Physical traces of making part 2

In the previous post I briefly talked about the development work around the traces of making. 
Here's some of the work I started a couple of years ago. I wanted to see how different sized pieces of clay would impact on the shapes and forms that could be created through simply using  my hands. 

As I mentioned by following simple words led as instructions these small abstract shapes began to take place. 

As I worked through each ball of clay I wrote down what I had done and how each shape had been made.
For example: using both hands pressed down on to the table. 

I gradually worked through porcelain paper clay, terracotta and a course black chunky clay.
To see if that had any impact on the work or whether the colour changed the way I handled the clay. 





 



As I began to accumulate a collection of interesting objects I considered the idea of extending this exploration to involve other people. 
As a maker I felt that I may be making certain assumptions around the capabilities of the clay and second guessing how it would behave which could hinder the outcome. 

Here are a few examples of Lisa's pieces. A friend of mine who has no knowledge of clay. 

It was an interesting process as there were some similarities between my own pieces and Lisa's. This most likely came about from one another's understanding of the words used as opposed to the clay. 

So… Is the clay simply the felicitator for the work and what is more important here? 







Physical traces of making

This exploratory work has been sitting in my sketch book for a while now. I'm revisiting it as I think I've finally formulated my thinking enough to begin to develop it further.

I'm looking at the process of making and the importance of that direct contact or handling of a material through making. In this case I'm using three different clays. 

With a simple set of instructions such as: pushing, squeezing, folding, opening I've been interpreting and responding to these words through the movement and manipulation of the clay itself.

 The initial idea came from looking at Richard Serra's verb list. There is a rhythm to this list in much the same way there is a rhythm to many making processes. 



Each piece of clay begins in the shape of a ball. The idea is to work quickly without over thinking each instruction meaning you are left with an object that hasn't been overworked. All tools have been removed from this process. Every mark, trace and indentation has been made through my hands or contact with the work bench.

I will be posting more images as this begins to unfold. 


















All images taken by Ben Winkley 2015

Perpendicular exhibiting 'Take your Time' at The Stone Space


Two years ago Sasha and myself contacted The Stone Space in Leytonstone with a proposal called 'The Winter Garden' after several changes to the date for various reasons we opened this installation in December 2014. With a slightly different title of 'Take you time'

The initial ideas came from a project we were working on called 'Lucid Space' back in 2012  for the Chelsea Fringe Festival but due to difficulties getting the design approved in time, It came to a halt and changed along the way.

With the idea on hold we managed to find a suitable space with the encouragement and   backing from the team at The Stone Space. https://thestonespace.wordpress.com

What we wanted to achieve was a quiet reflective space for passers by to stop, think or simply escape for a few moments and create an environment that would ignite the human senses.

Using fabric as the main body for the installation gave a soft fluid feel to the entire space and there was movement upon interaction. We hand dyed all the fabric with nettles collected from Epping forest as Leytonstone is very close to the edge of the forest. Sounds of bird song were recorded in the forest which was being played throughout the duration of the exhibition.
With the addition of freshly collected leaves scattered on to the floor combined with Sage and Lavender the scent began to fill the room. We had a bluebell spray made from the essence of English Bluebells misting the room to add to the sense of a woodland or garden.



Sketch book ideas and test samples 


Nettles collected and used for natural dying collected from Epping Forest.


Work in progress

Work in progress 



First day of installation beginning with a webbing system in order to hang the cones from the ceiling.





The exhibition was on for six weeks and closed throughout Christmas but remained a spectacle from the roadside. Even though, I would strongly encouraged any visitor to step inside and fully experience the space, from a purely visual point of view it also worked from simply walking by.

