January Studio Work

As the dust settles on a dismal 2007, the new year begins by stirring it up once again. November and December sped past, and I'm not even sure that they happened, though I'm left with a variety of evidence suggesting they did.

Primary concerns this month were threefold. Firstly was the overdue necessity to build a workbench out of an old fire door salvaged from the gallery, which went very swiftly and successfully. Another priority involved tidying, as certain things had been left lying around since the AF:2012 show. Thirdly was the top priority of continuing to construct work, of which a more detailed account follows.

The disappointment of an incomplete 143 - inspired by a jet engine - has engaged a climate of decisions. Where the casting process had broken down (quite literally - my demoulding was extremely unsuccessful) due to incompetance and a lack of facilities, I am left with a selection of sculptural parts which may form several works. The papier mache mould remains, but in a mangled manner, as pictured above. This will form the basis for the original visualisation of 143. A secondary work will arise from the broken pieces of jesmonite that were cast as a single piece, but are no longer so.

A new work is to begin once preparations are complete. I have constructed a simple mould to facilitate this and cast single flat sheets of plaster or jesmonite, a method which vaguely lends itself to creating more sculptural works. This also relates to a project of works provisionally entitled Guerrilla Impressions, but more on that another time. The envisioned work is to be a metal grid or fence built into the cast plaster sheet, akin to a sort of drain recalled from childhood in Luton.

I'm involved in an Alumni exhibition occurring in the AVA Building, Docklands Campus of University of East London at the end of February. The Private View is reportedly on Wednesday 27 Feb. More details to follow. Come.