Movement

Here are a set of thumbnails for part of a potential animation. To me alot of the sculptures I made during my recent residency embody some sort of idea of movement, of something being drawn together, something being rejected, passive, active etc.

Life in the Forest

I am currently artist in residence at the Gowry Art Institute. The studio is located in the forest, at the base of the Ponmudi Mountain, South India.

The other day I was walking in the forest and came to a valley where the river ran through. I found a spot where the butterflies rested. They let me to get right next to them. After a while I noticed that they were ejaculating… well ejaculating something for sure. They went on squirting for about 5 minutes, continuously jerking their abdomen, shaking the liquid away. You can see the little pool of liquid still attached to the body in some pictures .

Found a baby Bungarus Caeruleus snake outside my bedroom window. Sughandi said,”‘Oy, yoy yoy” twice, I think I could see what she was getting at. The neighbours came round with sticks and pounded his  head in. Felt abit sad but can’t piss about I suppose.

The photo is of a different dead snake.

Saw spider walking with Philippe. The spider was pretty big, maybe the size of my hand outstretched. I wore a near identical pattern on my shirt. Phillipe reckoned the spider was thinking I was highly venomous and predatory.

Amongst the banana leaves and palm tree roots find an empty packet of ‘Lovely and Fair’.

Saw a monkey pull something off the end of it’s red raw, odd shaped willy and eat it. I did find that pretty disgusting.

Residency Part 1

Here is a snapshot of the first 2 weeks spent in residence at the Gowry Art Institute, India.

So far I have found working in the forest both uninspiring and inspiring. Everything I do here feels like a cheap substitute – something which could never be as engaging or complete as things here.

Today I saw a tree suffocating another tree, coiling around it as thought the wood was made of liquid. One meter above the ground, on a horizontal branch lay a very neat stack of what at first appeared to be goat shit. It was actually a pile of nuts going mouldy. Above, from an unidentifiable location came the sound of a long dry stroke where the trees met, pig with  a chainsaw.

forest flower, menstruation blood, latex

sketches

wax, string, alginate

wax, string, bone

wax, plastic container

wax, string, plastic container

ink sketches

wax, hair

wax

studio

educational stickers

pigment on paper

Indian Bins

Buying Materials

I thought it would be a good idea to arrive at the Gowry Art Institute with some materials in order to start making things right away. For the past few days I have been visiting a local dentist to buy alginate (a material denstists use for casting teeth).

I have very much enjoyed the negotiating time I have spent in his dentistry room. The place is like a cabinet of curiosity, bottles of substances marked poison stand open, minature xrays of broken teeth, mixed up pastes set hard, open syringes, prostetic fingers and other stuff like that knocking about.

The Dentist also makes silicone prostetic implants and false eyeballs so he is able to get hold of some silicone. He told me about a man in the village who had a boil that turned into a degenerate skin disease. The man was left with an open flesh wound on his left cheek. The destist made a face implant piece which the man could hook on with a glasses style ear hook.

The trip has really sparked my imagination and given me a real lift. I am looking forward to getting into the studio.

en suite

Here are some images of the en suite shower room from my hotel in Mysore. So far in India I am finding many of the hotel rooms and other domestic environments very appealing.

I am wondering how an Indian audience will respond to the work I make whilst in residence -  whether the differences I am attracted to will appear mundane or  sterile.

INDIA

I have arrived in India and will be here for 5 months. On the 19th December I will be starting an 8 week residency at The Gowry Art Institute in South India. The institute has a strong emphasis on representing women artists and on exploring work that deals with the feminine and nature. I cannot express how excited I am about this project.

Here are some images of a piece I made while I was visiting the back waters of Karela. I have been drawing alot in India but on this particular day I really wanted to  make something physical. This piece is an idea I have been trying to realize in England. I am bored with this idea. The cage is too big the orb is too small.

In India I feel drawn to making large and colourful installations. Of what I’m not sure.

New Toy

Here are some images of a karella and sweet potato cast in latex and hair. They remind me of a toy I had as a child. The toy was a fluffy pink creature, it had a large loop for a torso which you could stick your hand through. At the end of its tail was a spiky spherical comb. On the top of its head was a single lock of hair.

I am thinking of creating a series of sculptural portraits. I have been asking people I know to donate hair clippings and other discarded body substances. Using these as a starting point I plan to make sculptures, considering shapes, textures and colours I associate with the donor. This is quite a new way of working for me. Before now I have not felt very motivated to make work about particular individuals or human personality traits. Maybe it is because I am going away for 5 months.

closed cast

Metal Cage

A few months ago I went to France in an attempt to learn welding. The idea was to cast a hollow ball trapped inside a distorted cage. For the time being I have shelved this idea. I found it quite difficult and stressful trying to trap the 91 cm balloon filled with wet plaster and compressed air. I didn’t feel that the distorted metal shape was working with the plaster orb. I think the piece might work better trapping the organic egg shape in a more formal, sterile looking cage.

Looking back I should have stopped welding at the photo before this one.

Blood Egg

Below are some images of experiments in casting eggs. The original idea was to cast an egg from a months shedding of uterus lining.