Visual Art - Art Road

THE PALISADES, Aluminium, acrylic spray paint, plastic coated wire & wire, 82x40x18cm, 2017, Detail

Name: Polly du Cros

DOB: April 1969

Place of birth: Lancashire, United Kingdom

Occupation: Artist

Polly works in sculpture/installation with an emphasis on making and materiality. Her spontaneous and instinctual process of being physically involved with the material means that the matter selected is exploited without controlling the experiment, to maintain an element of naivety. Current materials include metal, foam, polystyrene, plastic and scrap, along with paint. Working within the liminal space between the expanded field and sculpture works are developed within the space. She is interested in the way an object exists and is seen in a space and in the psychology of the response to it.

Polly’s rationale for being an artist is to ask are we losing touch with the art of making in this age of advancing technology.

Is it possible for me to make a body of work that questions the possibility of creating sculpture as a unifying experience which has as its cognate a parallel narrative in multiple digital sources or ‘feeds’. Is it possible for me to produce work that has a sense of unity.

Underpinning my sculpture and installations are a fundamental search for something through action, grappling with materials and manipulating until a kind of truth or realisation is released during the process, allowing the intrinsic properties of the material to arise. The work avoids obvious connotations and is non-representational, it is, ‘about sculpture’. I enter into a mental dialogue with the material as to what is required and the process allows me to move beyond metaphor and into something more directly experienced. I am in a place of ‘flow’ and completely absorbed in the making of the work.

Influenced by the human body and how it leaves a memory of its action on the material, the work is physical and confrontational. I both isolate and absorb myself in the making process to allow the materials to dictate their form. I am keen to find out about the materials and what they need on one hand, whilst controlling them on the other; this balance is central and sought.

In my day-to-day studio practice I have perceived an unexpected correlate for this period of total ‘flow’ with the data streams of information I receive.

TWILL HOOKED, Aluminium & calico, 40x30x50cm, 2016

The frenetic lives we lead are in part due to the digital communication that takes place. We are constantly bombarded with information via technology and many different components are acting upon us at any one time. How does this translate within the work that is being made and can we separate ourselves from these influences or does every piece of information become stored on a cellular level in our bodies and therefore affect the work in progress.

TRIDENT PROP, Aluminium, acrylic spray paint, plastic tubing and tape, 220x160x180cm, 2017

Walter Benjamin’s essay, The Work of Art in The Age of Mechanical Reproduction continues to play a role in understanding how technology contributes to a de-aestheticization of art in the modern world.

Artist Helen Marten creates work that is multi-faceted and currently we seem unable to establish if there is a master narrative or unity to her work. I intend to contribute to the debate by making sculpture and questioning if unity is possible or if technology is responsible for the disparate nature.

TRACERY RUNGS, Wood, moss and copper thread, 246x50x75cm, 2017

I am concerned with the expansion of taste. Taste in terms of what can be accepted in the making process, and what cannot. Within these concerns is an awareness of the potential space for creativity, the heightened idea of potentiality through the process of making. When is the mark or the action encouraged, nurtured and honed, and when is it eradicated or altered? Such a potential space is paramount in the work and occupies a place where language and communication occur.

APOGEE, Aluminium & cotton thread, 27x23x30cm, 2016

I graduated from St. Helens College (part of Chester University) in 2011 where I achieved a first class honours degree in Fine Art (Painting). In 2014 I undertook an MFA in Fine Art at Manchester Metropolitan University which was successfully completed in October 2016.

Methods:

The central objective is to continue to make a work within a practice-based methodology. As such original investigation will be undertaken to gain new knowledge, partly by means of practice and partly by the outcomes of that practice. The objectives and methodologies are therefore intrinsically linked as the practice is evolutionary.

References:

