Such and interesting show and so much fun. It was always busy in the gallery. The opening went 2 hours over time because people just stayed, as they did every night beyond closing time. The Dialogue Collective were like kiwis but from London. The gallery was a really small space so perfect for slinging clothes lines…
Pegs were once made by splitting a small branch or twig and tying the end together so it wouldn’t split all the way through. The peg above was the first one I made and is black cherry and silver. In the 1700s, the Shakers were credited with what we know as the Dolly peg. A simple one-piece peg…
I signed up for this back in February 2016, and it sat in the background for a long time until it became a real deadline and our skype meetings increased. Ten Handshakers chose to take part in the collaboration. One of the best things I ever did! The theme of the collaboration was It will all…
Handshake 3 exhibited in the Frame galleries at the Schmuck venue. We were placed really well to get the maximum visitors to the show, and it looked fantastic. Peter once again spent his Christmas break constructing the exhibition stands. This is the third time Handshake has exhibited here, but the first time I have been there to…
I spent a few months playing with folds of the penumbra shape, scale and adding colour. Some worked and some just didn’t. I’m nursing a reject in my studio that looks like a Cadbury chocolate wrapper, but can’t convince myself or anybody else that it has merit. We were lucky to be the first show…
Found this at a Kunst exhibition in Berlin last week by Alexander Rodtschenko, Untitled, c1923 And these:
I played with various round shapes on the computer and made some cardboard maquettes. They weren’t convincing until I got some scale and added colour, then they came to life. In a way they were like little caricatures or cartoons. Out of the shadows seemed like a good title for them, referencing their origin, also introvert/extrovert, and…
One of the questions asked of me at the Handshake 3 bootcamp in February was whether I had finished with the shadows. Otherwise known as Penumbra, and formed a significant part of 2014, 2015. I realised I had not quite finished so experimented with where I could take the shadows to next. Colour would be…
Fabrizio’s work arrived at Objectspace two weeks before the show. He took one of the images I sent and highlighted several parts of it. This wall is in Bidwell Street in Wellington, a street I often drive down. The patchwork of paint is to cover graffiti, a pentimento. And his work:
This was my first experiment with concrete and steel. I never intended to use it in the final work but I grew quite fond of it. The rest of the work stemmed from this minimalist piece. Too big and heavy for brooches, they had to be neckwear, and I had to devise a way to hang…
My studio looks like a building site. Which is not surprising given my research has turned to the use of concrete, in particular in construction and architecture. Brutalism architecture is a movement in architecture that flourished from the 1950s to the mid-1970s, descending from the modernist architectural movement of the early 20th century. The term…
Fabrizio and I talked generally about our work process towards our collaboration. We have used very similar processes. Taking one of the images and highlighting part of it for material, texture and colour. I have started to explore concrete in more depth as it was one of the words that appeared frequently in my word…
I’m surrounded by concrete and plaster experiments. I’ve used plaster, fill, the concrete driveway the steps… The latest is making moulds using various packaging materials, which I am really liking. It begs the question of what has been in the packet or box.
Fabrizio has been posting images on facebook as a way of seeing what people like or react to, by the number of ‘likes’ he gets. The responses will give him the direction of the new work. I love the notion that he is continuing with the ‘no words’ by his posts, where he is just…
concrete paint testpots texture squares even stipple balance touch fabric nature feel arrange balance pattern arrangement framework still sense form search analyse check inquiry
floor basement canvas ground paint mend flat level empty even polished uniform regular consistent common stable foundation
concrete red metal steel old rust groove brown aged tears dimension proportion time aspect fortify reinforce brace rut corrugate hollow notch slit scratch crease furrow beige perspective context viewpoint view aspect
HANDSHAKE 3 