The work I exhibited is part of my ongoing project "Scar Tissue'. I began thinking about this work about 3 years ago and seriously started making work on this theme in the autumn of 2017. I have found that my initial pieces seem to form around monoprints which I work into, adding paint, stitch, fabric and other items. I was really interested in the story of healing and how we view the scars we have, do we see them as positive things or are they a reminder of something unbearably painful. I set up a survey and asked people to contribute their stories of scars and healing. You can read more about how it started here.
Contributions came in from friends and those I've never met. some of the stories were inspiring and hopeful, others were incredibly sad. some were written from wholeness and yet others were still very raw and early in their healing journey. Contributors gave me permission to use their responses alongside and incorporated into my artwork. this finally came together in October when I exhibited over 60 pieces in this project.
The exhibition at Newbiggin Maritime Centre was a snapshot of this work at a moment in time. Just like healing, this project isn't done yet and I feel it has more to say. I think it might go in another direction, but I'm giving it some space before I explore its development. I have to do this as part of my art practice. I really need times of reflection in order for my ideas to have time to coalesce, form and develop.
I really would love to hear from arts practitioners, organisations, galleries and individuals if you would like to collaborate as this develops further, or if you would like to exhibit some of this work as it is at the moment.
Congratulations! Such an incredible accomplishment.
ReplyDeleteIt's been a long time in development - now I need to allow time to see whats next for my art project
Delete