Jessica Harrison: Dissecting Space

Squashed limestone, decapitated ornaments,

mouth-interior kaleidoscope prints and fly-leg
false eyelashes are just some of the bizarre and
fascinating explorations of Scottish artist,
Jessica Harrison. Having studied exclusively at
the Edinburgh College of Art, Harrison explores,
in great conceptual depth, the relationship
between our physical selves and the space in
which it exists.

This is something that fascinates me and something that I have also significantly explored through art practice and theory. In order to investigate the relationships we have as contained and separate entities to a buzzing, constantly moving and changing physical, as well as conceptual world around us you need to get your hands dirty.

Duncan Swann: Codex and ‘If you look like your passport picture, you are too ill to travel’

Sheffield born artist Duncan Swann was a late bloomer when it came to creating art. After studying economics for several years, Swann decided that he preferred using the right side of his brain a little more than dealing with numbers, so he dropped his work in social sciences to focus on art and writing. Despite having no formal background in art, Duncan managed to blag a place at the prestigious Royal College of Art, off the back of his DIY portfolio; an encumbrance of paintings he had created back when he viewed art as a
mere hobby.

After completing a Masters in Fine Art, specialising in painting, Duncan now has his sights set on changing his philosophy on work once again. He assures me, it is definitely free from Keynesian theories and merely a realisation that ‘the distinction between the various categories of artistic practice are becoming less and less relevant.’ This view is fresh, and undoubtedly prevalent in his latest exhibition Codex, which is part of the ‘If you look like your passport picture, you are too ill to travel’ instalment at the Sheffield Institute of Arts Gallery.

Colouring a State of Mind: A Conversation with Sean Stott

Bradford is a world away, or at least half a world, from the heat, bright sunlight and the subsequent array of glowing colours of the Australian Bush. Sean Stott, a Bradford based artist, brings these luminous, vibrant colours back overseas with absolute vigour and energy. He builds up layer upon layer of acrylic paint on a huge scale, sometimes creating a pattern out of the monotonous strokes, sometimes simply developing a mesh of different colours, which surprisingly sit together in absolute harmony.

Since his first encounter with aboriginal art in a London gallery, Stott has been intrigued by their indigenous methods and concepts, or perhaps, more specifically, how their practical methods are intrinsically linked to their thoughts, feelings and ideas. At first glance Stott admits it was the simplicity that got him ‘hooked.’

In a London that was swarmed by the highly conceptual work of the YBA’s, the pattern-orientated work of the aborigines must have been refreshing; free of pretence and free of thought. What I mean by ‘free of thought’ is that their work, perhaps, freed Stott of a certain way of thinking, and, as it did, introduced him to a new way of painting. Thoughts, ideas and dreams are at the core of their culture and of their artwork.

Made For You

Kate Genever and Steve Pool recently collaborated on Made for You, a community focused project, which saw the duo creating “purposeful art”, for local businesses in Sheffield’s Parson Cross area. I caught up with the pair at Weston Park Museum, to discuss the context of their work and their take on the art world itself, within today’s society.

 Unlike many community-based projects, the philosophy behind “Made for You” centres more on the practicality of artists themselves, rather than the idea of introducing the practice of art into a local area. Kate elaborates, “We’ve worked a lot in communities in the past, where it’s about engaging with the people to come and do art. With Made for You, the emphasis is ‘what can our practice bring to that area?’” The pair have created pieces such as a neon sign spelling out “Stallion” for a local barber, “who had his window broken and couldn’t afford to have his sign put back”, to more dialogical pieces, like the old images of Parson Cross, placed in a local cafe.

Photographs: Luis Calow
Styling: Leila Ali
Makeup:Amy Collin
Model: Beth Waite.
See: www.flickr.com/photos/9770175@N03/ for more.

David Chang: Forgemasters

See http://www.erhudavestudio.co.uk/ for more details

For those of you who haven't heard of it, Bank Street Arts is an innovative, self-funded Arts Centre in the heart of Sheffield, which has been providing a setting for artistic individuals, organisations and events since 2008. In three years, it has grown remarkably from one studio to thirty, and now includes eight public galleries. As a registered charity, existing independently on outside funding, the organisation has the freedom to operate as they wish and chooses to focus on encouraging hybrid art projects, particularly collaborations between artists.