Central Saint Martins Degree Show

I’d Never Want an Easy Life If Me and Thee Were Ever to Get There (May 2019)

3m x 2m x 2.5m

​

Cob Cave Sculpture Sanctuary Installation: plywood, pine timber, chicken wire, clay, building sand, sharp sand, hay, water, cardboard, tree trunks, carpet, hessian, cotton sheets, twigs, human hair, jute, raffia, tree bark, wild clay, tree resin, washable, reusable bamboo paper towels.

 

Individual works: liquefied tree resin clay sculpture sealant, tree branch and raffia gate, two-tier tree table and stools, wild clay ceramic jar, bowl, pot and jug, hessian aprons, hessian clay and sculpture pouches, wild clay for sculpting, tree-bark supporting material journal with mock parchment paper, tree disc sculpture platforms, human hair paintbrushes.

 

Process: I invite participants into my Cob Cave Sculpture Sanctuary to sit at the tree table and talk to me, connect with me if we both feel comfortable doing that then make sculptures out of wild clay, without looking. I dug up, processed and offered a choice of five different types of wild clay, which I mined from my three home cities of Leeds, London and Truro, and also one from Devon. My four suggested options are; I talk and they listen, they talk and I listen, we sit making in silence, or I leave them inside on their own. When they are finished, I nurture their sculptures by drying them out, sealing them in liquefied tree resin then offering to personally return them to their makers by hand. Touch is vitally important, yet people have become scared of touching each other in affectionate but appropriate ways. Touch is so intimate and relies on trust and feeling comfortable with the person who’s touching you. Touch has been abused for many people. I want to provide a safe environment and encourage people to come out of themselves a bit more and be more open with each other. This requires a lot of trust for some people. I think we're becoming more divided and isolated as a species and need more old-fashioned connection with other people, especially as technology is encouraging us to either play with our electronic devices and ignore others, or socialise through these digital interfaces. I want to encourage a more back-to-basics approach to social interaction. This work is also a protest against the commodification of art, which was the focus of my dissertation 'How do we come up with new ideas but circumnavigate the capitalist system of commodifying artwork?' which is downloadable here:

​

​

​

​

​​​

​

Special thanks to Richard from RWC Tree Surgeons in Leeds for donating and sawing the wood for my tree table: 

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

Special thanks to Evan Sanders of Bare Joinery in Leeds for designing and constructing the bespoke wooden frame for my Cob Cave:

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

Special thanks also to David Mosley 'Handyman to the arts' for help with erecting the bespoke wooden frame for my Cob Cave and generally being wonderful: 07801 731 659

​