I'm also including a blog post  wonderfully written by Silvia Krupinska during the exhibition and a big thank you everyone who left comments. Once you step away from a piece of work and leave it alone for a while it's always interesting to find out how it has been received so all the comments were greatly appreciated.
https://silviakrupinska.wordpress.com/tag/the-stone-space/




Opening night 

Images of winter

I've been absent from my blog for a while. I'm currently working on three projects but all of them are in their embryonic stage, so I thought it would be a good idea to kick start the year with some images I've been taking through the winter months. 
Most of them have been taken from the train across Oxford and Gloucestershire. Hence the sense of slight blurring or motion. 











Edge and Shore at Siobhan Davies Dance

On Friday 26th September Edge and Shore: Acts of Doing took place at Siobhan Davies Dance. 

This collaborative piece of exploratory work involved Helen Carnac a visual artist and dancer Laila Diallo. Together they have been looking at edges and boundaries.
This work was an extension of Side by Side (2012) initially a six week residency based around ideas of cross disciplinary making. 

During the afternoon two performances/ process presentations took place through a series of    movement, mark making, performance, communication and exploration. 

I arrived within the first 15mins and stayed throughout the two hours.
At the beginning of this piece I entered the top dance studio where large pieces of paper were laid out across the floor. 

In another corner was a cluster of different materials waiting to used in some way.




As an onlooker or viewer to this experience you were free to sit and observe from a distance or roam around the space as Helen and Laila were working through various processes, ideas, movements throughout the space. 
People were entering and leaving the studio throughout this time frame.

The work was set up in such a way it wasn't necessary to sit down and watch in the same way we are often used to a conventional theatre setting. This wasn't a piece of theatre it felt very much like an insight in to a contemporary collaborative practice.  

Where ideas were unfolding through the act of doing. 

There were moments as the viewer that you felt that you were involved in something quite precious. 
I can only liken it to being observed within your own studio during periods where you are immersed in problem solving and the work is unresolved.




As time passed the work felt as though it was building in momentum, movements became more energised. Mark making at times became more fraught the sounds of working became slightly louder and everyone looking on became quieter. 

I found the entire afternoon fascinating to see how two people work together with very little verbal communication but it was also clear to see that much communication was taking place through subtle changes in working methods and the rhythm of layering, gathering, tearing... 

More work can be seen at http://edgeandshore.wordpress.com









Richard Serra at the Gagosian Gallery London 2014


The last time Richard Serra was exhibiting in London was back in 2009 
Five years on the Gagosian gallery www.gagosian.com nestled in between the streets near Kings Cross in Britannia Street is host to another breathtaking exhibiton of Richard Serra'a gigantic steel structures. 


Room One

You are confronted with two large sheets of steel wedged into the edges of the room one balanced on top of the other with the smallest point of contact. This is something Serra seems to be able to effortlessly achieve. The interaction of two structures combining weight, density, counter balance and the engineering of materials. 






Room Two 

Comprised of a series of steel rectangles positioned very much like a maze,
allowing you to walk through and interweave in between these structures. Each and every angle opens up into a different view point or perspective within the work and the space. 





Room Three

For those familiar with Richard Serra's works this is a structure that you recognise however, the outer appearance of these huge imposing forms always provide an element of surprise once you enter inside. These works have to be experienced, from first glance you may make the assumption that you are simply going to be entering a darkened tunnel space. Part of that is true but these forms have been designed with much more consideration the subtle changes within the curves the undulations on one side, the quality of light and the distortion of sound. 

All of these elements combined can throw the senses off balance. 
You enter with a sense of wondering and the journey through this contained space is changing with each step. The difference with this particular piece is that it is completely closed at the top making the experience more claustrophobic. 







This exhibition is on until 28th Feb 2015 
for anyone interested in large scale works the human senses and spatial works this is not to be missed.

Exhibition at Arthouse1 October 2014


It's often said that simplicity requires a lot of hard work. In the case of our installation at Arthouse1 in Bermondsey Sasha and myself were setting up for about a week. 
A little longer than we both had expected but this particular exhibition required an exceptional attention to detail. We had decided to keep the ceramic works low to the ground in order for the audience to look at the work from a different perspective. 
I personally feel that a lot of galleries show work at eye level on plinths and it's too easy. It's a format we are all far too familiar with and it's not always the best way of really be able to focus on the work. 

