In The Woods Today

01/07/2011

Sculpture, intervention and installations by Fine Art staff and graduates of The University of Chester.

Artists: Caroline Backhouse / Mike Badger / Joe Stokes / Tim Daly / Alexe Dilworth / Maud Goldberg / Neil Grant / Lesley Halliwell / Maggie Jackson / Lisa Kronenburg / Guy Mayman / Chris Millward / Natalie Papworth / John Renshaw / Jeremy Turner / Estelle Woolley

Preview: Thurs 30th July 6-9pm

If you go down to the woods......

Caroline Backhouse

Wrapped Up

2011

Mixed Wools

Taking inspiration from the handicraft aesthetic, my practice involves employing traditional craft techniques such as wrapping and crotchet, with the intention of achieving unconventional textile installations. Previous work has referenced molecular formulae and organic processes such as decay and decomposition, as well as exploring possibilities of weaving man made industrial materials in with the natural world. Recent work has been inspired by “Yarn Bombing”, or “Graffiti Knitting”; a craze which involves wrapping outdoor structures with colourful displays of knitted or crotched cloth in an attempt to highlight the beauty in our surroundings.

Mike Badger

Scene of the Crime

2011

Woven Tree Stump

2011

Weather Board Seed Form

2011

http://www.mikebadger.co.uk/

Tim Daly

Slow Fires

2011

Inkjet prints encased in resin

Slow Fires takes it’s cue from the world of paper conservation, a term used to describe the gradual deterioration of a book due to environmental exposure. Re-photographed barber shop posters faded by the sun to a characteristic cyan, are placed in colourless resin, which, over time will turn orange due to the ultra violet rays found in daylight. The piece was inspired by homemade clear cast photo memorials found in many pet cemeteries, those which are touched by the weather and over time, become like objects trapped in amber. Rather than document and preserve these 1980’s hairstyle posters, I am setting them off on another journey – where the fugitive nature of the photographic print is embraced and the pieces are in a continual state of becoming.

Maud Goldberg

Activated Space

2011

Gathered objects, selected for their form and matter are assembled and arranged. Impulsive play and experimentation lead to the consideration of spatial elements, which inform the structure of this installation.

An honest regard to making to do with what was found within the space provoked by the lack of precise mathematics and incomplete symmetry.

The geometry and aesthetics of the space rule the work.

Exposed horizontals, verticals, diagonals, depth, width and volume between objects, materials and space develop sensitivity to the meaning of a space’s three dimensional specifics. Voids arise from spatial divisions. Balanced objects and taught materials generate tension, a possibility of movement.

The space is energized, activated; a sense of place exists.

A story begins between the body, the mind and space.

Neil Grant

Vital Series 1

2011

Film, medical x-ray light box

The work is a graphic gesture inspired by the idea that we need to check and maintain the health of our natural habitat. The preservation and expansion of the forest is vital to the survival of life and we need to see the health of the organism of the forest as being as valuable as our own.

Maggie Jackson

11 Woodland Grove

2011

Wood, brass

The work explores and confronts the readings associated with being situated in ‘natural’ woodland with the messages which are associated with viewing and using a gate. A gate is both a barrier and a means of admittance. It is a frontier between one location and another. It often embodies the notion of privacy, emphasising otherness and allowing for a certain exclusivity.

This type of gate is usually to be found bordering an urban property, a harmless indicator of self-contained domesticity. Here it subverts its normal function to emphasise the nature of a vista interrupted by a barrier. A glimpse, a provocation of something intriguing on the other side. What is it?

Lesley Halliwell & Joe Halliwell-Dykes

A Small Homage to Buckminster Fuller

2011

Bamboo, various fixings

www.lesleyhalliwell.co.uk

Lisa Kronenburg

Pollen Trail

2011

Honey, turmeric, birch trees

The trunks of birch trees have been coated in honey, and then a layer of turmeric, creating the appearance of golden stems stretching out of the ground. An unexpected similarity to my paintings is the disembodied quality of the forms. The light and colour seem to come from within the trees and ground, suggesting that they float in space. Considering that the woodland is adjacent to the orchards and the work of bees I hope there is a conceptual as well as visual link to the secret life of this very special site.

Guy Mayman

Parliament

2011

Clay, compost, seeds

1. Thumb pots from the clay

2. Mix seeds and compost

3. Fill thumb pots with seed and compost mixture

4. Join

5. Decorate

6. Dispersal

7. Recovery

8. Deploy

Parliament seed bomb project by Guy Mayman inspired by the work of Michael Fischer:

http://www.michaelfischer.co.uk/

Chris Millward

Moving Back & Forth Suspended, or as if Suspended From Above

2011

Timber, steel, aluminium and chain

The main focus of my sculptural work is the aesthetic quality of materials combined with a high level of craftsmanship; appreciation of materials for their own qualities and love of making for its own sake. Using predominantly found wooden furniture, I restore and modify its appearance and transform it into storage units. These units contain quantities of metal objects made by a repeated process and presented in regimented rows and columns.

I find the contrast between wood and metal provides a visually pleasing aesthetic but there is also a hierarchical relationship present as the materials that are contained are stronger and more durable than the natural containers themselves.

The units are a personal attempt to keep and maintain an element of order and control in a world that is besieged by personal and peripheral chaos. Each individual object can be viewed as a special memory, an event or a relationship contained in a piece that has been subjected to its own inanimate past existence. In each case, the timber has been extracted from its natural trajectory and placed into another scenario. This suggests that history and the future are never set; they are always subject to change.

Natalie Melissa Papworth

Bongleweed

2011

Plaster and steel

An exploration involving contrasting materials that alludes to a narrative of disparity, the exterior angular and gently rounded smooth forms of the bleached pieces are contrasted by the rough interiors that have within a deliberate evidence of the hand made. These are surrounded by the rusted iron spikes, a found material that has been utilised to reference protection of the fragile. These spikes pierce through and protectively surround the forms and extend into the site. A fragile expression of self that tentatively explores the notion that a weed is not worthless as a plant form, rather it is open to the interpretation of the observer. Could it exist purely as a thing of beauty that has aesthetic qualities and inherent characteristics or is it an alien interloper that is growing in a forbidden space?

John Renshaw

Untitled

2011

Pine, acrylic paint, rope

Initially prompted by a painting by Jackson Pollock – ‘Blue Poles’, the piece is simply an attempt to situate a coloured incident within the natural environment.

CONJECTURE – PROPOSITION – TRANSITION – INTERVENTION – INTERRUPTION – DISRUPTION – ENCOUNTER

Joe Stokes

Untitled

2011

3D particle animation projection

The work revolves around extended notions of drawing and graffiti where mysterious, animated marks appear on the floor as if being generated by the building itself and seeping out through the holes in the drain. A 3D particle system is used to make the animations and they promote the idea that the floor itself is in some sort of process of decay, erupting or spitting out parts of itself. Splitting and cracking sounds support the sense of the particle animations teeming out over the surface of the floor.

Jeremy Turner

Heritage

2011

Pallet, chipboard, steel, plasterboard, plaster, pallet wrap

Green Green Grass of Home

2010

Sterling board, pine, foam, artificial grass

Sculpture is a vehicle through which I can explore the broad themes of history, industrial innovation and technological development, interwoven with the often personal narratives of memory, anecdote and curious fact. Simultaneously, I am fascinated and excited by the process of making and the manipulation of materials and objects, whether it is dictated by the needs of a particular work, or simply at a speculative level.