the delightful work of diana cooper...

I was directed to the work of Diana Cooper by Clare Mitten (see ANALOG at Riflemaker post). Cooper's fantastical mixed media drawings and constructions are created from low fi materials such as felt tip pens, foam, vinyl, velcro and rubber - creating multi layered and textured surfaces, and installations that reference nature, technology and her imagination.  Colourful forms and shapes, often in repetitive forms, create almost decorative pattern that often develops into whirly-gig, carousel like chaos at points and then falls back into a fairground like facade.  What I do enjoy in particular about Cooper's work - aside from its tactility and engaging form - is her nod to instinctual mark making, which is evidently confessed in her artists statement on her website.  And of course, the use of markers, fine liners, sharpies, paint pens and felt tip pens (a shared love of mine) - which Cooper's describes as 'doodling'.

Diana Cooper's works below are of a permanent installation called 'Out of the corner of my eye', 2005, and a mixed media construction, Speedway (2000-2003).

Out of the corner of my eye, 2005

'Out of the corner of my eye', Diana Cooper

'Out of the corner of my eye', Diana Cooper

'Speedway', Diana Cooper

'Speedway', Diana Cooper

'Speedway', Diana Cooper

'Speedway', Diana Cooper

The Sketchbook Project, opens 19th February, Brooklyn Art Library..

One of my sketchbooks is part of the Sketchbook Project Tour, which opens at the Brooklyn Art Library, New York on the 19th February 2011. The exhibition then travels to Portland, Washington, Chicago, Atlanta, Florida, Austin, San Francisco and finishes in Seattle later in the year. Phew!

ANALOG, Riflemaker

AZTECH_Backup, 2010, Mixed Media
Clare Mitten

AZTECH_Toppal (Red), 2010, Mixed Media
Clare Mitten

I very much enjoy the moment when you discover an artists work whose concerns and processes link very closely with your own.  The current exhibition, ANALOG, at Riflemaker presents the work of two artists whose practices explore modes of documenting and reversing technological developments.  Richard Nicholson's photographic practice recorded scenes of professional film darkrooms around London in 2006, documenting of 204 in working practice. When he returned to the project three years later, only 8 professional darkrooms were in business.  The large scale photographic prints document the move from mechanical to digital through still-lives of workrooms soon to be out of action. The series of archival shots document not only working processes with all the physical equipment that goes along with it; but the ghostly physical ephemera of those lives that operating the photographic equipment from the beginning of the printing process until the end - a workforce that has since been retrained or dissipated.

Analogue - Last One Out, Richard Nicholson

In the downstairs gallery, Clare Mitten presents paintings and constructed cardboard objects, where she has 're-analogued' computer and phone technology into awkward three dimensional forms.  Her work carries an aesthetic of conscious amateur, with clearly left evidence of the making process through glue stains, misshapen edges and unsymmetrical forms.  The cardboard models are laboriously built from low tech materials - an application of materials that is also adopted in paintings of such forms -to create abstracted and colourful tactile recreation of these 'perfected' visual objects that we use constantly on a daily basis.  The surface of the card used to create the sculptures is dull in colour and finish; entirely opposite to the glossy feel of any technological gadget.  Similarly, Mitten's paintings of reconstituted and collaged technological objects are painted with what appears to be poster paint on stretched black paper; reminiscent of the budget sugar paper we learn to paint on at school.  The cheery bright colours stay faithful to aesthetic of technological development, and her slow processes, littered with intended mistakes, return our gadgets back to a timeless, humorous beginning.

The exhibition ANALOG at Riflemaker, runs until 5th March 2011.

'Bridging the Gap' - HatchSpace, and other things....

Things have evidently been quiet on the blogging front these past few weeks, mainly due to extended celebrations of turning the big 3-0, which included lots of fun events with friends and family.  One of my favourite treat was going to Gog's taster restaurant, Maze, and subsequently buying a few delightful hand painted textile print patterns from the Paul Smith curiosities shop in Albemarle Street.  The store opened in 2006, when I was working at Archeus, and I used to enjoy popping in to see their interesting assortment of furniture, objects and artwork purchased by Paul Smith and the stores buyer.  Aside from the re-upholstered chairs in Paul Smith trademark stripes, they always stock a delightful collection of objects from a wide range of countries and eras, some quite affordable too, definitely worth a look.

This weekend, on return from Portsmouth from another birthday celebration (this time my friend Victoria's), I visited Deptford's new artist run space, 'Hatchspace'.  Set up by Rachel Price (Gallery Curator) and Alastair Eland (Project Manager), this artist run space provides studio hire and a medium sized white cubed gallery space. 

