interweaving of voices such as the mythological and symbolic as in his work with antiquity with the collections at the Britsh Museum and in his series ‘the dying Pythia’, the poetical and alchemical in the series ‘I bleed, you levitate me’, where golden planets ‘bleed’ strong reds and visit urban and visionary landscapes amidst abysses and levitating presences. There are also explorations of the human condition and of fragmentation and transvaluation in contemporary society which finds expression in the journeying into the sea and the unknown in his paintings of the ‘ship of fools’. www.patobosich.com

Cinnamon Heathcote Drury

(page 10) Cinnamon is a freelance photo-journalist specialising in portrait photography. She had her first solo show, “HOMO SAPIENS, a collection of men”, at Portobello Gold, November 2000, and has been a professional artist since her 20s, with 11 portraits acquired for the National Portrait Gallery’s permanent collection. She has been commissioned to work within HM The Queen’s private palaces photographing children and members of the Royal household. She has worked extensively offering her time and skills for charitable purposes, and is a commissioned artist for Royal Academy, delighted to be working alongside other artists once more.

Her work has been exhibited in UK, USA, Europe and Canada. She has spoken at Serpentine Gallery, Goldsmith’s College and lectured at University of the Arts and City of Westminster College. She has exhibited in conjunction with scientists from Cambridge University, Addenbrooke’s Hospital opened by the Mayor of Cambridge, and researched at the Freud Museum in conjunction with an Institute of Psychoanalysis scholarship, to underpin her PhD considerations. She obtained a Masters from University of Westminster, and studied in UK, USA under scholarship as well as VGIK Moscow. She is increasingly interested in natural spaces, the Jurassic coastline and trees... but her fascination with faces and identity from all over the world is an enduring passion and keeps her portrait interest buoyant, despite the current restrictions. Her work is usually created to be sight specific and ‘installed’, therefore the dimensions and materials may vary, and are less important than the overall message and impact sought. Cinnamon’s fine art work is regularly presented as a viewing challenge, not presented to be directly representational or factually accurate, and may include video, projection or translucent solids: she regularly seeks a challenge to the assumptions that often accompany the belief in photography representing ‘truth’. This is not achieved via digital manipulation, but through context, mise-en-scene, and lens-derived capture i.e. latent image and light play, not post-production distortions. www.cinnamonart.net studio@cinnamonart.net

Jayson Singh

(page 11) Jayson Singh is a visual artist based in Battersea and has a fine art degree from Central Saint Martin’s. Recently, he has completed a portrait diploma from Heatherley’s school of Art and achieved a special commendation from the painter Andrew James RP at the graduating show this year. One common thread Jayson loves to explore in his oil paintings is the construction of narrative. Often he likes to use patterned backgrounds, wearable props or objects within compositions to assist in sharing an idea or telling a story. While painting figures from life and photographic reference, he allows patterned motifs to interact with people as a way to amplify the emotion of an event or even to suggest a hot climate. In all scenarios, he aims to achieve a balance between colour relationships and capturing the personality of chosen sitters.Jayson has also referenced an interest in Rangoli patterns in community projects that took place before the pandemic. They’ve resulted in community murals in housing estates (Hazelhurst, Tooting), ephemeral community sand paintings on art gallery floors (e.g Wallace Collection) and outdoor workshops for previous Wandsworth Arts Fringe events. www. wandsworthart.com/profiles/jayson-singh/ Instagram (@jaysonsingh)

Alice Hall

(page 12) Hall sets out to distil that moment when even the mundane can be magical.

