‘The Space Between All Things’ was the title of my Masters final show in 2010. The exhibition was held at the Winchester School of Art. Research that I developed in preparation for these pieces helped to establish my studio base in Hampshire. Having settled in Winchester these paintings were the first under the ‘travelling artist’ goal that I had set myself… reaching out to London and beyond with my camera and sketchbook. At the time the exhibition only featured four paintings, but the project is still ongoing.
Space Between All Things – An Exhibition that Fired my Ambitions
A small(ish) school with a big reputation, WSA brought together a handful of homegrown students with a wonderful selection of international ones. All artists in their own right at Masters stage. The MA group was particularly diverse and highlighted so many different perspectives on the world. It certainly felt like my approach and my technique changed during my time at the school. I know every member of that year group contributed to that.
Here are the four featured canvases that were included for ‘Space Between All Things’:
- No Man’s Land, acrylic and ink with collage on canvas 101 x 101cm with a black wooden frame (now in a private collection)
- Blue Carpet (The Screen), acrylic and ink with collage on canvas 101 x 101cm (now in a private collection)
- Moving Image, acrylic and ink with collage on canvas 101 x 101cm
- Battle of Trafalgar, acrylic and ink with collage on canvas 101 x 101cm (now in a private collection)
Wandering Notes & Sketches
I have always found inspiration from travelling. Collecting photographs and sketches that help to inform paintings back in the studio. Yet this series was my first attempt to connect together the journey, cataloguing the travelling itself. It built up a kind of artist map of interesting scenes. I was particularly drawn to a style of urban walking, finding intriguing paths… subway tunnels and bridges to rarely discovered places. I wanted the title to refer to that discovery of places, found accidentally on the way from one place to another. And to me the ‘Space Between All Things’ suggests there is always something to find if we continue to look for it. Here’s a few site sketches from those early explorations…
The Final Show – The Beginning of Everything
My degree show at the Winchester School of Art was an important platform. You can see the photographs below from my final show space. It shows each piece in context with an appreciation for the scale of each painting. These were the most important and significant paintings from the series at that time. It was a difficult process to select from the different compositions I was working on. But I felt particularly proud of the reclaimed stretchers and the floor standing canvas. I liked the rough finish to the recycled wood and enjoyed the idea that viewers could walk around the painting and see the back of the canvas.
