Waiting in line at 8.30 am on a Saturday morning, only to be told the tickets have all sold out and there was no chance of us getting in, we were left no choice but to become V&A members! (What a great marketing strategy). I was prepared to pay extra to see this extraordinary show, and it was so worth it.
The dresses and clothing on display were of course, remarkable, but the installation and experience paralleled those on display and elevated them to a whole new level. Dresses which were designed to perfection and finished with the finest embellishments, every detail was accounted for on each of these stunning pieces. My favourite room by far was the Paper Garden, with a beautiful installation of hand-engineered flowers, complimenting the applique on the floral skirts and dresses. The installation artists were able to precisely colour pick aspects of the dresses and extend them so they filled the room. A projected light show picked up the intricate details of the hanging floral decor, creating visuals almost as stunning as the fashion pieces themselves. The art direction for this room worked extremely well; gowns lined the outer edges whilst the viewer was in awe of the centrepiece, a gorgeous evening gown encased in a glass cylinder. I'd recommend this show to anyone.
Above displays the making process for the Paper Garden room
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As part of the Hix Award, I got the opportunity to exhibit my artwork 'Reconstruction of Sculpture' at Coutts bank, Strand, London, from January 2019 - March 2019.
There was a pannel discussion around emerging art, and how art fits in the business world, where they stated that "Art added £19 billion to the UK economy last year alone". Guest speakers included the CEO of Artlyst, Director of Sotheby's, and Director of the V&A. The Hix Award has rapidly grown since it began in 2013, to become one of London's most vibrant, versatility and accessible art awards. The winner recieved £10,000 cash to go towards studio costs and a solo exibiton next year. The award is a showcase for the emerging UK artists. The panel of 30 judges included Tracey Emin, Gavin Turk, Stephen Webster, Dylan Jones and Mark Hix. The Peoples Choice Award winner was Mathilde Heu, with her work, Epicentre, 2018. This is a steel and bone piece involving conduction transducers. The viewer is encouraged to interact with the piece by placing their elbows onto the conducting points on the steel cube. 'Epicentre explores porosity and how the passing of the sound shifts one's body between interior and exterior'. The runner up was Byungchan Kim, and his artwork Paranoid Paradise, 2018. This consists of walking sticks, wooden plates, and Japanese Knotweed tea. The story behind this one is really interesting, as it took inspiration from the tragic murder/ suicide case of Dr McRae in the West Midlands in 2013. 'The unusual case saw a scientist become so paranoid with the presence of Japanese Knotweed on a nearby golf course infesting his land that he killed his partner and then took his own life'. The artist was inspired by how Japanese Knotweed can cause such paranoia in the UK by destroying property and their value, yet in Japan it's a medicinal ingredient. His work is below. The winner of the Hix Award 2018 was Elizabeth Eade, with her piece 'Die Liste' in on paper, which is an extensive handwritten scroll, representing 33,305 names of the refugees that died trying to access Europe. 'The extent of the migrant crisis is overwhelming, Eade intended the peice to be an analogy of the vastness of the problem and address our very human inability to comprehend the sheer scale.' In the gallery it was positioned across the celling, which made for an alternative use of space. See her work below: My work, The Reconstruction of Sculpture, 2017, was positioned in the corner of the gallery with the ability to view both sides of the work, and the welding marks that create the intricate pattern and connect with the labour involved. This piece explores the act of painting as sculpture, merging the boundaries of both mediums to explore materiality and process. It's a process-led work where the manipulation of the materials dictate the visual aesthetic.
I'm super excited to announce that my work, The Reconstruction of Sculpture, 2017, has been shortlisted for the 2018 Hix Award for Art.
This exhibition will be exhibited from the 15th September - 11th November 2018 at HIX Art - Tramshed Shoreditch, and then moved to Coutts London from January to March 2019. This is a great opportunity to see the work of up and coming artists and graduates of art based degrees. The winner of the award will be announced at a prize-giving ceremony on Thursday 25th October. The shortlisted artists are: Alexandria Frances Clow, Ali Ferro Kirby, Araminta Blue, Byungchan Kim, Charlotte Kidger, Elizabeth Eade, Grace Lee, Jo Lane, Lydia Makin, Mathilde Heu, Megan Rea, Minjoo Kim, Peng Peng, Phil Woodward, Roxette Cryer, Sam Harris, Stella Boothman, Susana Uvidia, Susanna Brunetti. Read more about the exhibition on the Hix website: http://hixart.co.uk/current-exhibition/ https://www.hixaward.com/2018 Read the article that GQ Magazine have written about the show, https://www.gq-magazine.co.uk/article/hix-award-2018-shortlist#_=_ and Artlyst have also written a post: http://www.artlyst.com/news/hix-award-2018-announces-shortlist-prestigious-10k-prize/ If you'd like to vote for my work in the peoples choice award, you can do so by clicking here https://www.hixaward.com/apply Today, I created the high shine surface of my coffee table. The epoxy resin I chose to use for this project was the Glass Cast 3 Clear Epoxy Coating Resin from easy-composites. It's designed specifically for use on table tops and floors, so this will transform the surface into something useable. The great thing about this resin is that it self levels, and the air bubbles dissolve automatically, so it's easy to use.
I used 5kg of this resin, and I had hoped I'd ordered enough to make it flush against the metal edge, but it looks as though I may need to buy some more as it didn't quite cover the surface area. After the resin has fully dried, I will varnish the wooden legs and stain them a darker wood colour. The table will then be finished, signed and ready for sale. I decided that my art work, 'Priority Shipping' would work really well as a Coffee Table. It was already an artwork designed to be viewed on the floor, so all I had to do was create a wooden table frame for it. With the help of a professional carpenter, this work was transformed from a floor standing piece, to a coffee table height.
Next, I need to cover the surface with epoxy resin to make it usable. One of the first paintings I've completed so far this year, titled 'Resurfacing' due to its emphasis on the surface texture here. This painting was originally created last year, to only display the texture of the acrylic paint underneath the silver, but I wanted to add something more to it. I decided to paint bright oil colours in the 'voids' of the surface, and scatter them around. Choosing where to apply the colour was a long process of standing back and reevaluating the canvas after adding each individual colour section. I decided it's finished now.
Resurfacing (2018) Acrylic paint, silver spray paint and oil paint on canvas, 70 x 70cm. Click here to find out more. Mounted prints start at only £40, and all prints come signed and numbered, complete with a signed certificate of authenticity. 'Forest' prints are limited edition of only 300 prints.
Click here to find out more!
If anyone missed the MA Degree show, check out this film I made to capture it!
See my work and much more at The University of Lincoln.
The degree show is on until the 22nd of September so don't forget to check it out! Have a look at the work in the show on the Matter Instagram: www.instagram.com/matterfineart/?hl=en |
AuthorI'm Alexandria & I post mainly about my artwork and its journey. Archives
May 2019
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