Perpendicular opened on Thursday evening (9th October) after much help and assistance throughout from both Rebecca Fairman and Adrain Hicks. 

Here are a few images of the exhibition in natural daylight on the first day kindly taken by Adrian Hicks. 





 Image taken by Adrian Hicks 2014


 Image taken by Adrian Hicks 2014


 Image taken by Adrian Hicks 2014



 Image taken by Adrian Hicks 2014


 Image taken by Adrian Hicks 2014



 Image taken by Adrian Hicks 2014


 Image taken by Adrian Hicks 2014



Image taken by Adrian Hicks 2014


Sasha is exhibiting two installations and a series of photographs that have been born from the installations themselves. Through the use of water, light and motion. 





These collaborative pieces titled Collection of five #1 and #2 comprise of small ceramic segments that sit along side Sasha'a photography. 
There is a strong synthesis between us both particularly through the use of mark making. 


Image Taken by Ben Winkley 2014 


Image taken by Ben Winkley 2014 

My two collections on show are titled Kuro and Shiro are looking at small intimate spaces that contain light. 
These objects are the complete opposite to Sasha'a works. They are dense, heavy and present within the space. 

There is a physical tactility to them and the process of making is evident within the traces and marks left either by my hand the tools or other processes I have undergone to achieve certain aesthetic qualities. 

Sasha's work is more transient it's continuously changing with movement, light and shadow. There is an illusion of something tangible but mark making has been created through an impermanant medium and there is an ethereal quality to the entire body of work showing here.

Perpendicular will be showing at Arthouse1 until 1st November 2014 
The gallery is open every Thursday-Sunday from 3pm - 7.30pm or by appointment 

Perpendicular's ceramic pieces and photography for Arthouse1

As one exhibition sadly ends at Siobhan Davies another opens in a couple of weeks time at Arthouse1 in Bermondsey, London.

In my last post I talked about adding more images of work that will be shown in the exhibition and since then the kiln has been on pretty much continuously. I still have four or five more firings to squeeze in before completion but it's definitely coming together. 

I will be showing a series of black and white pieces along side Sasha's installations and photography. 

Sasha is working and developing a series of site specific works so I can't really show the installations at this stage until we begin to install next week. 

But here's a peek at some of the photographs and my ceramic objects.












Perpendicular at Arthouse1

In just over 6 weeks time Perpendicular my collaborative work with Sasha will be exhibited at Arthouse1 in Bermondsey London. 

This beautiful airy white space belongs to Rebecca Fairman and is dedicated to showing works of emerging and established artists. 
www.arthouse1.co.uk 

Last week we both visited to make final decisions for the curation. Each piece of work has been made or specifically designed for the space so every small detail has to be considered in advance. 









We have been exploring light, shadow, and small spaces through the medium of ceramics, photography and installation. 

The exhibition opens on Friday 10th October 2014 - 1st November 2014 
The Private is Thursday 9th October 6.30 - 8.30pm 

I will be posting more images of work in progress over the next few weeks leading up to the opening. 

Lines, Levels, Layers Installed.

Lines. Levels, Layers opened on Friday 18th July 2014 at Siobhan Davies dance in South London.




The week leading to this date was dedicated to the installation one of the hottest weeks to date this year. www.siobhandavies.com

Day one was really taken up with painting and positioning the five shelves. There were to sit across four locations. 




 Location 1: The process wall 

The purpose of this collection of images text and objects was to contextulise the body of work it's positioned in the parlour a space for gathering working or to take a moment.  
It was the perfect place to allow the visitor to quietly read through the material before embarking on the journey throughout the building. 



Lines: Positioned in the reception area.

