Beached
Over the past few of years the issue of plastic pollution, particularly of our coasts & seas, has become of mainstream concern, featured daily in the press. There are thousands of TEDX talks available on YouTube & new books being produced to help us all cut down our plastic use. Even governments are proposing bills to force change in both production and use to combat this issue.
Beached, highlights the issue of plastic pollution. It invites us to consider the packaging that we use and discard on a daily basis; objects such as drinks bottles, styrofoam cups and food wrappers that are so lightweight and seem so insignificant that we barely notice them.
Casting concrete in actual litter gives this waste a greater physical and psychological presence that mirrors the seriousness of the ecological catastrophe we are creating with them. Although concrete itself has certain environmental issues, I am always trying to find more sustainable versions like using recycled or lighter weight aggregates. Current greener alternatives would mean making moulds. Using plastic waste to cast in doesn’t just reuse waste but also saves on mould making materials and energy.
Incorporation of detailed embroidery touches upon the way our waste becomes subsumed into the natural world around us. However, the pretty, colourful lichens, seaweed and molluscs fail to obliterate the hulking, grey, concrete bottles that peer out from beneath them. The damage we are causing to planet earth and ourselves may be hidden but it is there nevertheless and needs our immediate attention.
I started the Beached series as part of my MA in Textile Practice. It is an ongoing series that I continue to add to. In 2022, Fylde Council commissioned me to make a series of these sculptures inspired by plastic pollution on their coast. These were shown as the Green Loop Art Trail in shop windows to promote businesses with a sustainable offer.
2022
Warrington Contemporary Arts Festival Open 2022, juried group exhibition, Warrington Museum & Art Gallery.
In Manchester, Cotton On Mcr Open, juried group exhibition, 100 Barbirolli Sq, Manchester.
Design Nation Graduate Showcase, Heart Gallery, Hebden Bridge.
2021
In The Open, selected group exhibition, Ryedale Folk Museum & Art Gallery.
Cupola 30, curated by Graham Shapley, Cupola Gallery, Sheffield.
English Riviera Summer Open, curated by Jacob & Julie Brandon, Artizan Gallery, Torquay.
Craft Open 2021, curated exhibition of northern makers, Platform Gallery, Clitheroe.
Leeds Summer Open 2021, online exhibition curated by Courtney Spencer.
In Manchester, Cotton On Mcr Open, juried group exhibition, Saul Hay gallery, Manchester.
Resolution, selected group exhibition, Technically Brilliant gallery, Warrington.
2020
Warrington Open 2020, juried group exhibition curated by Marie Jones, Warrington Museum & Art Gallery.
T is for Textiles, invited exhibition curated by John Stokes, Rheged Gallery, Penrith. (cancelled due to covid)
The Future is…, selected group exhibition curated by Convenience Gallery at Bloom Building, Birkenhead.
2020 Vision, selected group exhibition curated by Technically Brilliant, Warrington.
Depictions of Living, group exhibition of work exploring climate issues curated by Samuel Ivan Roberts and Roshanak (Roshi) Khakban. Art Pavilion, Mile End, London
2019
Waste of the World, group exhibition, Rathbone Studio, Birkinhead.
Terra & Tide, online group exhibition, Envision Arts. Awarded “Best in Show’.
Beached, solo exhibition, Art in Windows, Liverpool.
Buy Better, installation, Buy the Kilo, Tynemouth.
Fragility, Prism Contemporary Textiles Collective exhibition, Hoxton Arches London & RBSA, Birmingham.
Micro, group exhibition of small works, Air gallery, Altrincham.
2018
Taking Flight, MA show, Benzie Building, Manchester School of Art.
Thoughtful Planet 2, group exhibition of environmental art, Thought Foundation, Birtley.
Publications:
Aah! Magazine, Food Issue (2020) edited by Carrager, N.
Envision Arts Magazine vol.3 (2020) edited by Cochran, G.
Anthropocene (2108) edited by Hodgson, E.
Talks:
Show, See, Say (2019), Castlefield Gallery, Manchester.
Guest Speaker (2019, Chelford & North Cheshire Embroiderers Guild, Chelford.
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Green Loop Project – Art Trail
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