AOH is introducing a series of video blogs, continuing over the next few months. Artist, filmmaker, curator and AOH team member Idil Bozkurt talks to AOH artists about their experiences of lockdown and beyond.
Milton House – Beyond The Level, New Grounds @ Gallery Lockin – Hove, University Of Brighton – Sculpture Students, Montefiore Artists – Seven Dials, Snug – Seven Dials, Jessica Christie-Miller, Ceramic House – Five Ways, Red Brick House – Kemp Town
Artist David Shrigley tells us about supporting AOH emerging artists via zoom seminars and his advice ‘to just get on with it’; also his student exhibition in his toilet, why artworks belong in the home, how making art makes you happy and he gives us handy tips on how to keep your lino soft in winter!
Beth Troakes and Idil Bozkurt discuss how their New Grounds young artists’ exhibition at Gallery Lock In explores the theme of Body/Nobody in a dialogue between virtual and physical spaces. It asks the question does digital bring the world closer together or push us further apart – and considers the ultimate importance of physical connectedness.
New Grounds artists Joshua Redfearn and Clare Patrick discuss how their workshop with David Shrigley has influenced the way they work; how making work should be a challenge in order to grow as artists, the importance of setting a goal for yourself each day and how ultimately you should just do it!
Sarah Watson from Figment Arts tells us about their exhibition Home; what home means to them and being stuck in during lockdown. Artists show wallpaper, a model of a home made of paper, performance poetry and comic book art – all in Shoreham’s SOLD Charity Shop, staffed by learning disabled volunteers. All sales go to support Figment Arts and their learning disabled artists’ group.
Artist David Shrigley tells us about supporting AOH emerging artists via zoom seminars and his advice ‘to just get on with it’; also his student exhibition in his toilet, why artworks belong in the home, how making art makes you happy and he gives us handy tips on how to keep your lino soft in winter!
University of Brighton sculpture students, Ainoa Burgos Gonzalez and Liberty Cheverall, talk about how both the lockdown experience and David Shrigley workshops have impacted upon the work they are making for their AOH exhibition We, you, me – and how they remain optimistic for the future.
AOH ceramic artist and curator Kay Aplin tells us about JOY, her new exhibition for the AOH Autumn / Winter festival, named for respected Danish ceramic artist Sten Lykke Madsen. Kay explains how the exhibition reflects the spontaneity, improvisation and intuitiveness integral to Sten’s life and work, through his own and other European ceramic artist’s work; and how improvised sound art from Aural Detritus adds a cross disciplinary aspect to the show. Plus Kay gives you a sneak preview tour of the amazing Ceramic House exhibition.
AOH 2020 brochure cover artist Sophie Wake welcomes us to her world and tells us how the last few months have been one of the most exciting times of her life; how lockdown unleashed a new heart-based freedom and raw spontaneity in her work; about Statues in the Heavenly Garden her new paintings exploring the human condition of stuck-ness and flow; about her hope for change in the future and painting on the kitchen table with her mum.
Amanda Rosenstein Davidson tells us about the happiness and sadness of lockdown, reconnecting with nature and the loss of close friends. How the act of painting became a place of solace, stillness and quietness, of seeing and being – with time to explore the life of her father – a ship’s florist aboard a 1920’s luxury cruise liner – in a series of new paintings.
AOH artist Faye Bridgwater tells us about the alternating creative crush and whoosh of lockdown, including winning two prestigious art prizes; the joys of escaping the daily news though painting and exploring the inspirational Sussex countryside around her home; making new movable ceramic landscapes for her AOH Autumn/Winter solo Open House show – and finally getting the kids back to school!
Daniel Mackey, AOH artist at 11 Rugby Road, tells us about their collaborative lockdown project with Superstar Arts, creating innovative opportunities for people with learning disabilities; how he and Adam are preparing for the Autumn/Winter Open House with one-way and booking systems, and how his mum is busy crocheting brussels sprouts for the show!
AOH photographer Charlotte Macpherson tells us about how lockdown provided new opportunities of community building, photographing her neighbours on their doorsteps and led her to a re-prioritising of everything.
AOH artist Sarah Jones talks to us about her lockdown experiences of working from home, cats and cakes, and her new illustration commissions for the National Trust and Radio Times
AOH metal artist and craftsmen Jon Mills talks about his lockdown projects, ranging from a children’s book, Lionel the Very Cross Dresser, to restoring and converting a 1937 vintage car chassis into an electric car.
AOH artist Abigail Bowen tells how her lockdown project Dark Days was inspired by and reflects the government’s daily briefings graphs. And how lockdown presented an opportunity to bring together her local 7 Dials artist community through her Instagram takeover project. See more at abigailbowen.com and instagram.com/7dialsart/.
In the second of the series, AOH photographer, educator and creative Emily Paxton tells us about Vitamin Sea, a miniature beach hut installation, co-curated with textile artist Pam Glew. Thirty five European artists have created and painted individual miniature beach huts, reinventing ideas of what a beach hut could be…
In the first of the series, AOH ceramic artist Simon Fell gives us an insight into how he became vlogger.
He explores the practical processes, structuring and ideas that go into making a good video blog – and how it is surprisingly easy (even for a self-described introvert, as he is!) to talk about the things that really interest you.