This took a fair amount of time to lay out as it had to be perfectly positioned. 18 small rectangular containers hold every soil sample collected from Southwark. The precision to this piece was so important to the over all aesthetic quality. Ideas of order and chaos run throughout the exhibition. This installation had to mirror it's title and the relevance of the grid had to be prominent and this is conveyed through the perfect linear quality 




Drawn plans for Layers


Erik was at hand to help me all week this was the first panel to be mounted onto the wall on the 1st floor as part of Layers this space spans approx 6.5 m long this piece of work took an entire day to hang. Despite having four different hanging plans the layout did change during the process slightly. There was more overlapping that happened towards the centre and as we moved to the edge on the far end the panels needed a little more breathing space. 



Levels: This was the final piece of work laid out on Thursday afternoon. 

Levels the second of the four installations and the purpose of this piece of work was to show  a clear break down of the materials, including a geological map a handling station with fired and unfired tests, small glass jars diluted with soil and water. Giving a clearer idea and understanding of colour before moving on to Layers 

Mounted on to the wall are three boxes the first one shows found objects that have been extracted from the ground and soil during the collection process.
A wonderful collection of items ranging from London brick, bones, old soda or salt glazed ceramic fragments, glass, rusty metal screws and nails, roof tiles, broken shards of ceramic pipes... 

The second box has been filled with soil collected from Peckham this has been left completely unprocessed and the third box is the same soil but sieved and watered down to a slip consistency. Over time the water residue will evaporate and this will begin to dry and possibly crack. 





The Handling Station gives the visitor the opportunity to handle the materials there's a combination of fired and unfired samples showing the transformation from clay soil to clay and also the dramatic change in colour. 
The bottles are filled with the same samples exhibited in Lines downstairs but have been diluted with water once again it shows the change of colour beginning to happen in preparation for Layers in the next room. 





Layers: Positioned on the 1st floor 

This is the first time you encounter the material that has been used as a drawing or mark making tool. Each piece of canvas has a distinct smell, texture, colour, tone to it. 
I think the only way to fully appreciate this particular piece of work is through experience. 

I wanted to keep this body of work tightly associated with the local area for many reasons. One it has lead to a more focussed enquiry but most importantly it was always about the entire Human Nature season at Siobhan Davies. A years worth of projects collaborations that have encompassed local groups such as the Mobile Garden in Elephant and Castle, the local schools planting for the living walls, the Mobile Meadow, walks in and around Southwark, Dance performances along the Southbank.

It also makes us look at what is below our feet, a material we all come into contact with every day but in most cases it's just ignored. 

Without soil nothing would grow. Gardens and green spaces would not exist. It's a simple acknowledgement to a material that provides us with such wonder. 










In Conversation with Laura Ellen Bacon

Tomorrow evening I'm in conversation with the lovely Laura Ellen Bacon at Siobhan Davies Dance as part of their Human Nature season. Laura is  known for her intricately woven large scale spaces using willow.

The evening begins at 7pm and we will be discussing the crossovers between Space, Scale and Site. 

Siobhan Davies Dance


Photo by Alison Proctor
Photo by Alison Proctor

Lines, Levels, Layers

Kim Norton in conversation with Laura Ellen Bacon

You are invited to a special conversation exploring the new exhibition by ceramicist Kim Norton onFriday 25 July7pm.
Siobhan Davies Studios
85 St. George's Road
London SE1 6ER
In Lines, Levels, Layers ceramicist Kim Norton dissects our perceptions of daily life and interactions with nature. Kim looks at clay as a material before it becomes an object, as a life-giving property to plants and something which is integral to all living matter. The exhibition invites the viewer to look more closely at the materials around us, under our feet and within our visual landscapes, encompassing the different smells, colours and textures of clay and soil gathered from locations around Southwark.
Sculptor Laura Ellen Bacon creates site-specific willow sculptures in urban and landscape settings such as Chatsworth House, Somerset House and New Art Centre at Roche Court. Laura weaves together willow to make spaces that can be intimate like nests or that reflect movement and structural growth at a human scale.
Kim and Laura will speak about crossovers in their work and the similar and differing processes on working site-specifically.
This event is FREE but please RSVP to info@siobhandavies.com or call Reception on 020 7091 9650.
Exhibition Dates: Friday 18 July – Sunday 21 September
Kim Norton Exhibition Tour: Tuesday 16 September, 2-3pm
We very much look forward to seeing you there.