HatchSpace's inaugural exhibition, 'Bridging the Gap', presents works from six artists whose practices explore mainstream interpretations of digital technology as sometimes evangelical development, combining predigital techniques and orthodox presentation to create a questioning hybrid.  Zachary Eastwood- Bloom presents three dimensional ceramics plates of pixilated landscapes that re-physicalise digitally recreated surfaces, as well as a series of prints of CAD drawings that are presented conservatively in traditional white cube gallery frames.

Echo Shift, Ceramic, Zachary Eastwood-Bloom, 2010

Echo Shift, Ceramic, Zachary Eastwood Bloom, 2010

Echo Shift, Ceramic, Zachary Eastwood Bloom, 2010

Landscape II, Screen -print on paper, Zachary Eastwood Bloom, 2010

Another artists work that resonated with me was the three dimensional cardboard and printed construction by Joseph Gower, that greeted us at the entrance of the gallery, almost like a promotional board for a product or film.  Gower's practice explores translations of photographic imagery through both mechanical and digital production, questioning the tensions between supposed realities and imitations of the 'real'.  The curated group exhibition also features works by Gabrielle Hoad, Jochen Klein, Tom Smith and Rupert White.

Untitled Between Two, Joseph Gower, 2010

Cardboard Realities

Just a quick post of one of my favourite Photographer's Thomas Demand talking about his carefully constructed realities. I wish I had so many assistants to be able to build an installation so quickly as his set of the White House Office!

Artists Practice Day, Camden Arts Centre, 8th January 2011

Page 28, The Sketchbook Project, 2011





On Saturday, I gave a presentation at the Camden Arts Centre Artists Practice Day, about recent drawings and installations I have created in the last few months.  I was amongst three other artists presenting their work; Si Sapsford, Sayako Sugawara and Duncan Marquiss, in the peer critique/ review opportunity - with other invited artists in the audience offering feedback and critique.

Despite being a little nervous, I very much enjoyed the experience - and comments from the other artists were very helpful and positive in considering elements of my practice to reflect on more deeply, or routes for developing ideas.  The opportunity to speak about my practice in a semi-formal manner in front of artists, was excellent practice in dealing with questions about unexpected or unconsidered aspects of my practice, of which there are always numerous.  Since graduating from Goldsmiths - which offered a plethora of extremely rigorous critique opportunities - I have only presented work to artist peers whom I have known for some time.  The experience has inspired me to set up more regular group discussion to support practices.

One element of my own practice I have been thinking about since in particular, has been my use of materials in drawings and installations, and the inexact manner in which I execute the drawings, often with blurred edges and uneven lines. I have always been interested in recreating or referencing these digitally 'perfect' images through handmade processes re- instating discrepancies and idiosyncrasies within my work, but it there a stage when this is too much and appears careless? We discussed the immediate nature of drawing - a basic tool to quickly replicate any visual or thought, and I am interested in the varying perception of drawing in this sense, as opposed to a process associated with consideration and longevity.

Otherwise this week, I have been busy sending off work to the Embassy Gallery Members Exhibition  in Edinburgh, which runs from the 21st January until 6th February 2011, and my sketchbook for the Sketchbook Project Tour, which begins at the Brooklyn Art Library, NY on February 19th 2011.  I am still editing photographs of my drawings, but these will be uploaded onto my website soon.

Many thanks to Anna and Nisha at the Camden Arts Centre for organising and holding the Artists Practice Day.

The Legacy of Tron

Amongst the many Christmas delights, was a much awaited trip to the cinema to see Tron: Legacy.  Although visually stunning, with all three dimensional forms outlined in either orange or blue neon bars, accompanied by a powerful electronic soundtrack by DaftPunk - the weak storyline and characters failed to provide depth to a narrative that did little more than acting as a treat for our eyes and ears.  A nostalgia for the original movie, that first explored in movie terms a physical exploration of digital space through awkward CGI graphics - sat uncomfortably within the sequel that references such visuals through highly developed CGI; where even Jeff Bridge's youthful face is digitally remastered.  A lightly touched upon moral outcome, is Jeff Bridge's adult character's realisation, that his endeavours to create this digital, 'other' world was in vain - and that this creation only ended in creating a kind of hell.  Indeed, his final acceptance that perfection was both simultaneously unattainable and already within his grasp within his existing family.  You can't help but enjoy DaftPunk's 'Derezzed', however, press play to watch below...