As you look at her paintings, you can travel to another land too.’ ​Rachel Campbell Johnston - Art Critic, The Times Awards - Royal Marsden Art Competions 2014 - second prize winner - Royal Institute of Oil Painters, · Phyllis Roberts Award 2013 · Winsor and Newton Young Artist Prize 2009 · Winsor and Newton Young Artist Prize 2012 · Winsor and Newton Young Artist Prize 2014 - Chelsea Art Society, · Agnes Reeve Memorial Award for a Painting of London, 2013 · Painting Prize, 2010 - Royal Institute of Painters in Watercolour, · Winsor and Newton Young Artist Prize 2010 www.alicehall.co.uk

Cecilia Sandrini

(page 13) Cecilia Sandrini graduated from Norwich School of Art and Design in 2008 with a degree in Fine Art. Newly graduated, Sandrini exhibited nationally, was awarded a residency, and a solo show in London. She has resisted making work ever since.

Sandrini has started her practice again and uses the pressures of work, marriage, kids, politics and the fear of inertia regarding climate change to inform her work. She publishes her thoughts through the medium of pen and ink, print, paint, and sculpture. www.ceciliasandrini.co.uk

Caroline Jane Harris

(page 14) Caroline Jane Harris’ practice examines the loss of tactility within the space of screens and digital images, through research and innovative processes that combine new technologies and traditional techniques. Predominantly, Harris works with a scalpel to meticulously cutout digital prints in binary patterns derived from pixel data and transforms them into threedimensional layered pictures that blur the lines between image, object and print. Latterly, she creates intaglio surfaces like computer circuitry, frottage drawings and site-responsive works derived from her paper-cut stencils in a continuous inquiry into the ostensible dichotomy between handmade and machine-made. The artworks offer up an arena in which to consider notions of time, technological change and habits of perception, through a slow, exploratory experience of looking.

Born, London, England, 1987. Lives and works in London. Master’s in Fine Art, City & Guilds of London Art School, 2015. Awards: Queen Sonja Print Award, Nominee, 2020. Dentons Art Prize 8, Winner, Dentons Law firm and Hospital Rooms, 2019. ASC Exhibition Award, Selected by Paul Carey-Kent for ASC Gallery, London 2018. Artist in Residence, The Florence Trust, London, 2016–17. Research Printmaking Fellowship, City & Guilds of London Art School, 2016–18. SALON/SELECT, Winner, Photofusion, London, 2015. www.carolinejaneharris.com

Charli Clark

Photo by Catriona MacKenzie

(page 15) Charli Clark is an artist, gardener and beekeeper, based in Bristol, UK. Clark’s practice includes painting, film, performance, sculpture, socially engaged and biological art. She observes and records different non-human others existing alongside us and their relationships with one another as inspiration for work. Recent projects include Loads of Pollen, a 12 month visualization of beehive activity and a workshop/film for SoS II: Live Art Stream Event, May 2020, and A Floating, a happening inviting others to join her on a float down the river Dart, with participants asked to slow down and allow the river full control, June 2018. www.charliclark.co.uk

Ian Robinson

(page 16) Creating paintings inspired by people’s passions and their collections. Lovingly rendoured and curated records, magazines, books and iconic objects.Revelling in the collected material found in Museum collections, libraries, second hand shops, auctions, private collections and UK pop culture. Establishing physical compositions of cherished close-to-home possessions.

Working with themes for the vinyl enthusiast and book collector.

Born in Northumberland, Ian Robinson worked in the Oil & Gas Industry until moving to London in 2007 to study painting at Wimbledon College of Art. He then graduated in 2010 with 1st Class Honours. Ian had his first solo show in 2011 following the Graduate Residence Program at Muse Gallery. And has been mentored and worked with the British artist Patrick Hughes since 2014.The work from the Muse Gallery residency “Stylus” featured in the Griffin art prize and the work “Remix” is included in the 2020 Northern Lights Art prize.

Instagram@ianrobinsonartist www.ianrobinsonartist.com

Coral Churchil

(page 17) My work takes inspiration from nature and landscape painting to explore cloud, land and seascapes. The horizon is a connecting and repeating point, with prismatic light a central focus looking at ways to create otherworldly spaces. I look for different ways to sample and interlink the images, with reference to biomorphic structures, natural world photography and botanical illustration, often with colour gradients chromatic to recreate light and luminescence, taking inspiration from photography and the colours created in nature, from jewel-like insects to deep sea creatures and their neon bioluminescent forms. www.coralchurchill.com

Stephanie Smart

(page 18) In 2017 Stephanie formally established The House of Embroidered Paper; a unique fashion house - fine art studio. Each garment produced is a work of paper textiles, created using only paper and thread; inspired by period and place, history and story.

