(March 2018) Project Proposal: [Elephant and Castle Shopping Centre] Everyone’s asking if I’m ok // No one’s asking if I’m ok

‘A form of colour matching, a statement, disruption, expression of a mood / anti-mood; the resulting objects will engage with the poetics – or non-poetics – of space.’

I will use print based installation to present an examination of human memory and highlight the temporary nature of spaces that are soon to be demolished.

Specifically, I am interested in photographically documenting ongoing process of demolition, construction and subsequent gentrification that is associated with the imminent regeneration of the Elephant and Castle Shopping Centre. This visual information is then processed through collaging, using a mixture of different scales, with the aim of reconstructing the original experience of the space in a physical form, not just through memory.

Photographic Documentation of Elephant and Castle Shopping Centre – March 2018

I am interested in using my practice to create a physical archive of everyday life, in particular typically working class situations, which in Brighton (which has long been gentrified) are hard to come by. I am interested in finding the spaces documented by Gray and others who are included in the collection and documenting the physical and psycho geographical changes that have occurred. 
I am aiming to document the psycho-geographical experience presented by the Elephant and Castle Shopping Centre, (South London) in order to create a site specific print based, mixed media installation.

Artist Statement February 2018 – ‘ No past belongs to any individual alone.’

My practice is focused on testing and applying philosophical arguments concerning aesthetics and functions of art, to contemporary society, through the creation of physical art works.  I aim to use my practice to explore the potentials and test the limits of how art works can engage with wider society including; protesting, raising awareness and altering perceptions of issues, as art is often viewed as a passive type of reaction to social issues in comparison to direct action.

‘The distinguishing feature of direct action is that it aims to achieve our goals through our own activity rather than through the actions of others. Direct action seeks to exert power directly over affairs and situations which concern us.’

Press Release – ‘Constructions’ (To be exhibited January 2018 at the University Gallery, Brighton)

Through Constructions, I aim to use installation of my printed works to put forward a reflective viewpoint on contemporary social issues including homelessness, gentrification and the housing crisis, to display an assemblage of varied perspectives.

The Constructions are composed of (traditionally wall based) monotype and relief print images.
They are installed unconventionally on found materials (glass, wood, paper, cardboard and fabric) using flyposting techniques. I will also extend my exploration into materiality in my Constructions by including cardboard and other low cost, ‘real life’ materials that have rich metaphorical language with homelessness and the very real, everyday struggles individuals are facing due to the housing crisis.