“Big girl's blouse,” 2010
Site-specific Sculpture Residency, Spike Island Art Centre, Bristol, U.K
~The residency space was a tiny white-walled dispatch office on stilts/stairs that supervisors used to survey the work-floor of the site of the former “Brooke Bond" tea-factory. I made a piece of work that responded to the semi-industrial, business/commercial aspect of the office environment by creating a colourful nest-like, intimate, space that explored ideas of femininity & the western commercialization of sex.
Archival prints approx 5 1/2 foot high, plaster life-casts, lace, doilies, holographic card, lace trim, bubble-wrap, acrylic paint.
"Masquerade" December 18th, 2008
Performance on the "Sandarbh Residency Programme, Partapur, Rajasthan.
~ This rapid-fire performance looked at cultural perception & racial difference. I posed as an Indian woman & sat veiled & sari-clad in the main market-place. To a growing crowd of passers-by, helpers vigorously squirted off my fake dark skin colour, before I rapidly unwound my sari revealing western clothing & sped off on the back of a motor-bike.
“Ship of the desert” (performance) 2008
Hemeta ke Dhani village, Rajasthan
~“Ship of the desert” looked at the challenges of westernization on rural communities. Camels are a common means of transportation in the area & I collaborated with a local craftswoman to create a camel-coat in a traditional decorative format but emblazoned with embroidered multi-national logos.
As the lone westerner in the area I rode a camel, procession-like, around the village as a harbinger of possible, or imminent, westernisation.
As the lone westerner in the area I rode a camel, procession-like, around the village as a harbinger of possible, or imminent, westernisation.
“Big Marble flower” November 2007
10 day Site-Specific Workshop, Partapur, Rajasthan.
~I wanted to celebrate the beauty of the lake landscape by making a semi-permanent flower form from the white marble chunks scattered over the arid hillside.
Marble chunks.
Approx 40 feet long
Dance footloose on the earth 2008
Residency installation @ 1 Shanthi Rd Studio/Gallery, Bangalore, India.
~ Site-specific installation on a residency at the 1 Shanthi Rd Residency Programme, Bangalore, India. The themes of the piece involve hierarchies (western culture alongside nature & traditional culture) & pleasure & mortality issues inspired by “Vanitas” paintings.
“Play Things,” 2005
Installation @ Walcott Chapel, Bath.
~Site-specific installation made for Walcott Chapel (an old mortuary chapel in Bath) which was then selected for the Canada Square/ Canary Wharf Public Art Programme, London. The piece looked at attitudes to femininity in the context of the princess & pony theme & social ideas generated through toys.
Polystyrene, millet, fabric, tissue, lace trim, paper, p.v.a.
Horse life-size.
“Cornucopia,” 2003
Installation in the cloisters of Gloucester Cathedral, Gloucester.
~I wanted to make an installation that would work with, not compete with, the incredible, fan-vaulted beauty of the space. The highly dense blue organic plaster forms were taken from the imagery of the stained-glass windows opposite the stone seats opposite.
“Original sin” 2002
Installation @ Spike Island Art Centre, Bristol, U.K
~This installation of stone-carved teddy-bears playfully lampoons the bible story of Adam & Eve, with looking at Eve’s “wrong-doings” that brought about the Fall of Man...
Cute, cuddly teddies are transformed into large hard statues & I reverse the hierarchy by creating Eve on a grand scale & making Adam her diminutive “side-kick”. I was interested in playing with the hierarchies of taste/material by making a popular toy from a “serious” classical material - stone.
Bath stone, plaster, chippings. Largest teddy “Eve” approx 5.5 foot high.