Stephanie produced her first items of clothing from paper during her residency at The Muse Gallery. She had been inspired by a paper kaftan, made for a Sultan in Istanbul, decorated with illustrations and scripture. One commentator wrote that such a vestment would have been worn “...not to get magical effects but…as a form of worship to put the mind in a particular mode of devotion.” The simplicity of the shape of that paper Kaftan appeared to Stephanie reminiscent of a hospital gown; it seemed to allow for the representation of the fragility of both the human emotional-spiritual, psyche and of the physical form.

Stephanie sees people as layered, collated, collaged and constructed works of art, ‘wearing’ around themselves sheaves of conscious and unconscious patterned expression, which is read and interpreted by others. Using paper textiles, paper craft techniques and embroidery combined with illustrated and written details her work seeks to capture and interpret aspects of those visual narratives in the form of apparently wearable garments. The ambition behind every piece is that it be simultaneously visually beautiful, technically ambitious and conceptually interesting.

Stephanie began working directly with heritage sites in 2016-’17 when she created the collection Maison de Papier, inspired by the past and present residents and history of a Grade 1 listed Elizabethan mansion in Sussex. The final collection was exhibited in the great hall of that house along with accompanying text and film footage of the project. The design of each piece drew on Stephanie’s extensive research of records associated with the house and on conversations, related to garments once worn, that she had with the retired individuals who now live there; some of whom are in their nineties and served in WWII. Open for 40hours over 4 weekends, the exhibition attracted nearly 1000 visitors and was featured on the BBC. Stephanie is currently finishing The Regency Wardrobe collection. The result of a residency at The Regency Town House, Brighton and inspired by the Regency era this collection of 11 life-sized outfits will be shown alongside a dozen accessories and shoes at Firle Place, Sussex in 2021. Please see firle.com or stephaniesmart.net for further information

Małgorzata (Gosia) Łapsa-Malawska

(page 19) Małgorzata (Gosia) Łapsa-Malawska is a Polish born artist currently based in London. Extensively travelled across South America and Asia, her practice is rooted in the ‘Young Poland Movement’ and informed by the simplicity and subtlety at the core of Japanese aesthetics.

Loosely based on the principle of ideas following the brush wherever it leads, fragments of memories are condensed into semi-abstract landscapes, with figures reduced to silhouettes and shadows. Using a pared-down palette fading from Payne’s grey to white allows the artist’s consciousness to disappear into the horizon while at the same time conjuring a universal subconsciousness. The fleetingness of time, the inevitability of transience are encapsulated in textures and marks; these may even be further reduced by keeping the process of stretching the canvas till last as a final homage to the beauty that lies in imperfection and deterioration.

Born 1981, Przemysl, Poland, Master of Arts 2007 Lithography, The Faculty of Art Pedagogical University of Cracow, Poland Affiliate Artist, The Muse Gallery, London Memberships: Free Painters and Sculptors (FPS) The Association of Polish Artists in Great Britain (APA) International Print Triennial Society in Krakow, Poland www.malawska.com

Gemma Milligan

(page 20) Gemma is a London bases artist that graduated her BA at Middlesex University 2017. Through her sculpture, the artist focuses on materials that are modest, everyday and generally left raw and untreated. She finds form through experimentation and a primarily physical relationship with the materials, celebrating their ephemeral nature by push-ing the boundaries of their molecular composition. Through proximity, each piece then begins an interaction and palpable tension with the next. A sense of confinement, precarious-ness and asymmetry create a visual presence of gravitational forces surrounding her work. The artist looks at sculpture, not as a final form, but as a process of creation; an elemental performance that encompasses many creative moments. These moments are captured by her use of transitory materials and presented as a theatrical interpretation of her journey to exhibition, and through the audience beyond. Although the artist channelled her experience of working in Portobello by using recycled objects from the surrounding area: Glass, Metal, fabric and plastics, the sculptures stand alone in the studio of The Muse gallery.

