Today we at AirSpace Gallery are happy to announce 2014's Graduate Residents.
Chloe Ashley is a fine art practitioner specialising within archaic and alternative
photographic techniques. Recently completing her BA (Hons) Fine Art at Loughborough
University, Ashley has exhibited frequently across the Midlands.
Influenced by artist such as Mariah
Robertson and John Stezaker, her interests revolve around the notion of the
uncanny; this is investigated through photographic distortion to discover the
jarring from the mundane. Ashley’s current fascination with Sigmund Freud’s
discussion of the Unheimlich as a
‘species of the frightening that goes back to what was once well known and has
long been familiar’ (Freud, 1919: 124), has directed her exploration of the
unfamiliar/familiar within the everyday. The focus on the contemporary everyday
is due to its association with the familiar, alongside the cognitive dissonance
that is provoked through the exploration of contemporary spaces and objects
with archaic photographic processes.
In pursuing distortion through photography,
a vast range of alternative processes has featured within the practice. Though
at present, her focus on Collage and Bleach processes has occurred due to the
level of distortion these can generate. The creation of the preparatory imagery
occurs primarily with the use of a Houghton Quarter Plate Camera, manufactured
in 1911, loaded with large format film.
Bob Catterall's practice starts off with narratives that are developed from
his research, which has a focus on inequity and iniquity in current
international political and social affairs. These narratives often have
apocalyptic and dystopian themes, inspired by the unjust reality portrayed
through main stream media. Like the media he filters the information available to
the viewer to suit his intent, offering excerpts in descriptions and
publications.
From these narratives he constructs architectural models, sculptures and
installations that illustrate the stories, giving hints to the morals behind
them. Though he works in miniature scales, his interest in space and the way it is
interacted with has lead to the production of several large scale pieces.
Into its second year, the AirSpace Gallery Graduate Residency Scheme has just got underway. Over the next 6 months, two 2013 Fine art graduates will be offered free studio space, regular monthly support meetings, and an interim and end-of-residency solo show, plus all the associated benefits of working within a studio environment and being attached to a successful contemporary art space.
The reasons for the scheme are two-fold. There is a sense of a yawning chasm greeting the newly graduated art student, faced with the trying to operate as an artist without the safety net of an academic institution. Through provision of a supportive and cost-effective artistic environment, this scheme seeks to offer our residents a chance to carry on their artistic endeavours and explore the possibilities of life as a professional artist.
Secondly, Stoke-on-Trent, along with many other cities, has had a struggle to retain its arts graduates, as the bright lights and opportunities of bigger cities has proved too irresistible. Alongside other art organisations such as Grand Union and Eastside Projects in Birmingham and Many Studios in Glasgow, AirSpace is happy to provide an impetus and opportunity to work without having to relocate South.
Our 2012 Graduate residents, Adam Gruning and Adam Kelly, found their residencies rewarding and instructive, and only today we found out that Adam Kelly has just accepted a place on an MA course, something he attributes to the confidence he found from the 6 month residency here.
Adam Gruning said of his time - "I would definitely recommend the residency to other artists looking for opportunities after University. The residency offers the valuable debut solo show opportunity artists dream of as well as a supportive artist community that makes the transition from University to practicing artist positive, productive and enjoyable."
As an artist I create installations sometimes involving mechanical surrogate forms, other times involving remoulded debris that have been retired from their previous duties and reclaimed into artistic duties. Within this they often take on mass and menial functions reflecting the everyday chores in our lives. I am interested in what mass production means and how this affects our day to day living. I am curious about those ghosts of our presence having been there and what we may leave behind us if even it is but only an echo?