C.V (currently being updated)
ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENTS
Sep 93 - July 95 Royal College of Art, London. (Exchange to Lisbon Art College, Portugal)
M.A (R.C.A) Sculpture
Jan - July 91 Cyprus College of Art, Lemba, Cyprus
Sep 85 – July 89 Middlesex University, London. B.A (Hons) Degree in Fine Art
AWARDS
November 2019 Marshwood Arts Prize, selected in the Sculpture catergoty by Tania Kovats
July 2016 British Women Artists' Annual, Judges Favourite; commended by Mary Allen, former Secretary-General of Arts Council England
July 2010 Artists Grant (Arts Council of England) for “Dolls“projectJune 10 Spike Associates Melluish Bursary towards project-development in India
June 06 Travel Award to visit Dublin galleries, Ireland (Arts Council of England)
May 05 Artists Grant (Arts Council of England) awarded for solo show “Playthings”
Mar 01 – May 01 Year of the Artist Award (Arts Council of England) with Belevue Special School, London
Sep 92 – Sep 93 One year Henry Moore Fellowship (Henry Moore Foundation) at Canterbury College of Art
PROFESSIONAL PRACTICE & RESIDENCIES
September 2018 Elected a member of the Royal Society of Sculptors, London, UK
2017 Royal West of England Academy, shortlisted to become an Academician & invited to show at the Annual Open
September 2016 Bristol School of Art, Lecturer in Sculpture, Stroud & South Gloc College
NIV Art Centre, Delhi, India - Artist Residency
Drawing across, internet drawing exchanges with women from the criminal justice system (Arts Council of England)
Art Adventures in India, Slide presentation on residency-work in India, Spike Island, Bristol, U.K (Arts Council of England)
June – July 2010 Big girl's blouse, Site-specific Sculpture Residency, Spike Island Art Centre, Bristol, U.KNov- April 2009 Sandarbh Six month International Residency at Partapur/Udapuir, Rajasthan, India
Aug 07 – Jan 08 Artist Residency, Bangalore Artists Centre & 1 Shanthi Rd Studio Gallery, India
Jan 2008 Bangalore University, India, Lecture/slide-show on practice
1991-2007 Spike Island, Studio-holder, Membership secretary & Management & Education committee
Sep 92 – Sep 93 Henry Moore Fellowship in Sculpture, Canterbury College of Art
July – Sep 89 Sculpture Residency at Portland Clifftop Sculpture Park, Dorset
INTERNATIONAL PROJECTS
2015 - 2017 Melting Pot, Project management & participation of four woman touring show, Kashi Art Gallery, Kerala, India, Sublime Galleria, Bangalore, India, Kombank Art Hall, Belgrade, Serbia, Serbian Embassy, London & the Nehru Centre (the Cultural wing of Indian High Commission), London & Gallery Beyond, Bombay
2016 International Painting & Sculpture Workshop, Ranchi, Jharkand, India.
2014 Love, hope & happiness; Artist exchange project curated by Bernard Beiling, Germany
Kala Samanya International Festival, Guwahati, Assam, India
International Painting Camp, Alva’s Education Foundation, Mangalore, India
Virion, Biennial exhibition of public screenings of project-work, Queensland University, Perth Cultural Centre, Australia
Dec11 Collaborative project @ Jaaga, Urban Community Art-Architecture Space, Bangalore, IndiaOct 10 Green World Art Festival, Collaborative project, Orissa, India.
Dec 08 Neerja Modi, National Painting workshop, Jaipur, India
Nov 07 Sandarbh, Ten day site-specific workshop in rural Rajasthan, India
Aug 2007 International Sculpture Symposium, Hai Phong, Vietnam
Nov 06 International Sculpture Symposium, Gwalior, India
Aug 06 Lapidea, International Sculpture Symposium, Germany
Aug 04 International Sculpture Symposium, Sprimont, Belgium
Feb 95 International Ice and Snow Festival, Central House of the Russian Army, Moscow, Russia
July 93 International Sculpture Symposium, work in the collection of the Rabas Museum, Czechoslovakia
SOLO SHOWS (selected)
Aug 09 Sugar & Spice, Kashi Art Gallery, Kerrala, India
April 09 “Homogenous (the beauty of bland),” J.K.K Art Centre, Jaipur, India
Jan 08 “Dance footloose on the earth,” Installation @ 1 Shanthi Rd Studio-Gallery, Bangalore, India
Jan – Mar 06 Sculpture in the Workplace -Ten years of sculpture, Canada Square, London. Curated by Ann Elliott for the Canary Wharf Public Art programme
May 05 Play Things, Installation @ Walcott Chapel, Bath, U.K
August 03 Cornucopia, Installation in the cloisters of Gloucester Cathedral, Gloucester, U.K
April 2002 Teddy bears picnic, Installation @ Spike Island Art Centre, Bristol, U.K
Nov 99 “The Lost World of Feelings,” Installation @ Picton Street Gallery, Bristol, U.K
Sep 93 “Set in stone,” Henry Moore Fellowship Show, Herbert Read Gallery, Canterbury, U.K
GROUP SHOWS (selected)
Mar 2011 New York Expo, Sculpture & video presentation of work, New York, U.S
Dec 2011 “Dolls,” Gallery Sumukha, India, curated by Marta Jakimowicz, touring to ArtChennai & Rob Dean Art, London
Sep 2010 “Innerscapes,” installation & drawings at Alliance Francais, Bangalore, India
May 09 “Second Bangkok Triennial,” Selected by Tetsuya Noda, Tokyo National University of Fine Arts. Bangkok Art & Cultural Centre, Bangkok, touring north/east Thailand until 2010.
