Through making art, our thoughts and philosophies are made visible. They start to exist, and they start to exist in the mind of others. I'm interested in sharing, tinkering with and de-mystifying the mechanics of this process, subverting notions of agency, authorship and the special status of the artist.
I work alongside groups to form research questions followed by experimentation using immersive methods of re-enactment and experiential learning, working with with readymade heritage or contemporary skills, platforms, and cultures.
Through projects, I bridge the objective and the subjective, exploring oral, written and visual histories as well as exploring our own interiors (thoughts, dreams, memories and philosophies).
I'm interested in strategies that foster disinhibition and feelings of safety in participants. I'm at the moment creating a community project involving recorded films, linked with online and in-person mentoring and meet-and-greet opportunities. The on-the-spot performative element demanded of both facilitator and participant is reduced, leaving space for opportunities for seclusion in moments of art-/meaning-making.
I became Eden Arts' C-Art Cumbrian Artist of the Year in 2017, won my episode in BBC1’s inaugural series of ‘Home is Where the Art Is’; and received critical appraisal in Joshua Sofaer’s book Performance, Objects, Participation (eds. Mock, R & Paterson, M, 2020, Intellect Live). Most recently, I co-created The Baltic Centre of Contemporary Art’s first remote outdoor art trail and hosted their first online symposium in 2022. I was Co-director of New Arts North 2009-2019, receiving many funding awards for community art projects, and working with the major cultural venues. In 2022, I completed an MFA at Northumbria University under Corin Sworn and Gavin Butt, and am in the process of re-drafting my PHD proposal to work with Manchester University this year.
I work alongside groups to form research questions followed by experimentation using immersive methods of re-enactment and experiential learning, working with with readymade heritage or contemporary skills, platforms, and cultures.
Through projects, I bridge the objective and the subjective, exploring oral, written and visual histories as well as exploring our own interiors (thoughts, dreams, memories and philosophies).
I'm interested in strategies that foster disinhibition and feelings of safety in participants. I'm at the moment creating a community project involving recorded films, linked with online and in-person mentoring and meet-and-greet opportunities. The on-the-spot performative element demanded of both facilitator and participant is reduced, leaving space for opportunities for seclusion in moments of art-/meaning-making.
I became Eden Arts' C-Art Cumbrian Artist of the Year in 2017, won my episode in BBC1’s inaugural series of ‘Home is Where the Art Is’; and received critical appraisal in Joshua Sofaer’s book Performance, Objects, Participation (eds. Mock, R & Paterson, M, 2020, Intellect Live). Most recently, I co-created The Baltic Centre of Contemporary Art’s first remote outdoor art trail and hosted their first online symposium in 2022. I was Co-director of New Arts North 2009-2019, receiving many funding awards for community art projects, and working with the major cultural venues. In 2022, I completed an MFA at Northumbria University under Corin Sworn and Gavin Butt, and am in the process of re-drafting my PHD proposal to work with Manchester University this year.