An old exhbition: 05-15 May 2006- Hogeschool Voor De Kunsten, Amsterdam

05-15 May 2006- Hogeschool Voor De Kunsten, Amsterdam

 Here is a very old video of an exhibition I did in Amsterdam. Another dvd I have managed to find after a good clear out!

I was in Amsterdam for six months and towards the end of the experience I was a part of a small exhibition which was put together independently by the exchange students:  From America Jenna Cruff, Vasanta Eve Austraila and Polly Stevens and myself from the UK.

The first images are the paintings of Jenna and her life drawing sketches. All her images were created freehand the images of people lying in the park particularly remind me lying in the Vondelpark.

The images then move on to Vasanta's installation, a web which includes traces of the people and places that she came into contact with during her time. She included her journal which she gained contributions from the people she lived with on a boat which had been converted into a block of flat. Vasanta taught me how to do Lithography the school used traditional blocks of stone, gum and ink with traditional heavy presses which made the images that follow on her the journal.

The pieces that are mind was the first works that lead to my solo series, I would hang out in café’s with the others or by myself and edit images that I found from magazines.

I was also experimenting with my techniques with my textile work; I knew I had weight restrictions in travelling so I became more interested in exploring different processes with my work rather than final images.

I was inspired by artists I met Jacobus Kloppenburg and Waldo Bien but in particular Georg Weise, he used tar in his paintings we met a few times whilst I was in Amsterdam he had a powerful effect on me and he helped me gain work experience at Galerie Faubourg (which has unfortunately now closed). The larger piece is a single bed frame which has been covered in towelling sheets and tar. A was a single traveller in Amsterdam and deeply influenced by those I came in contact with, I created something from the scraps I could find in the city and piece it together into that final image.

Meeting Georg lead me to make contact with several other artists including: Felix De Rooy, Alexander von Agoston, Rinaldo Hopf, who curated my queer eye 3  which lead to me meeting even more queer artists.

The last moment is going into a private booth of Polly Steven’s video art; I didn’t make a recording the footage because we were flat mates and thought it would come out poor quality, now I wish I had a record. The three artists I met and spent time with was a defining period that changed me. I have some very special memories of Amsterdam however very few images remain.