I am a fine artist and photographer from Leicestershire exploring ideas surrounding identity, memory and experience from a queer perspective. With my practice manifesting in mainly photographic work, I aim to capture the personal yet almost universal feeling of what it feels like to grow up gay. For me, process is an exploration of memory; a reliving of experience, captured through the lens of a camera. It is about the connection between mind, body and touch - an externalization of memory.
Process
For me, process usually begins with writing. Taking the memory of an experience and recounting it through written word, most likely in the form of poetry. These words then manifests into a visual - an idea for a shoot or sculpture, or final outcome. I then work to carry out said visual, whether that be through dying, sewing and shooting a large scale textile in my rural hometown, or painting myself blue in the toilet of my studio (a common reoccurrence). The shoot for me is the most important part of my process; as a way to externalise the experience/idea the work is based around. Often conducted alone; shooting for me is an exploration of memory, as I capture the emotion/feeling elicited by thought. Then the work is to be printed, usually at large scale. Pictured is the installation of my largest work to date, in which I (with the help of friends), wallpaper pasted my work onto a 7x2.5 metre wall in order to create an imposition within the gallery space.
Influences
My work has so many influences, which only grows as I continue to research and develop my practice. To name a few, the photographic works of those such as Alvin Baltrop's "The Piers", Feliz Gonzalez Torres' "Untitled" billboard, Ren Hang, Lin Zhipeng, Wolfgang Tillmans, have all majorly influenced the way I operate as an artist. Not only do I find their work visually stunning, but the stories, ideas and personal identity demonstrated within each individual is what interests me most; as they express their own and others perception of life through a camera. Other inspiring artists of my practice include the work "blue" by Derek Jarman, the films of Wong Kar-Wai and Gregg Araki, and the musical genius of Ethel Cain and FKA Twigs. These works all inspire me aesthetically, on top of the themes, visuals and stories expressed across a range of mediums, both visual and sonic.
Challenges
Within my practice, I have faced countless challenges, not only physically, but emotionally. Because of the personal nature of my work, there is a level of mentally taxing work required in the generating of ideas; often basing pieces off of real events/experiences in my life. But I see the outcome as a reward, as a way of almost processing a memory, and experience, a person. In a more physical sense, there is constant trial and error within my practice. Whether it be challenges concerning shoot conditions or locations, faults within equipment, or difficulty in the printing and installation processes. One specific being the install and deinstall of my wallpaper, having never wallpapered before, which led to the print falling numerous times, and then eventually being so stuck to the wall that it sadly wasn't salvageable upon deinstall (which took 4 days). The reoccurring use of the colour blue is crucial within my practice, as representative of memory and experience, and often I struggle to achieve the desired colour, being colourblind, I have many a time conducted a shoot, or made a sculpture, only to find it's not blue in the slightest.
Reflection
Moving forward with my practice, I want to continue to explore themed of intimacy, memory and identity. Currently, I am working on more sculptural/found item projects, as well as photographic series, which I think will remain a constant. Following from my degree show project from my BA in Fine Art, I want to continue to assess the ways in which the natural landscape has influenced my queer experience, drawing from an ever growing catalogue of ideas and inspirations.
