Since graduating from Middlesex University and looking
at your work today, how has your work and practises evolved over
time?
I completed my Fine Art degree at Middlesex in 1999. The time at
university is quite intense, and you tend to explore different
areas as you develop your interests and ways of working. I can
still see connections with some of the work then to what I am doing
now. In fact, I did continue doing some of the work that I began at
Middlesex for several years after I finished, particularly the
bubblegum paintings. I started showing them in exhibitions during
university and eventually had a solo show with them in CAS Gallery.
Osaka, Japan, in 2005. I received funding from the British Council
for the project and spent two weeks chewing gum every day, with the
final exhibition being an installation of six 1m sq paintings,
along with a table with the various packets of gum and a spit
bucket. What I see there is a concern with beginnings and
possibilities, as well as exploring materials and creating order
out of a kind of chaos. I think much of my current work still has
these themes.
Much of your work currently focuses on the use of newspaper
cuttings, stripping them of their informative qualities,
particularly with the newspaper cut-out works. Could you describe
the works and how taking away the information, creates an almost 3D
drawing?
I started the newspaper cutout pieces in around 2000, and am still
continuing them; they are pretty much infinite. I very carefully
cut out all of the information - words, headlines, pictures,
numbers, dates, etc - from the facing pages of the newspaper,
leaving the 'skeleton' behind. The borders and abstract marks then
become the composition. The pieces have strong formal qualities,
and clearly relate to modernist grid paintings, Mondrian in
particular. I also began to understand them as drawings - the empty
spaces emphasising the lines and marks surrounding them - and have
showed them in several drawing shows. They also seem to appeal to
architects, as they appear like buildings or architectural plans.
They also comment on the passing of time and how much information
we consume on a daily basis.
The pieces are very intricate and take many hours and
patience to create, how do you concentrate on the process and what
is it that drives you?
The process is labour intensive, and quite boring. I just put on my
head phones and concentrate on cutting as precisely as possible.
The impetus is putting the paper together at the end and revealing
the new composition.
How long does it take to complete a
newspaper?
Different papers can take different amounts of time, depending on
the layout. I use papers from around the world and each has its own
particular visual language. So a simple tabloid, with just 10 pages
might take half a day, while a paper such as The Nikkei, a Japanese
broadsheet paper, has a much more intricate layout, so can take
several full days.
Are the newspaper works a favourite subject? What is more
important, the subject or the way it is executed?
I'm not sure I would describe the newspapers as a subject, as I see
them more as material. Although I am exclusively using newspapers
at the moment, I have used a variety of material in the past, and
may experiment with different materials in the future. It all
depends upon where the idea comes from. The relationship between
subject and its execution is a complex one and I think each artist
has their own ways of resolving this.
With the decline in Arts Council funding and looking at
current trends in contemporary art, are their any works or
exhibitions you have viewed recently which have given you
hope?
As I am not reliant on public funding for my practice, the Arts
Council cuts have not affected me directly. However, there will
certainly be less opportunities for artists, in terms of
residencies, applying for funding and exhibition opportunities.
There are quite a few open submission exhitibitions that take place
through the year and I know that some galleries that have had their
funding cut are having to scale back their programmes. I go to see
a lot of exhibitons, in major museums, artists run spaces, regional
galleries and commercial galleries. Tate St Ives currently has a
well curated display with a combination of artists that play well
off each other, Martin Creed, Roman Ondak, Agnes Martin.
Recent works you have finished which focus on decay and
destruction, with reference to 'The Ruins' and the 'Attic' again
use newspaper as the medium, using cutouts to form key parts of the
image, with breathtaking results. Is the use of newspaper symbolic
in any way to the decay of information and how there is a decline
in print?
After doing the newspaper cutouts for some years, I wanted to find
a way of re-using all the cuttings that were discarded and piling
up on my studio floor. There was an obituary of Gwyther Irwin in
the papers in 2008. He was a British collage artist who emerged in
the 50s/60s. The image accompanying the obit was of him in his
studio picking through a huge mound of paper and material, as he
created his works. This image sparked the large collage works that
I am doing now. I recreated that image of Irwin by using all the
leftover bits on my studio floor and all the other works have
followed on from that. All the images are places or objects in a
state of decay, hovering between order and disorder. I guess this
relates to your question about subject and execution - the works
are a combination of the initial image, the material and the
process.
Where do you draw your inspiration from?
Inspiration can come from anywhere, different art forms as well as
everyday things. Most of my work has started through
experimentation and play in the studio, trying things out until I
feel they are working. I generally work quite instinctively.
Looking at the map artworks, which follow paths of roads,
streets and highways, cutout with precision, with each section
forming a bone - vertebrae, rib, skull and so on, could you
describe the artworks? Are the map pieces representative of veins,
arteries, junctions?
The map works are similar to the newspaper cutout works in that
they exploit an already made structure. My interest in the line as
a starting point led me to think about the forms of streets within
city maps and whether I could find shapes in them. I found a skull
shape in London, recognised that the qualities of the maps lent
themselves well to organic bodily forms and then went on to create
a whole skeleton, using an image from Vesalius. These works, which
are pinned directly onto the wall, culminated in a second solo show
in Osaka, with a large installation of seven figures, and a
skeletal horse and rider. This group of work is kind of on hold at
the moment, I think I need time to reconsider them and they also
may need some kind of professional mountings and framing, which is
going to be tricky and expensive.
Seeing you at work in the studio, with music playing on an
record player, has your work been influenced by music, moods and
experiences?
I always have music in the studio, it helps me work. However I
wouldn't say there is any direct influence. I listen to a wide
variety of stuff. The record player is new, some of the records are
old.
You are already established internationally with
exhibitions in Japan and previously shortlisted for the Jerwood
drawing prize, what plans do you have for this and coming
years?
I have just had two works accepted for the Royal Academy Summer
Exhibition for the first time, so that has been quite exciting. The
show started in June and is continuing until mid-August. Following
that, there is a group drawing show at Burton Art Gallery and
Museum in Bideford, Devon, from September, organised by The Drawing
Gallery. That will be 40 artists all showing A4 drawings, with a
mixture of upcoming artists as well as fairly established artists,
such as Michael Craig-Martin, Alison Wilding and Bill Woodrow.
There are also a number of open submission coming up, and I'd like
to get out to Japan again in the near future. Work just
continues...
As featured in Unfolded Magazine Issue 03