I really wanted this work to be in a place where the public would have instant access to the work, and that the work could be seen in a place that you wouldn’t ordinarily find art.
Category: Projects
Under the Skin
Rooted at the heart of any commission is the passion you have for telling a story. Creating a narrative that people can really engage with. My challenge for this commission was to produce artwork that explored the research that is being carried out in the Wellcome Trust Centre for Mitochondrial Disease Research at Newcastle University. While also incorporating the impact upon real people’s lives.
The power of a Word
During my time with patients at Newcastle University we explored words that represent how they felt about Mitochondrial Disease. The list of words that they produced was very powerful and emotive.
Tell me your Story
Patients from the Wellcome Trust Centre for Mitochondrial Research produced many of the images you will see in this blog post. We started the session by sitting down, having a cup of tea/coffee and we just had an informal chat. What arose from this chat was a conversation about how the condition affects them and their family and friends. What impact it has upon their daily lives, how they feel about the condition, how they feel about the research that is being carried out, what their hopes and dreams were for the future.
Inner Space Adventures
I find the process of using a microscope to photograph absolutely wonderful. You feel as though you are an explorer, travelling through inner space and looking for that magic moment when you will find the exact detail that you want to capture.
What are Mitochondria?
I know what you are thinking, what is Mitochondrial Disease, and in fact what are Mitochondria?? I was exactly the same and I had no idea how important Mitochondria are, that we all have them in our bodies and that we should make sure we take care of them!!
Icarus
Icarus was an artwork that explored the tension between personal tragedy and the wider collective response to grief. And the way in which technology plays its part in bringing us closer together, while also simultaneously driving us into individual microcosms of self interest
Cuppa anyone!?
I have been lucky enough to be asked to work for Equal Arts in a residential care home in Newcastle upon Tyne . Using my visual art, design and print expertise we have produced a small collection of ceramic pieces for the newly refurbished dining area. The ceramic itself are found objects, but the floral…
The Art of Desire – Gallery of Wonder exhibit
In 2010 I applied to exhibit my work in a small unique space called The Gallery of Wonder. I met with Irene Brown who curates and runs the space on Newcastle Universities Campus. We discussed my work and in September 2010 I carried out a solo show called The Art of Desire. This was a…
Park Life
One thing that is great about writing a blog is that it gets you to revisit bodies of work. I carried out a residency in 2005 at my local park. Saltwell Park has a rich history and is an amazing place to visit. It hosts the excellent Enchanted Parks event which is also well worth…
Transmutations
The triptych Transmutations was produced in 2008. The text that accompanies this work was written by the curator Alistair Robinson at the NGCA (Northern Gallery for Contemporary Art) in Sunderland Corinne Lewis’s series ‘Transmutations’ maps the point in which, to use her words, “the man-made and natural worlds collide”. Her photographs of the process of…
School of Biology Residency @ Newcastle University
I have been lucky enough to gain access to the School of Biology at Newcastle University. The images below are of a variety of plant and algal specimens that I have photographed using a microscope. This technology has allowed me to explore the physical structures of these specimens. In turn these images have been used…