Christmas Sale at The Kiln Rooms

ceramics, Exhibitions, FAT Project, Personal Projects, The Kiln Rooms/Ceramic works

I took part in the annual The Kiln Rooms Christmas sale, where I had a selection of my ceramic pieces for sale and for display. The chocolate bar sculptures where displayed with labels stating that I am available for commission for similar pieces, as I made the chocolate bars as part of a larger project and didn’t wish to sell them. For sale I had a selection of earrings that I made with the intention to sell at the previous Christmas sale which were not finished in time to be included, a newer selection of Christmas tree ornaments made for the sale (the gingerbread men, Christmas tree, and snowflake ornaments pictured) and more of my Anti-love heart and rude star pins, which I made to sell at the Pure Class exhibition and this sale.

The pins sold very well, and the chocolate bars got a lot of interest, so I am pleased that I took part! Unfortunately I didn’t sell any of the earrings- I think they could do well at a general arts and crafts market, or at a Valentines themed event, but they just didn’t stand up well next to the artsier ceramic jewellery made by members and my peers in the show, which were also packaged better and more expensive. My Christmas ornaments also didn’t sell well, again due to being surrounded by other, higher quality pieces by more experienced makers. I also had to settle with twine that wasn’t visually very appealing for them, which I had since replaced with a more festive and better looking thread, so hopefully if I try to sell them again next year they will do better. I also think displaying them in a more aesthetically pleasing way will help them to sell better next time. I think this was definitely a learning curve for me, and has inspired me to up my game and keep practicing and exploring new ideas. I am still fairly new to this medium and hopeful that with practice I can get better over time!

Self Portrait 1 and 2 at PEOPLE IN A ROOM, Peckham

ceramics, Exhibitions, FAT Project, The Kiln Rooms/Ceramic works

Unfortunately this is the only image I have of my work in the exhibition PEOPLE IN A ROOM, at Holdrons Arcade, Peckham. The exhibition is running 6th – 17th October and brings together works by artists living and working in Peckham, with events running during the exhibition within the space. The poster for the event and further information can be found here.

These two sculptures are titled Self Portrait 1 and Self Portrait 2 and they are both sculpted from white stoneware clay, and glazed in brilliant white and gloss white, respectively.

Self Portrait 2: The Making of

ceramics, FAT Project, Personal Projects, The Kiln Rooms/Ceramic works

The sculpture right at the start, built up out of shapes

A photo of the self portrait 2 sculpture in the early stages- you can see how the body has been built up of shapes stuck together

This was my second self portrait sculpture made over a few months in 2021- this one of my torso and upper thighs standing up, but still missing the arms and legs. I definitely became more confident with sculpting during this process, as you can tell by the detailed pubic hair, stretch marks, and nipples visible in the photos before glazing. The shapes are definitely more refined and less rough than the first self portrait sculpture I made, and I was really happy with the overall shape and sculpt. Unfortunately because I went for a thicker, opaque glaze that is made for dipping a lot of this detail was lost in the glaze firing, as the glaze obscured and covered up a lot of those details. I hoped that spraying the glaze (rather than dipping) would prevent this, but as you can see that didn’t work. The glaze also came out patchy on the shoulder area and inner thigh area, although you can’t really tell from the photos here.

I think if I wanted to attempt something so detailed in the future some solutions could be using a thinner, transparent brush on glaze, or just sculpting it on a much larger scale, which is something I would like to try once I get a bit more confident. Despite all the hiccups I can see how much I’ve improved already since my first self portrait, and I’m excited to keep practicing and trying new things!

THIS IS NOT A SHOW, Virtual Exhibition WCCD X Pineapple Black Arts

Exhibitions, river project, WWCD

A little virtual tour of the online exhibition THIS IS NOT A SHOW, showcasing the work of over 50 working class artists and creatives from the Working Class Creatives Database at Pineapple Black Arts, with a brief look at my work included in the show.
‘𝔗𝔥𝔦𝔰 𝔦𝔰 𝔫𝔬𝔱 𝔞 𝔰𝔥𝔬𝔴. 𝔗𝔥𝔦𝔰 𝔦𝔰 𝔞 𝔰𝔱𝔞𝔱𝔢𝔪𝔢𝔫𝔱 𝔬𝔣 𝔦𝔫𝔱𝔢𝔫𝔱.’
With workingclasscreativesdatabase.co.uk/
⚡️launched on pineappleblack.co.uk/index.php/pbvarts/⚡️

�The Working Class Creatives Database is a platform highlighting the work of people who are working class, giving a supporting structure to people that are involved in the arts.

�As of 2020, only 16% of the workforce in creative industries identify as being from working-class backgrounds. By creating a platform for working-class creatives this begins to readdress these issues within the sector through creating a voice for those that are otherwise outsiders.

Special thanks to @pineappleblackarts for giving us a virtual space and @highbrowart for the poster design.

Some screenshots of my work in the show- “In The River: Digital Fragments”, the five 3D scanned bones made during my MA using Einscan and Meshmixer.

