The Garage Residency

I called the writing before the residency, Active Withdrawal, and the transparent raincoat in yellow PVC with wired orange binding that I made from scratch during the residency took on that name also.  

I wanted to make the coat from scratch. Many Long Slow Waits (2018) utilised existing coats where I replaced the binding with the colours I had chosen. For the Garage show, I bought a short raincoat to take apart and to use as a pattern to help me learn about the design making process. The idea being that this will then lead towards the creation of sculptural forms for future, larger-scale works. For this coat, I kept it simple - no buttons and no pockets for security or possessions. You don't need them in times like these. 

 The transparent yellow PVC and TPU material is reminiscent of the UV screens that used to line shop windows to protect stock from fading. The wired seams and binding in nicotine orange animate the coat into a slumped position, devoid of its owner. Have they slipped away? Or perhaps, the coat is like fallen shop stock, out of place and left where fallen.  

Exhausted. 
Enough. 

 The ceramics I made were unfired: raw clay, first thrown on a wheel, then fitted and turned. It was painted with a white slip which, when dry, removed it from being recognisable as clay. Without the narrative function of the glaze this time, the unfired clay became precious when stacked. It was reminiscent of modular concrete cylinders by the side of the road or on building sites. Except: mine rise up. 

Artwork details

Title: Active Withdrawal
Year: 2021
Materials: TPU, PVC, Wire
Dimensions: 80cm x 80cm x 15cm

Title: Untitled
Year: 2021
Materials: Unfired clay, neon rope
Dimensions: 110cm x 20cm x 20cm

Exhibited

The Garage residency 2 - 21 March 2021

Photography by Lisa Scantlebury