26-28/04/2018 - MIND GARDEN APPAREL DESIGN

The JIC project had absorbed a lot of my time and focus, and now that it was all installed I wanted to refocus my efforts on another project which I had been really interested in but not had the time to fully follow up on since my return from Falmouth. The work of James Morgan of Mind Garden studios had really interested me, because of its truly grassroots nature and the obvious motivation and dedication of the man behind it all, aswell as his interest in themes around mankinds relationship and waning connection with nature.

25/04/2018 - JIC INSTALL (+simple risk assessment)

On the day of the install at the John Innes Centre, I had luckily arranged for Joel to help in taking my piece along with his. This meant that I was able to get it there with no risk of damage, and only had to carry my piece the short distance from the car into the centre.

24/04/2018 - BETH COLLAB SESSION 2

We got together for another session with tissue paper to see what we could produce in a second experiment. Ahead of this attempt I had done a little exploration into a designer named Dorota Pankowska who had been inspired by the Twitter logo bird, crafted from 13 circles. She then went on to create a series of 13 other animals from circles, and open it up as a creative challenge to other designers.

23/04/2018 - JIC FINAL OUTCOME PRE INSTALL

Now my completed piece was dried and ready to be picked up. The mirror had added to the weight again and it had once again become an long and ardous journey from the workshop to my studio! Once I had the work back I wanted to try and frame a patron picture of my own with me full frame sitting within the eye of the mirror.

19-20/04/2018 - JIC SPRAY VARNISH AND MIRROR FIXING

I spent a few days giving the piece several coats of slightly tinted acrylic spray varnish to protect the works, particularly focussing on the edges and corners which I thought would be likely to sustain damage. This also lent the work an aged quality, like the slightly off white tones of the etchings in the aged pages of the rare books.

18/04/2018 - JIC CUTTING OUT AND EDGING

Now that my work was painted, it was time to cut around the piece and edge it, ready to insert the mirror. I have previous workshop experience which always comes in handy with cross disciplinary works such as this, but still always feel a bit nervous when moving from comfortable painting to the loud and dynamic environment of the workshop. The piece was very detailed, and I worried that the process of cutting around would be painstaking and some of the details may be lost.

13-16/04/2018 - JIC PAINTING

Now my board was prepped I could paint the rest of the work in around my sketch. I had decided to keep my work greyscale and use watered down acrylics as a way to build up gradual tones, as are percieved by the eye in the minute crosshatch of the etchings we saw.

17/04/2018 - JOHN INNES CENTRE BOARD SKETCH

After deciding on a general direction and voice which I wanted my work to convey, I created my sketch. I lifted some of the architectural designs directly from the patron portraits, and also featured some of the same objects I had seen within the archive. I chose to use a modern version of technology such as the microscope, as I wanted my piece to be very much of the modern day, a present example of the old portraits based on our modern understanding and situation within the world. Some pieces such as the bell jar and hourglass instead appear here as vintage remnants of the old ways. I will play more deeply with the symbolism and specific meanings implied here when translating my composition to the larger final piece. However already here we have ivy growing over the microscope and rest of the scene, showing the permenance of the force of nature in comparison to the temporary nature of the things we create and do. Beneath the bell jar I have placed a Thylacine skull, an extremely unique predatory marsupial which long ago existed across both Australia and Tazmania, before becoming extinct in both across the 20th century, due to suspected changes in climate and pressures from the indigenous peoples and farming.

10/04/2018 - JIC MIRROR AND BOARD PREP

As a start on the actual creation of my piece for the John Innes Centre, I had already swept the local charity shops in the week earlier and found a good size mirror for a decent price. A sticker on the mirror told me it had been brought originally in 1982 and it was amazing to me to think that something which had existed in one very functional, basic capacity, waiting for someone to buy in a charity shop, would now be transformed into an entirely different artefact with a whole new meaning, to appear in a research facility in an archive for rare books.

1/04/2018 - NORWICH ART CAR BOOT APPLICATION

I applied for the Norwich Art Car Boot, an annual summer event now in it's fourth year down at the Redwell Brewery arches on the way out of the city towards Trowse. It is a great yearly event filled with local artists selling a variety of artworks, crafts, apparel and other design works. With live music and food on site, it typically proves to be a great event as could be a really great opportunity to distribute some of my work, and also discuss my motivations and interests with audiences.