EXHIBITIONS
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Postcard Project - 14 August 2021
The year 2020 was an unpredictable year to say the least, with the global pandemic, environmental turmoil and political conflict.
With this in mind, 200 artists across the UK were asked to reflect on their experience of 2020 and create artwork directly onto postcards. I was lucky enough to be one of the 200 selected and for my contribution I turned my attention to the fact that for my day job I was now having to work from home.
The pandemic forced many of us to change our working environment, for some, like me, this meant no longer going into the office but find space in my own home to work from. For others it meant being furloughed and of course for some it unfortunately resulted in them losing their jobs.
The image I submitted - "The Redundant Suit" was my personal reflection on having to adapt to the changing work environment. This self-portrait explores my feelings of vulnerability about those changes and a longing to return to the days when for me "work" meant putting on a suit and leaving the house.
In the past my suit was simply my work "uniform" which I only wore for work and I'd change out of as soon as I got home. However, I began to find that I missed wearing it, this image reflects both my sense of vulnerability and a longing to return to some form of normality.
All 200 postcards were exhibited in a gallery in Stoke Newington on 14 August 2021, and published in an accompanying book. More information available here: https://www.artistsrespondingto.co.uk/the-postcard-project
The Sky Has No Surface
In 2021 I took part in an online exhibition entitled "The Sky Has No Surface" with the following brief:
"Have you ever wondered what's beyond our line of sight? Why we only see blue when we look up but know there's hundreds of planets out there. The Sky Has No Surface looks to these intangible things asking artists to explore their own boundaries and surfaces in relation to what goes beyond our line of sight."
Using found objects photographed in such a way as to disguise their identity, I produced a series of images that transport those ordinary terrestrial objects into something otherworldly. The final body of work invites the viewer to question their own perspective on "what's beyond our line of sight" and what's right under our nose.
Belle Vue Arts Festival 2019
I entered 2 pieces in the Belle Vue Arts Festival which this year was on the theme "Origins". I'm pleased to say my montage "Roots - A Botanical Study" achieved joint second place, and my landscape "A New Day Begins" was awarded a Highly Commended.
Church Stretton Arts Festival
In February 2018 I entered the following images in the Church Stretton Arts Festival and I was delighted that 2 of my images were sold.
Lingen Davies Cancer Fund
In 2018 I had all 3 of my submissions for the Lingen Davies 2019 calendar accepted. In addition, prints of all calendar submissions were exhibited at Shrewsbury Museum & Art Gallery as part of an auction to raise funds for the charity. For more information follow this link to their website - www.lingendavies.co.uk.
Photography on a Postcard
Art on a Postcard is an organisation that raises money for The Hepatitis C Trust via a secret auction of art recreated on postcard size prints. In 2016 they extended this concept to include photography.
The submissions included work from Bruce Golden, Mark Power, David Hoffman, Dougie Wallace, Maggie Taylor, Karine Laval and Laura Pannack. This is my successful submission in 2017.
Town & Country
In 2014 I exhibited a collection of photographs under the heading of "Town & Country". Taken in Shrewsbury, Ludlow and on Caer Caradoc this exhibition took place in Church Stretton.
Origins
Origins takes it's inspiration from the fields and meadows close to Charles Darwin's childhood home in Shrewsbury. Darwin's father insisted that the young Charles took a walk around these meadows everyday, for the benefit of his health. It is said that these walks began his lifelong fascination for the natural world.
Taken over 12 months these images not only document the changing seasons, but also shows the variety of flora and fauna that can be seen on your doorstep (these meadows are but a 10 minute walk from Shrewsbury town centre.
This body of work was exhibited at the Shropshire Wildlife Visitors Centre in Shrewsbury in February 2014 as part of the celebration of Darwin's birth.
University of Wolverhampton Photography Exhibition - January 2014
This exhibition was the culmination of a University of Wolverhampton course I did on black & white film developing and processing. All students selected two images they had taken during the course which we developed, mounted and framed for this end of term exhibition. My fellow students were; Nathan Cleary, Gilly Jones, Amanda Beddows, Daniel Nicholas, Nivetha Sundar, Matthew Stone, Christine Roberts, Malgorzata Goncerzewicz, and Artur Nilov.
It was an incredible experience and my first time back in the darkroom since school. Being in control of the whole process, from choosing the film, taking the shot, processing the negatives, developing a print, mounting, framing and utilmaely hanging the images taught me a lot of valuable lessons which are as relevant to digital photography as they are to film.
I would urge anyone who is seriously into photography to revert back to film every so often as I believe it makes you a better photographer.
