Art has left the Building
Re:Call Interview
1) When were you at Bournville School of
Art?
2006-2008
2) What course did you study here?
Visual Art by Negotiated Study
3) Who were your tutors?
Ruth Claxton / Kelly Large / Jo Newman
4) What area did you specialize in?
Craft and Fine Art
5) What memories do you have of your
first day at Bournville School of Art?
Daunting
6) What memories do you have of your
final show at Bournville School of Art?
Exhilarating. It delivered everything
that I had hoped it would.
7) What piece did you do for your final
show at Bournville and could you describe it?
It was an installation piece, which was
shown in a temporary environment created specifically to allow the work to be
seen in its own context, unhindered by external narrative. The work explored
the notion of clothing as a wearable shelter, an intimate private space accessible
only to the wearer. The transitional item was surrounded by a series of panels,
a framework that served as mechanisms to create an autonomous intimate space,
distancing the viewer, but to emphasise the aspects of personal space and home.
The openings served as fixed frames to offer pre-determined snapshots to view
the work and collectively to offer a sense of movement. The aim was to create a
sense of intimacy and enticement. 3
discreet monitors displayed a series of intimate sequential stills, which explored
the narrative of occupancy and the connection to the body, becoming a catalyst
for the invention of stories.
8) Could you give just five words to
describe your experience at Bournville School of Art?
Challenging, intense, insightful,
transforming, quirky
I now work as a freelance visual artist
and have many creative experiences since my time at Bournville. I work on large
scale projects within schools, I have collaborated with choreographers and
musicians, to produce site specific performance pieces, I have provided many
smaller intimate bespoke projects, I produce and exhibit my own work and I also
work for a well known theatre company, installing artworks in and outside of
the UK.
10) Could you describe your current
creative practice/ideas/work?
I am hopefully about to begin
experimenting and exploring a combination of new materials with felt, to see
how and if they may work within a new site specific project that I am currently
negotiating on. I have worked mainly with felt, for some time now and I keen to
move this forward. I researched for a brief time at Loughborough University,
using their amazing equipment and technology to hopefully help me to develop
some ideas within my work. However, it is an ongoing and slow process at this
time, due to work commitments.
11) Could you say a little about the
work you have chosen to include in the Re:Call exhibition?
This piece was produced specifically for
an exhibition called ‘Making Sense’. I was asked to produce 3 pieces to go into
a sensory exhibition and this was one of them, the aim was for the audience to
be able use all of their senses to explore the artwork.
12) What are you working on at the moment?
I take it that we mean my artwork! As I
mentioned above I am hoping to develop my ideas for a large-scale site-specific
piece and I am also working on some experimental pieces to get the juices
going!!
13) What are your creative plans for the
future?
These are currently under review!
14) Is there anything else you would
like to add?
I would like to say how happy I
am to see such an industrious student as Amanda, taking on not only her own
final piece, but also this exhibition, well done!
The space at Bournville allowed me the
opportunity to work in a way that suited my lifestyle at the time. I was due to
attend Loughborough University, but because of commitments I couldn’t make the
journey. Ruth and Kelly were great tutors and I am sure that I must have driven
them to distraction with the volume of ideas and sketchbooks, but they helped
me to realise who I am and what I do and put it into context. I do also have to
mention Jo Newman, who was a rock and a good sounding board, for my more
textile and maker ideas, however, collectively they offered me the support to
help me realise my own potential, so thank you!!