Degree show statement

‘It is not where you take things from – it is where you take them to’ – Jean Luc Godard

My art practice involves working across a range of media, including video, installation, sculpture, photography, writing and painting (in a subjectively loose sense of the word…). I suspect that being clumsy by nature has drawn me to things that look like they could have easily been created by complete accident, and I try to project this aesthetic onto the work I produce; Balancing objects on an edge, and exploiting my materials to breaking point - I enjoy creating things via the playful act of destruction.

I am selective with the materials I choose to incorporate within my work because I feel that looking at painfully obvious things is tantamount to telling people what they already know, which could be read as patronizing to a viewer interacting with it.

A lack of consistent cash flow has prompted me into predominantly using found materials to work with, subsequently acting as a catalyst in evolving the aesthetic of my oeuvre. Though in many cases the history of the found objects will affect several pre-existing connotations, I like to strip them from their original function and use them for a different purpose. I am fond of the temporary attachment I form with my materials, because this constantly changing format of working helps inspire excitement.

The installation is formed from recycled materials that have been in my studio for the last few months, inspired in part by German photographer Peter Nistsch’s photographs of Shop houses in Bangkok - Explosion of color within ram packed rooms of often pointlessly hoarded items.

I wanted to produce some work that could simultaneously exist inside and out of a studio/gallery scenario to break down what I feel is a very common perception that only those who have an art education, in an assigned establishment, should see art. The video is intentionally created to be enjoyed and seen anywhere. As well as being accessible on the internet, videos could potentially be projected onto almost anything.

It is my attempt to provide an insight to my personal perspective of the ‘creative high’ that I am positive any given individual involved in a creative field will understand a drive/lust for. This high is what drives us to continue playfully creating. The film is edited at a very quick pace to remain consistent with the pace and manner with which I interact with materials in my studio on a daily basis, unhealthily caffeine-driven and constantly distracted.

My current ongoing research addresses Asian philosophies, stemming at Taoism, and appropriating them to contemporary art from both occidental and oriental artists. The Japanese philosophy Wabi- Sabi, which has large focus on the beauty of things imperfect, impermanent and incomplete, has a very heavy influence on my practice. I see my role as an artist as a guider of objects, helping shape them rather than solidify them into a permanent form.