W. Benjamin, 1936, The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction; Broderson XV

Berger, John, 2008, Ways of Seeing, Penguin Modern Classics

Cooke, Lynne, 2011, Agnes Martin, Dia Art Foundation, New York

Elkins, James, 1996, The Object Stares Back, Harvest, Inc. New York

Csikszentmihalyi, M, 1996, Creativity, New York, Harper Collins

Exhibitions

COMPETITIONS, AWARDS

2017, 3D Prize, West Lancs Open, UK

2015, Blooom Award by Warsteiner , shortlisted

Residencies

2018, Abingdon Studios, Blackpool, UK

2017, The Great Medical Disaster, Manchester, UK

TWO MAN SHOWS

2018 with Paul Bramley, The Abingdon Experiment, Abingdon Studios, Blackpool, UK

2017 with Paul Bramley, Recent Works, Studio 24, Leeds, UK

2017 Jenny Eden & Polly Tomlinson, Cornerstone Gallery, Liverpool Hope University, UK

Group Shows

2017 Transfuse, The Great Medical Disaster, Manchester, UK

2017 West Lancs Open, Chapel Gallery, Ormskirk, UK

2016 MFA Show Grosvenor Gallery, Manchester School of Art, UK

2015 MA Show Grosvenor Gallery, Manchester School of Art, UK

2015 Electric Open Electric Picture House, Congleton, UK

2014, West Lancashire Open Exhibition, Chapel Gallery, Ormskirk, UK

2014 Degree Show St. Helens College, UK

2013 8BA2 Show St. Marys Market, St. Helens, UK

2013 St. Helen’s Open, World of Glass, St. Helens, UK

Name: Emily Dayson

DOB: November 1994

Place of birth: Auckland, New Zealand

Occupation: Freelance Illustrator & Designer

I graduated from Manchester School of Art this year where I studied Illustration with Animation.

I believe that the function of a design can be equally as important as it’s aesthetic, and that it should be used as a tool to connect with and to emote an audience.

In my more meaningful work, various current affairs and issues I feel strongly about motivate me. In contrast, I’ve have always had a love for nature, organic forms and textures which have been used heavily in my recent work. I take an interest in many other contemporary Illustrators, from editorial and abstract, to local and well known. I particularly like learning about the processes of more local Illustrators, as I feel I can relate to and learn from them on a more personal level.

I have found that the use of visually appealing processes and techniques, combined with a positive outlook and awareness of certain affairs and issues, allows me to connect with the viewer in a way that brings both them and me enjoyment as well as motivation for change. Whether the work is trying to covey a strong message or to simply be aesthetically pleasing, I want people to connect with the work on a positive level, and to get a feel for the enjoyment I feel when creating the work.

I wanted to emote social awareness of a major issue that affects most of the Western world through the use of my artwork. Through trial and error during my degree, I found that the most effective way for me to do so would be in a positive manner. Instead of pointing out the negatives of an issue, I wanted to find solutions and suggest these ideas through engaging illustration.

My project ‘Therapeutic Gardens’ explores a lack of green space in cities and an increase of mental health problems in our increasingly fast paced urban lives. I decided to explore the integration of green spaces in the city, and the benefits Therapeutic Gardens could have on our health. To do so I ultimately wanted to engage people, and raise awareness through the use of uplifting forms and imagery.

It is important for me to use relevant forms and shapes in my work, therefore in Therapeutic Gardens, every element was inspired by plants, flowers, materials, colours and forms that are essential to a Therapeutic Garden. I wanted to translate these sensory characteristics through the work to give the viewer an uplifting experience. Atelier Bingo have really influenced me in terms of my mark making, as they gave me the confidence to be really experimental and to use as many different tools, materials and surfaces, to communicate as many different mark and textures as possible. I also get a lot of inspiration from editorial Illustrators such as Mark Conlan. I love his use of contemporary shapes and forms that hold an organic feel through subtle textures, as well as his limited colour palettes and meaningful concepts, something that I try to use a lot within my work.

I enjoy combining traditional and digital techniques, experimenting with a range of different hand rendered textures and marks, then composing these digitally as various shapes and elements.

Hand rendered textures and mark making have become an essential part of my work. I like to then work with these digitally as I find this creates a much more clean and crisp finish, also allowing me to play around freely with scale and colour. However, my hand rendered textures are something that I feel can’t be replicated digitally, as they have a much more spontaneous and organic feel which contrasts well with clean cut shapes and elements.

I hope to uplift an audience and to allow them to look at issues from a new perspective. Anyone can see that there are many negative things going on in the world, but most will just ignore the issue, don’t care or don’t believe it’s their responsibility to make a difference. I hope that by showing people positive possible solutions for these issues instead, they might at least stop and think outside of the box for a moment.

My more recent work has been slightly more commercial, and focuses less on current affairs. I always told myself that after graduating, I would spend time producing work for myself, so that I could really develop my own style and learn what it really is that I enjoy doing. I’ve certainly been enjoying this and feel my authoritative style is really beginning to grow. My next step is to go back and combine more meaningful concepts with my now much stronger visual language.

Art Road

Tag: Visual Art

Are we losing touch with the art of making in this age of advancing technology?

The function of a design can be equally as important as it’s aesthetic