Samantha Y Huang

(page 21) Samantha Y Huang is a multi-disciplinary artist from Taiwan, based in London. Central to her practice is the novel idea of exchanging ‘roles’ with the medium she works with; second-hand books, paper, film, and performance.

Her practice is heavily influence by her physical connection to earth and her simultaneous spiritual connection to an intangible world. And so, her art practice is her translation, and an exploration of the roles that she plays in both the physical and spiritual worlds. www.samyh.com

Nicholas Cheesman

(page 22) Nicholas gradueated from Staffordshire University in 2001 with BA (Hons) in Fine Art. Whilst studying he taught painting and woodwork during the summers in a Creative Arts and Performing Camp in New Milford, CT, USA and after graduating was a Resident Artist in a secondary school in Orange, NSW, Australia for 12 months. In 2004 he finished a PGCE at Bath Spa University and has been teaching Art and continuing his arts practice concurrently since then, moving to London in 2007 for a part-time teaching position. In 2012 he completed an MA in Fine Art at Chelsea College of Arts UAL. The following year he was Artist-in-Residence at the Muse Gallery, 269 Portobello Road. He was Grand Winner 2017 of the East Arts Award Competition, which resulted in an exhibition this year in Kyoto, Japan, after responding to a month’s research/travel around Japan. He exhibits regularly in London and in the UK, took part in the Venice Biennale in 2019 and has commissioned works installed in America, Australia and India. www.nicholascheeseman.co.uk

Mark Tamer

(page 23) Mark Tamer: ‘ I am an experimental photographer working with both analogue and digital mediums. Through my work I’m looking to find a balance between chance and control, and between; construction and destruction, signal and noiseand ultimately, life and death. I embrace the accidents and errors as they not only remind us how vulnerable and delicate we are, they can often show us something new.

It is at the point of breakdown that the medium begins to reveal itself. Through glitches and mistakes we get to see the base elements, the very construction of the material that creates those illusions of reality, the apparatus of photography itself.’ www.marktamer.co.uk

Yuichiro Kikuma

(page 24) Yuichiro Kikuma explores various methods of creating painted images which often involve use of found objects or home devices instead of traditional painterly methods. He challenges the limitation of imagination by facilitating chances to create unexpected images. His recent works includes series such as 12 Variations using spray bottles, hair driers, laser cut off-cuts and radiators.

Kikuma was born in Chiba, Japan and is currently based in London. He studied for a BA in Fine Art Painting at Wimbledon College of Arts and an MA in Fine Art at Central Saint Martins. www.yuichirokikuma.com

Cecilia Di Paolo

(page 25) Cecilia Di Paolo is a London based artist. Originating from Rome, and Educated at the Arts University Bournemouth, Di Paolo’s body of work, primarily realised through photography, film and performance, explores and deconstructs cultural notions of intimacy, tenderness and love through a dystopian lens.

Her recent series ‘Made To Be Loved’, explores everyday narratives played out in heterotopian spaces via the fictional character of ‘Abigal’, a doll played by Di Paolo Herself. Purpose, sexuality and design are contrasted with aspects of fulfilment, loneliness and love through the character of the doll.

At the heart of Cecilia’s work is the intensely human pursuit of connection; a reimagined line between artwork and audience, reaching out and inviting you to affix yourself with the work, fulfilled through the tactility of her still life and self portraiture. www.cecilia-dipaolo.com

Hugo Lami

(page 26) (1994, Portugal) lives and works in London.His artistic work makes use of history and mythology in contrast with the technological and cultural evolution of our time.