Working Class Creatives Database Reading Group- Session 1

Reading Groups, WWCD

This is a recording of myself and another member of the group, Lolly, reading out the essay “More Than Just a Dream Land: Why the British Seaside Means So Much to the Working Class” by Yvonne Singh, from the book “Know Your Place: Essays on the Working Class, by the Working Class” for the first session of our reading group. I have edited out our discussion of the text, so that this is purely the text, for anyone who missed the session.

This first group ended up being just the two of us, but I am hopeful that we will attract more members of the group as time goes on, and I am excited to see what happens and what we can learn from each other!

Feedback from WCCD Crit

FAT Project, Personal Projects, WWCD

I presented a sketchbook for a project I am working on called “Brown Bread Tastes Like Punishment” at the monthly Working Class Creatives Database online Zoom crit, and below is the feedback and the references I was given by other members of the WCCD on the call.

“Like the text and drawings- text is very punchy”
“Beautiful drawings”
Could I use the designs elsewhere- i.e. prints or zines?
Drawings capture a moment and record a memory- Ross said that the drawings triggers his own memories of his mum doing all kinds of diets, so viewers might have their own memories brought up when viewing the work, bringing their own things to it
drawings might be good with textures- paper mache, or ceramics like I showed on the Zoom call
try lots of things- film/prints/zines/sculptures/animation
catharsis through the physical act of making, versus the act of showing the work to others and opening yourself up to the feedback/criticism of others

REFERENCES TO CHECK OUT:

Lucy Sparrow
Jo Spence
Heather Philipson
Lindsey Mendick
Mystical Femmes
Mr Bingo
Sharona Franklin
Victoria Sin- drag artist, Glitch Feminism
“Virus” by Linda Stupart, gender, body, fatness

Some really helpful feedback that definitely made me feel more confident about this project as a whole- I entered the crit feeling like I didn’t have much to show and was unsure where to go with the project and ended up leaving it feeling much more confident in the ideas behind it, and possible avenues to take with it.

Covid Collages

Personal Projects

I made this series of postcards over the first lockdown using a mixture of illustration, hand writing and collage and have finally gotten round to scanning and cleaning them up on Photoshop to upload here and to my Instagram. These collages were made fairly quickly; acting as a way to get my worries, fears, and frustrations about lockdown and other things happening politically during this period of time out of my system and down on paper. I initially planned to send them to friends and family in the post, but ended up keeping them all. I find collage a useful way to make sense of my thoughts through found media (usually newspapers) and by limiting myself with the size of the postcard it enabled each one to represent a specific thought I had at the time.

in order, the collages above are titled:
1. “EVICTION IS JUST A PAYDAY AWAY”
2. “PANIC BUY TO STAVE OFF THE EXISTENTIAL DREAD”
3. “DING DONG THE WITCH IS DEAD”
4. “I’M FILLED WITH DREAD AT THE THOUGHT OF BEING A HOUSEWIFE”
5. “Quarantine 2020”
6. “GRABBING LIKE AN OCTOPUS”
7. “MENTAL HEALTH CRISIS”
8. ” TIME TO STRIKE, NO END IN SIGHT”

The collages above are titled:
1. ” BLOOD ON BORIS’ HANDS”
2. “JUSTICE FOR BELLY”
3. “WE WILL SURVIVE”

Tutoring Paper Workshop at 3rd Rail Print Space

Workshops

The images above are from the one day beginners Paper Printing workshop that I ran at 3rd Rail Print Space this weekend. This wasn’t the first time I have tutored a workshop, but it was the first time since before Lockdown, so I was a little nervous at first. We ended up having a slight hiccup where a few of the screens were exposed with the designs the wrong way round, but we managed to sort it out and get everyone finished on time with their limited edition of 10 prints, and we got good reviews! I am very pleased that I managed to handle the problem so well and it has made me feel a bit more confident in myself.

Antidepressant Monoprints

Personal Projects, Work in Progress

I made these monoprints back at the beginning of lockdown, to open up a discussion about the side effects of antidepressant medications, based on my own personal experiences with Fluoxetine, Citalopram, and Venlafaxine. I finally got round to scanning them and doing minor Photoshop edits (a little bit of resizing).

These are not all the possible side effects of these medications and aren’t necessarily the worst, but they are some of the ones that I have struggled with the most- and some of which I didn’t actually realise were side effects of my medication until I did further research. I would potentially like to expand this into a zine for people who are considering antidepressants- often medication is forced onto patients instead of therapy or delving into the reasons why people are feeling the way they are, and in a short 10-20 minute doctors appointment we are assessed (sometimes wrongly) as having depression and are given a prescription with very little explanation as to why they are being prescribed and the affects they can have on your body and mind. I personally have found medication helpful, but I think people need to know the full facts before deciding whether or not to take something. I am also considering redoing the monoprints over the top of the paper inserts that come with the medication detailing the side effects as a development, as I see these very much as a starting point.