Countdown

It's nearly exhibition time and we're excited!

The Exhibition!

Come along!

Business cards

Our business cards have arrived! Ready to go in our invitation packs! 

They're mini moo business cards and are brilliant - simple but they stand out. 

Leeds I love you

These are some preliminary drawings for our exhibition in The Merrion Market

Leeds. 

Our exhibition will celebrate Leeds. 

My plan is to take planned walks around Leeds 

(routes I would usually take) and thoroughly document it. 

I want to encourage appreciation of the beauty of everyday life.

Art is everywhere and I want to raise awareness of that.

I will then turn my photos into "Journey Books"and 

paintings that become an amalgamation of my journey and Leeds.

I want to use found objects of my experience Leeds 

to intensify the mood.

A brief glimpse of the organisation 

side of our show! 

The Countdown Begins

On the 3rd of May our show will be opening in the Merrion

Market in Leeds.

It's based around celebrating Leeds and the continuing regeneration

of cities.

Our aim is to make this a fun event thats for anyone and everyone.

There will be a big drawing space for visitors as well as the work of myself,

Ali Noble, Ella Sergeant, Katie Iveson and Decca McLaughlin.

It's getting really exciting as our supplies arrive. 

To celebrate the old as well as the new we're going to have old fashion sweets to 

nibble on whilst having a look round. 

Marc Chagall

Some of my works reminded the artist Chris Smith (with whom I spoke 

to about my work) of Marc Chagall. 

I love Chagall's use of colour and serene images. 

I find his work blissful and calming.

 The opposite page contains some more diary images.

I drew them whilst at the Leeds Art Gallery with

Wild Pansy Press

A diary

These pages feature some drawing I completed at a friends recent gig. 

Emotion is a key feature of my work and so I decided to create a sketch diary; 

drawing as much as possible particularly when I notice I am 

very happy, sad or angry etc. 

For me these images are peaceful and happy. 

In contrast to my large scale work the diary is very small 

scale as I have carried with me constantly. 

I find work on this scale very freeing.

The idea that this is a diary has taken 

the pressure off of my work. 

More diary images soon.

Marlene Dumas

I have found the work of Marlene Dumas really inspiring as she works 

with a similar theme and has perhaps dealt with the same 

problems of "sexing up" the female form. 

Her work made me consider that, although in the past, the over sexualised female 

form has rid women of power in art, perhaps now 

we are in a more equal position, we can celebrate female sexuality. 

Undergraduate Research Experience

Another great experience was the Undergraduate Research Experience.

I chose to join the curation team instead of displaying my work and it 

provided my with important logistical knowledge.

The practicalities of an exhibition are note necessarily obvious 

and being part of the team was a fantastic education.

WIld Pansy Press

Along with toothbrush, I have volunteered with The Wild Pansy Press 

http://www.wildpansypress.com/

a publishing house and art collective run through Leeds University.

I helped to invigilate their recent show at Leeds Art Gallery.

It was a really valuable experience to talk to visitors and witness the building of their 

portable reading room. I want to strive for as much art experience as possible.

Every experience I have expands my work. 

Basquiat

I admire Jean-Michel Basquiat's ability to create strong feeling in his paintings 

His use of colour was and is genius. 

His style has been very inspirational.

Toothbrush update

My work on the film Toothbrush has helped to develop stronger 

emotion in my work. I found working toward a specific goal really useful as 

I had sustained contact with the team and their thought of representing anger. 

The final outcome will be posted soon!

Influences

This entire blog is based on my strong belief that we are deeply influences by 

many aspects of life. The images we see inform our work and

I am keen to keep as detailed a diary of these influences as possible.

My autumn semester module 'Old Mistresses' at Leeds Uni, was brilliant.

It was a hugely interesting and informative module that has moved my practical work forward 

as well as my knowledge and understanding of feminism. 

I know I don't know enough yet to form solid beliefs but I love learning.

Anatomy

I have struggled with the representation of women in my work 

as I do not want to sexual my figures as this something I am reacting against.

I have explored the the idea of anatomical drawing (like the found image below) 

as a way of lightening a loaded issue. 

Sketch Book

 I would like to share my sketchbook with you. 

I am exploring my feelings on women in art and feminist theory.

I started from a deeply person point.

Thinking about how I feel about my own body. 

I have dealt with a long term illness which has left me with a confused opinion of my body.

I am both proud of my resilience and disappointed at, what I sometime feel, is weakness.

These were some of my first paintings. I reduced a female figure to the 

simplest form and made it into a vintage style wall paper in two sizes (above and below)

Through my work I wish to address this paradox and I hope that I can 

develop a healthier view of my body. 

This personal view point is also coupled with my exploration of my feelings about 

feminism. I am proud to say that I am most certainly a feminist but that is about as far as

I have figured out my opinions on matters of equality. 

This project deals with my anger over the biased representation of women in the media and in art

however it also celebrates women's strength and vitality.

It's getting complicated to say the least but I know that to keep working is the way to

move my thoughts forward. 

I've become slightly obsessed with the idea of the eyes and lips

(attractive features) mirroring the breasts and pubis. Reducing women to these features

of shallow beauty.

Here I deal with the problem I have with the need for "perfect" women in the media

and the fact that I myself feel the pressure to conform to an image. 

The matter is confusing to me as although, somedays, I completely disagree 

with the pressures on women I also really enjoy fashion and make-up. 

Where is the balance? I would like to find out.

I've tried to remove the complication of having a female figure in my work by 

reducing women down to circular "breasts" and triangular "pubis".

Chris Smith raised the problem that representing a women as a nude has a lot of baggage to it. 

I also tried to think of ways to represent women in other non-physical ways (eg. the make up above)
However I am concerned this will become more stereotypical. Perhaps we should not feel that a sexual woman in a painting is a bad thing. A woman's sexuality is her own and a good thing.

Object of the Gaze at 7

This is the catalogue for the Seven Bar Exhibition. 

Here's the piece my curator wrote about my work.