Hereford 2006
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Ben Gamble
My work is multi-disciplinary in approach, using different methods and materials to create artefacts in both 2D and 3D, applying print-based techniques to other materials. I would utilise this project to explore the relationship between painting, printmaking and ceramics, working on both a small and large scale. During the AA2A scheme I would like to create pieces of work that not only reflect my own working practice and journey, but also communicate the life of Herefordshire College of Art and Design. I feel that because the College has played a large role in my life as a student and staff member, that it is intrinsically linked to my identity as a creative practitioner, therefore meaning that some work will be site-specific and of an archival nature with the intention to involve the participation of other Herefordshire College of Art and Design students.
Charlie Hurcombe
My work explores and promotes the tensions which exist between visual and tactile experience. With particular emphasis placed on the coexistence of disrupted form and reflective shiny surface my work makes reference to both sculpture and painting. The combined utilisation of stainless steel sheet and household gloss paint (plus assorted fixtures and fittings) has been a significant feature of recent work. The application of gloss paint makes reference to both a protected and decorated surface whilst the geometric design suggests concerns associated with attraction and caution and conveys a heightened sense of physical disruption. The use of manufactured items such as wooden handles is significant in promoting issues of interaction, function and scale. Studies made last year for work tentatively titled "Contrapposto" will provide a starting point and focus for artwork to be made at Hereford. Within my work specific reference is made to the human body through the proposed possibility of physical interaction with the finished artwork. A new and interesting departure within my creative practice will be made through making specific reference to the human body for initial studies. With this in mind the Life Room at Hereford will be used to produce exploratory drawings in relation to the convention of contrapposto. These drawings will in turn be used to inform (rather than dictate) the development of 3D structures. Whilst stainless steel sheet and gloss paint will continue to be used, proposed developments within new work will look towards the utilisation of functional contemporary materials such as laminated wood-effect board. In addition I will look to include materials such as self-adhesive vinyl, mdf, plywood, aluminium, galvanised steel and mild steel. The wood construction and metal working facilities at Hereford will enable me to undertake significant professional and creative developments with regard to utilising these new materials within fabricated assemblages. Having access to and utilising diverse fabrication methods will help me to develop existing aesthetic concerns within my work whilst continuing to reference both the handcrafted and industrial. The wide range of facilities available at Hereford will encourage the making of creative decisions in my decidedly hands-on approach towards making work.
Valerie Coffin Price
I am an artist-letterer working with issues to do with the environment, language and cultural identity. A sense of place is fundamental to my work, much of which is made in response to a given location. The poetic resonance of language and its connection to the environment drives my work, which is concerned with how the environment is defined through language and cultural identity. During the AA2A scheme I shall be working on the Distant Voices project. This project has involved journeys in China and Cambodia, and also includes on-going studies of the rivers in Wales. For some time I have been keen to experiment with drawing and digitial technology and this residency will provide me with the opportunity to experiment with some of these ideas. I am hoping to work on a piece inspired by river trips on the Tonle Sap and Mekong River in Cambodia, the shore line in south Wales and a visit to the Toul Sleng Museum in Phnom Phen. (Toul Sleng is a museum created in the school which housed the infamous place of torture and death by the Khmer Rouge.) The work will use the following quote from Siddhartha by Herman Hesse: "a flowing river of faces, hundreds, thousands, which all came and went, and yet all seemed to be there at once, which all constantly changed and became new ones," Digital images taken in Cambodia will form the basis of the work combining fragments of text layered with drawn images of faces, traces of objects, memories and history.
Wally Gilbert
I have attempted to understand the expressive qualities of metals and to find my way independently to understand what I wish to express using metal. In the process I moved from being a student of sculpture to a practitioner within the Applied Arts. I was one of those in the 70's who found the 'Crafts' offered opportunities not at that time so readily available within the 'Arts'. Beginning as a jeweller I set out to be independent of trends, aware of and learning from the past and present. I tried to understand of the materials and processes and to use these to express personal ideas. To this end I have exhibited in galleries, shown at Goldsmiths Fair, designed for a wholesale and mail order companies, worked directly through 'buyers' and, as now, worked to commission. One learns from each and each presents opportunities though all come with strings attached that influence ones work and ones thinking and direction. There are also other, additional forces operating upon one that affect the form that ones work takes. For instance in my case references are frequently made to the Arts and Crafts movement because of my use of materials and decorative design. Once such a connection is made commissions will tend to confirm it, as clients want work in the style in which you have worked previously. Wishing to counter this influence and gain a fresh look at my work I was fortunate in 2003 to obtain a six-month residency in Canberra on a Queen Elizabeth Scholarship. My aim was to place myself in a fresh environment free of preconceptions in processes, materials or design. I worked in the printmaking, glass, ceramic, wood and silver workshops and amongst other things became interested in the use of cast iron within a Public Art or architectural context. From this I applied for and obtained a 4 month residency 2004 on the 'Arts in Industry' program in the States. This was working within and using all the facilities of the iron foundry at Kohler in Wisconsin. This was completed in December 2004 and was a very productive residency. The residency enabled me, within an industrial production system to develop a personal and expressive way of working that offers exciting opportunities for future development. Drawing has always been the basis of my work, serving a functional purpose in the process of observation, design and presentation. Printmaking is a process and medium that allows my drawing to become the end rather than the means to an end. I have had an interest in Printmaking since I was first at College when I hesitated at Foundation level between Print and Sculpture as options for further study. My residency in Canberra enabled me to develop this for the first time since Foundation and now I plan to build on this for the future alongside my metal work. I envisage printmaking as allowing me the opportunity to explore the ambiguities of the 2 dimensional world, which is closed, to the 3 dimensional object, which must become a part of whatever context it finds itself placed in.