Work in progress Lines, Levels, Layers

With only three weeks to go until my exhibition at Siobhan Davies opens. This seems to be the perfect opportunity to share some work in progress images.

It's going to be difficult to get a clear idea of the work until it's installed but here's a small  taster of what's to come.











Gorm's photo shoot for press and marketing in Siobhan Davies Dance. 


Rendition 1: Of many for Layers the large wall installation.


Experiments with clays and soils to fire, I'm going to try to different temperatures and see how they behave. 


Clay and soil collection for Human Nature at Siobhan Davies Dance.

Over the past two months I've been out and about collecting clay and soil from various locations across Southwark. For my upcoming exhibition Lines, Levels, Layers at Siobhan Davies Dance in July.

My findings and samples have been quite surprising and extremely varied even across one collection point.

Dulwich Woods 

This was a productive afternoons work with the collection of approx 7 small bags of clay and soil samples. 
All of them quite different.






Second visit to Dulwich Woods 

I found an up turned tree the first time I visited the woods and tangled within the roots was a yellow coloured soil. I initially thought that it may have some ochre content I'm certain there's iron running through it but the Ochre question still remains unanswered. 



Stuart Road allotments Peckham

This was my first location for sampling. I collected a bag of soil that had been dug out to build a shed and the second collection was taken from about 50- 60 cm deep where I encountered more clay based soil. 
This was also an excellent spot to extract a number of interesting objects ranging from old London brick to small bones. I've kept everything along the way these objects give you an insight into the place and once washed the selection of findings across each site has culminated in to a fascinating collection.










Gabriel's Wharf South Bank 




Gabriel's Wharf 2nd visit low tide 10.30am 

Saturday morning 31/05/14 we dashed down to the South Bank to catch low tide in the hope of finding some clay many of London's brick was made from clay pulled out from the river in the past so this was one location that had to be explored from the beginning of the research.






 Meadow Gardeners at Elephant and Castle

On a sunny mid morning I visited the Meadow Gardeners with Alie from Siobhan Davies.
Nestled in amongst the deconstruction of the Heygate estate in Elephant and Castle there is a small plot of calmness, which is a hive of activity, full of people planting, digging, watering. Human Nature are collaborating with the Mobile gardeners to create a mobile meadow www.mobilegardeners.org/mobilemeadow 
www.mobilegardeners.org

It seemed to be the perfect site to extract soil from for Lines, Levels, Layers not only to have the local link but to have full connection with the Human Nature season it felt only right for this space to be on my collection trail.










These images were taken by Alison Proctor. 









Dog Kennel Hill 

One of my last locations for soil collection was Dog Kennel Hill there is a very pretty cut through between the Champion Estate and the large Sainsbury's in between these two locations is a small wooded area. This seemed like the perfect spot to begin digging.
On first appearance the soil looked quite red as I began working with this I realised that there was a lot of tiny grains of brick. Making it extremely difficult to work with but I managed to get quite an interesting colour from it. 






A little further I conveniently stumbled across some building work with two mounds of soils that had been dug up which was perfect as it had been extracted from some considerable depth I knew that I had found London clay. This turned out to be the most wonderful shade of yellow. 



In my next post I will be showing my work in progress with less than one month until the exhibition opens and I'm in full flow of making.


Train journeys through Canada and the United States to New York.

Here are few images taken on the train during our trip from Toronto to Montreal in April 2014.








The second train journey from Montreal to New York April 2014. Most of these images were taken on our approach into New York hugging the Hudson River taken early evening when the light was beginning to fade slightly. There's something quite beautiful about the muted colour palette. 











