sally

Deptford X

The Sally Barker Empire appropriated Deptford via The Deptford X Open, 2006.

Bespoke Mountain – SCOPE Art Fair

I remade “Bespoke Mountain” for SCOPE art fair – continuing the focus of this piece discussing belonging and place through the materials, I built this “Bespoke Mountain 2” with the stone from the farm walls where I grew up. This added another layer, as I was in a sense building with the stuff of my childhood, making something in the present and for the future, using materials from the past.

Bespoke Mountain – Fold Gallery

Whilst foldgallery was closed throughout the freezing months of January to March 2008, several artists were invited to make work for the window. For this I built “Bespoke Mountain”, continuing ideas about the landscape and belonging that had permeated recent pieces. Using materials foraged from around the town: rubble, concrete, stone, supplemented with stuff from the builders merchants I created a mountain on top of a table, a sculpture growing out of its environment. The idea that I build with the materials from a location is integral, not simply to locate the sculpture to its venue, but also to locate myself.

Constructing the Landscape

I have just shown a Bespoke Mountain in Carlisle, part of the cultural event organised by the artists collective, freerange artists, to support the city’s bid for Capital of Culture. On the corner of Castle St. & Finkle St, opposite the castle, is a thinly bedded out planter. A tractor hood rests on the soil and getting closer, looking through the windows, a landscape of glass, wood, stone and slate and tiny people reveals itself.

The Watershed Landscape Project

I was the first year artist on the three year project called “The Watershed- Inspired by Landscape” – a Heritage Lottery funded commission to make a new body of work in response to the moorland landscape of the south pennines and to develop a new visiting audience (WLP is currently a finalist in the National Lottery Awards for best environmental project).

This is not an Empty Space

For This is not an Empty Space, we (myself with a group of local artists) took over one floor of an abandoned mill in Hebden Bridge. Through the combination of incongruous, dry fountains and “suitable”,  living saplings, this piece continues to expolore  themes of belonging, identity and sustainability.

Scaffolding with Nepenthese

Here is a  combination of glorious and attractive carniverous plant  with a hand-made spiky structure that in itself, points aggressively towards the plants soft, phallus like skin. It was shown in Temporary Artspace exhibition in Wakefield.

See-Thru House

With “See-Thru House”  we imagine the journey of the jasmine climbing through a house towards either an open velux window or a blocked perspex corridor. The perspex house was a scale model of the house we were living in London, just before moving back up to Yorkshire, in 2009. I built it for and planted … Read more

Negotiating Structure in perspex & wood

“Negotiating Structure in perspex & wood” was installed at Collyer Bristow Gallery in London – using a Spathiphyllum, peace lily, which is very good for purifying the air and adding more oxygen than most plants.

Case Study – Ice workshop

This is one of many workshops I’ve run with ice – it holds surprise, intrigue, lots of science, maths and literacy potential and is fun.
Creatively develops the curriculum topic “materials” – year 5 – half day.

Case study – Toy designers

Materials Wach table is covered with drawing paper and holds a pile of various broken and working toys, screwdrivers, sellotape, rubber bands, cocktail sticks and string.Hot melt glue gun, pencils and paper. The class were asked to think about the toys they play with, what they do, how they work, and how they could be … Read more

Case study – Drawing with the whole body

I have worked with Ravenscliffe High School and Sports College, Halifax on The Watershed Project, and on a Creative Partnerships (CAPE) Project, which involved many artforms over two days. This work culminated in a collaborative, whole school, cross-artform performance.

Performative projection work

This was very powerful work around issues of identity, self esteem, communication, control. They projected images, textures, objects and text onto each other, altered their appearance and performed.

Case study – Skelton’s Lane park project

I have worked on many parks with landscape designers/ architects, running creative consultation with local park users, followed by workshops creating artwork which is permanently installed. This project in Skelton’s Lane park won the Local Government New Street Design Awards, 2009 (children’s play category)