AirSpace Gallery Residency - Week 1

After spending the first month of our residency doing research so we would be ready to begin experimenting and making in our studios when we moved in last week, I was not expecting to be so overwhelmed. I share a  studio space with two other post-graduate resident artists in the main gallery at AirSpace - a fantastic space which has a great, communal atmosphere already; however, it is currently feeling very much like a blank canvas which I am not quite ready to make a mark on. I have my sewing machine set up, tools in drawers, images on the walls, a steady stream of to-do lists already, and my entire library of anything vaguely arty alongside an overflowing folder of research - I am excited to get going and love the set up so far, but also admittedly, I am very nervous. 

Our second day in the studios, we had an online session with the visual arts relationships manager from Arts Council England which gave us invaluable insight into the funding application process, with great tips and plenty of encouragement. It made me feel so much more prepared to plan for and write a proposal but equally made it all feel very REAL. In less than five months, we will each be installing and exhibiting in the space we are currently occupying, and with week one already over, I know that the time will fly by. 

At the end of the week and after finally moving in, I began with small tasks, small tests, and bits of sketch booking, building momentum ready for the next week. This morning (Monday of week two) I had the assistance of a friend, fellow artist, and photographer Liz Ankers to take some test images which were seemingly successful - I look forward to seeing them full screen rather than just on the back of the camera! 

In my previous practice, I have been interested in traces from stage performance, make-up, wigs, and costume - moving forward I plan to investigate and experiment with stage props and skills outside of performing for entertainment, within a different setting. I perform as a circus and sideshow artist outside of my art practice and wanted to integrate some of those strange skills and props into the performances or live art in my practice. With a focus on gender performativity and gender expectations, objectification versus autonomy, and the notion of the duality of disempowerment and empowerment that can be found on stage. 

I am beginning tests with a bed of nails which is a traditional and familiar freakshow or sideshow prop that tests the body, a person's endurance and pain threshold, and also physically manipulates and distorts flesh in a way I hope to document and share. 

Throughout this second week, I also plan to begin considering what my solo show will entail, how I might use the space, what might take place in the space, and begin budgeting for materials and other costs in order to write a funding bid as soon as possible. Here's to a productive week and hopefully starting to settle into both the space and the rhythm.