The Growing Season: Lines,Levels,Layers.

The details for the exhibition are now up on the Siobhan Davies website http://www.siobhandavies.com/whats-on/series/lines-levels-layers/ 
Here's a link for the entire Human Nature programme spanning the entire year http://www.siobhandavies.com/works/human-nature/


The beginning of the exploratory work is underway I've become somewhat obsessed with soil. 
Everywhere I go I seem to be gazing at the ground or collecting small bags of wet sticky mud for test pieces, to begin to see and understand how it behaves on paper and canvas.

The colours and textures all differ slightly from each location even though there's very little distance between the areas I'm collecting from. In my next post I will be including some images from the various sites in and around Southwark I have visited so far on my quest for interesting variations. 






Ideas for Growing Season 2014

Here are some of my initial ideas for The Growing Season at Siobhan Davies Dance spanning from December 2013 until February 2014 . 

The one solid starting point I had decided on was that I wanted to use clay from the local area, whether this is to be fired or left unfired still remains to be fully answered. 

With this small strand of thinking in place the importance of London became key. With space being somewhat limited and many people living in flats with no access to garden spaces, public green spaces and allotments become even more important. 

I came across a wonderful image of London during the second world war where a small plot of land next to The Tower of London that had been turned into a community allotment space to grow vegetables. 


At that point I became interested in the layout of urban allotment spaces and Kitchen Gardens both very similar but there is a contrast of the formal/ Informal Order/ Chaos.
The grid was something that is visually prominent in both spaces but it was also a detail I had focussed upon when I visited Siobhan Davies Dance to begin photographing  and familiarising myself with the building. 



Stuart Road Allotments Peckham, London 

The Fruit Growers Guide by John Wright 



In between the reading I began working on some some rectangular and square tests and samples, Using Clay soil I had collected from Stuart Road allotments in Peckham. 


Raw clay extracted from the allotments 

First tests including soil, grass, red terracotta, paper and glass 


The testing, experimentation, drawing and photography continues... I will be posting more images in the next few weeks. 






Initial visit to Siobhan Davies Dance

Just before christmas I paid my first visit to the Siobhan Davies Dance studios to begin photographing the space. Giving me a few weeks to sit down with these images and begin to gather my thoughts for the forthcoming project in 2014. 

This building is an abundance of interesting combinations of materials brick, wood, plaster, glass, metal, concrete.



 Image taken by Ben Winkley 2013 

 Image taken by Ben Winkley 2013 

 Image taken by Ben Winkley 2013


The building was built in 2009 designed by Sarah Wigglesworth every detail within the space has been carefully considered.

 Image taken on second visit 2014 

 

 Image taken by Ben Winkley 2013 


What I really began to focus on was the layers within the building. There are lines visually dividing the space particularly on the staircase, this structure is the focal point it is the buildings core where people are travelling up and down throughout the space.

The light was another element you cannot fail to notice there is so much light flooding in through the windows and the back window stretches floor to ceiling running in conjunction with the staircase. 

At this stage I had very little idea where i was going with work and wasn't until January time I started to piece together some of the visual material and begin to unpack the core concepts.

Siobhan Davies Dance: Growing Season 2014

 In December 2013 I was approached by Alison Proctor the Programme and Producing Manager at  Siobhan Davies Dance in South London for a meeting regarding their upcoming exhibition programme for 2014 called The Growing Season. www.siobhandavies.com

Throughout 2014 the studio will be host and curate a series of exhibitions, presentations, workshops and performances based around growth, plants, gardens and gardening. 
Here's a link to Human - Nature 
www.siobhandavies.com/works/human-nature

I am thrilled to be part of this wonderful project and to be involved with such a fantastic group of people who are looking after me throughout this process. 
The exhibition will open 17th July - 28th September. 

Over the next few months I will be posting my work in progress and my journey as this project begins to unfold and develop.