April 09 “Art in Rajasthan,” Bougainvillea Gallery, Udaipur, Rajasthan, India
Jan 2007 “Adam’s Rib, Eve’s Air in her hair,” SOHO20, New York ~Curated by Melina Messina, Brooklyn Museum
Dec 2006 154th Annual Autumn Show, Royal West of England Academy, Bristol,
Oct 06 “Beauty & the Beast,” Stourhead. Curated by Peter Dickinson for Hotbath Gallery/the National Trust
Jan 06 “Re-worked,” Washington Gallery, Cardiff, Wales
Dec 05 153rd Autumn Exhibition, Royal West of England Academy, Bristol
July 05 Royal British Society of Sculptors Centenary Show, University of Leicester
June 05 Royal British Society of Sculptors Annual Show, London
Oct – Dec 04 152nd Autumn Exhibition, Royal West of England Academy, Bristol
Sep 04 “Off the Wall,” Olympia, London
July 04 Shrewsbury Open, Shrewsbury Museum & Art Gallery, Shrewsbury
Dec 02-03 “Beauty & Corruption,” Crawford Municipal Gallery, Cork, Ireland. Selected by Eugenie Tai, Brooklyn Museum & Hugh Mulholland, Ormeau Baths Gallery.
Oct 00 “Workplace,” Site-specific project for the “Year of the Artist” programme, Arts Council, Bristol
Sep 98 Artery Show, Leigh Court Mansion, Bristol
June 1996 ArtLink@Sotheby's International Young Art programme
Nov 95 Contemporary Art Society Annual Exhibition, Royal Festival Hall, London
Oct 95 “The Discerning Eye,” Mall Galleries, London
June 94 “Sub-tropical,” Four Woman Show, Opus 39 Gallery, Nicosia, Cyprus
Apr 94 Interim Show, Henry Moore Gallery, Royal College of Art, London
Apr 93 “Vojanovy Sady,” Open Air sculpture Show, Central Prague, Czech Republic
June 92 International Sculpture Symposium Exhibition, Horice, Czechoslovakia
April 91 “Island life,” Gloria Gallery, Nicosia, Cyprus
SELECTED COMMISSIONS
May 2010 Interactive Public Sculpture in collaboration with digital artist for Bristol Children’s Hospital, U.K
July 98 Public commission for Battersea Park, London
Sep 92 Public commission for Canterbury International Art Festival, Canterbury Council Collection
Apr 92 Public commission for J. Sainsbury, Sainsbury Collection
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Nov 09 “Doll-girls” by Marta Jakimowicz, “Deccan Herald”, national newspaper, India
Aug 09 “The art of buying beauty” by Surekha K in “New Indian Express”, national newspaper, India
Aug 09 “Gender-specifics” by Tanya Abraham in “The Hindu”, national newspaper, India
Feb 08 “Mysterium Tremendum” Rollie Mukherjee, article on artconcerns, online contemporary art portal
Jan 7th 08 “Child-like in a metaphoric landscape” Marta Jakimowicz, “Deccan Herald”, national press, India
Nov 06 “Lapidea 2006” Anneli Karrenbrock, Germany (Görres Publishing House)
Feb 04 “crawford open 1 – 4” Peter Murray, Ireland (Gandon Editions)
Sep 02 “Sculpture in Bristol” Douglas Merritt, U.K (Redcliffe Press)
Work in private and public collections in England, Italy, India, Belgium, Czech Republic, Cyprus, Vietnam & Thailand.