I have always been drawn towards sci-fi and fantasy worlds that reimagine reality under different paradigms. I love technology, but I also hate it. The promise of a perfect relationship given by the amenities of each new device that comes to the market gives me hope that maybe that’s the one which is going to change my life. It never is. My research is based on a work of ‘digital’ archeology of the past, the present, and speculation of the future, in order to understand and configure a reality that does not fit exactly in an analog or digital dimension.

Taking this as a starting point it is essential to work with the artifacts, utensils, and traces of a species that is undergoing a paradigm shift. Not only by identifying and materializing what was, but also what is happening now and what is idealized that will happen in the future. www.hugolami.com

2004

Corinne Charton

Untitled, collage, 18.2 x 12.2 cm, 2019

2005

Patricio (Pato) Bosich

The forest, acrylic and oils on canvas, 2020, 173.5x137.5cm

2005

Cinnamon Heathcote Drury

‘Charlie & Charlie’ from photographic film image, hand printed bromide, toned.

2006

Jayson Singh

Virtue of Patience, 30x40 inches, Oil on canvas

2009

Hyde Park Corner by night, oil on canvas, 65x90cm

Alice Hall

2009

Acrylic and Glitter on board

Cecilia Sandrini

2011

Caroline Jane Harris

A Stopped World, 2020, Sixteen hand-cut layered pigment prints, 57x88cm each, 236x360cm

2011

Charli Clark

Loads of pollen, 2020, 240x90cm, oil and beeswax on canvas

2012

Playlist, oil on canvas, 70cm x 120cm

Ian Robinson

2013

Coral Churchill

Sunrise, 2020, Watercolour on paper, 21x 14 cm

2013

Stephanie Smart

Maison de Papier the collection, life-sized, paper and thread, free machine embroidery, quilling, painting, drawing, papier-mâché photo by Ray Sullivan.

2014

Gosia Łapsa-Malawska

Looking for a shelter, Ink on stone paper, 6x8cm, 2021

2016

Untitled, photography, 21x29cm

Gemma Milligan

2016

video, work in progress Sep 2020 - present

Samantha Y. Huang

2016

Nicholas Cheeseman

Dew drop’ 50x35cm 2021, Acrylic on Fabriano paper

2018

Mark Tamer

Untitled, created from old, found film with my photographs on top of their original image

2019

Yuichiro Kikuma

Variations XIII no.1, ink on polyester, 33 x 40cm, 2020

2020

Cecilia Di Paolo

Made to be loved: bed time stories. 2019- digital image

2020

Hugo Lami

Some things weren’t meant to be said”, 2021, oil on canvas, 170x150 cm

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How does a teenage tearaway on the streets of west London suddenly find himself at the vanguard of a black performance movement gracing the UK stage scene for more than four decades? As a Performer Jeffery Kissoon is one of the outstanding actors of his generation, whose work especially with Shakespearean texts, challenges convention and blazes a trail that many young actors of colour unwittingly tread today.

Kissoon came to Britain from Trinidad as a 13-year old as part of the migration of thousands of hopeful West Indians to these shores and has since gone on to become arguably one of the UK’s foremost classical actors, performing with and alongside top actors and directors, including Kenneth Branagh, Nicholas Hytner, Trevor Nunn, Bill Alexander, Nancy Meckler, Janet Suzman and most notably, the great innovative director, Peter Brook. As a director Jeffery has brought his boundless creativity and invention to new work, including classical a daptations that encompass his all black Hamlet for Black Theatre live in 2016.

This unique, workshop-inspired event will explore key moments during Kissoon’s past, growing up in a socially polarised London, his humble beginnings in theatre and his extraordinary achievements on the stage and screen. Proceedings will be chaired by Mark Norfolk, a long-time collaborator of Jeffery Kissoon in film and theatre, alongside academic, Dr David Linton, Senior Lecturer in Drama at Kingston University, London where his work covers issues of resistance, adaptation and exchange in theatre, focusing on participatory arts practice, black British performance and pre-modern popular theatre forms and their contemporary applications.

Jeffery Kissoon