Interview with Joanna Mires – Camberwell College of Arts BA Ceramics alumna

When did you first become interested in slip casting and creating the kind of work you do now?

In the first year of my degree at Camberwell we were given a variety of workshops in the different processes you can use to make things from clay. During the mould-making workshop, I fell in love with the way you could reproduce an object many times over as an exact replica of the original.

Could you describe your creative process, from when an idea first pops into your head through the finished product?

The Avon Series started with the desire to make ceramic versions of a variety of secondhand domestic objects, which included a 1970s Avon bottle. I became fascinated by how curious they were as functional scent bottles and how a certain type of person may have collected them.

After selecting an object I create the mould. After making casts of several bottles, I start to see how they fit together in arrangements and how the arrangements balance in regards to the piece of furniture they are placed on or the space they are arranged to fill.

You’ve mentioned that your art explores ideas of ownership, nostalgia and collection. Are you drawing from a personal narrative here, are these past-times that you have indulged in and are now examining?

I have no memory of anyone in my past collecting very much at all. I think that it’s quite important not to use a personal narrative when looking at nostalgia. There are no ‘in jokes’ or personal details needed to understand or relate to the work I make.

You cite 1970s Avon perfume bottles as the inspiration for your previous series of work. How do you select the animals, characters and objects which take this form?

I have tried very hard not to make a project that explores any personal nostalgia, and so have selected objects from beyond my own lifetime and beyond my own familiarity. There is an owl shaped bottle that I absolutely adore, but its stature would be too heavy in comparison to the bottles I am already using, and my affection for it may lead me to make arrangements around it rather than those inclusive of it.

Do these bottles inform your work for Sum of Substance and The Editions Space? What else can we expect to see?

Both Sum of Substance and The Editions Space show pieces from the Avon Collection. The latter is an individual piece, away from an arrangement. Two existing pieces of work will be on show at Sum of Substance: Charisma, an arrangement of 23 ceramic pieces on a second hand set of drawers, and Sweet Honesty, 56 glazed pieces arranged on a two-tiered fire surround.

What draws you to creating a collection of smaller pieces, rather than just a singular piece?

When I make a single cast of one of the scent bottles I make a functionless, opaque and white version of the original, which represents the memory of a specific object – something the viewer would have to be familiar with to understand directly. When grouped and arranged, these individuals come together as collections. Because of the repetition of individual pieces and their symmetrical arrangements, their placement mirrors the way in which ornaments are seen in houses all over England and beyond.

Tell us a little bit about creating 250 pieces for the Zabludowicz Collection. What were the challenges in creating such an intricate installation?

The main issue with making an intricate arrangement on that scale was not being able to see what the work looked like in the space until only a few days before the show opened. Luckily, I had cast far more pieces than was necessary to fill the space – only 181 went into the show. Once all the work was installed I couldn’t quite believe that I had been able to do it all in the short amount of time given.

What’s coming up next for you?

February has been incredibly busy. I will have some work made for a new gallery, Block336, opening in Brixton on 23 March. I’m working on finishing an arrangement for the University of the Arts London’s Arts Gallery. I may also be working on a new arrangement for Construction Gallery’s group sculpture show at the end of March.

It would be lovely to one day invest in my own kiln and have a solo show. Although it’s cheesy to say, I’ve come to think that anything is possible – it might just take quite a lot of hard work and determination to get there.

Originally published on Jotta. Interview by Rebecca Santiago.

Sum of Substance exhibition at the Affordable Art Fair, 15 – 18 March 2012.

Editions Space launches at Jotta Live, 23 March 2012.

Images: Joanna Mires.

Interview with Paul Gallagher – Camberwell College of Arts BA Painting alumnus

What originally drew you to collage and found imagery over other mediums?

Monetary concerns are the primary reason, but I also enjoy the limitations imposed using just one medium. As more and more art relies on digital techniques, I get a perverted kick from reverting to older methods of working.

At Camberwell College of Arts I was experimenting mixing mass media images and painting. I was interested in portraying the white noise felt by this oversaturated image culture. I began to realise that the images themselves were so preloaded with meaning that I should try and manipulate them as I found them. This led to simply folding the images onto themselves to create a narrative that was divorced from the original.

Could you tell us a little bit about your creative process?

Serendipity. On occasion, I have found that a piece that is not working can be left, and at some point it will make perfect sense when found resting upon a different image. All of the works I have made so far feel like small pieces in a bigger picture. Images I have collected over the past few years seem like they are waiting for something new to trigger or unite them.

Are there particular qualities you look for in an advertisement or a piece of mass media when searching for source material to re-envision?

The images I’m currently using are primarily found in high-end glossy fashion/lifestyle magazines. Typically banal portrayals of fantasy, beauty, and aspiration which are essentially unachievable.

Why do you believe “minimal intervention is key” when it comes to making your collages?

I am drawn to simplicity. Feeling the way I do about saturation, it seems appropriate to comment on images that already exist rather than creating new ones. As I mentioned, most of the images I use come hardcoded with meanings. A simple fold or overlap can completely change the meaning and hand control back to the viewer, who is free to interpret the image as they see fit.

You reference William Burroughs’ The Third Mind, also the title of your latest exhibition. Do you often look to literary sources for inspiration?

I try to draw inspiration from everywhere – books, films, music. The Third Mind was a nod to William Burroughs / Bryon Gisin and the cut-up technique, but at the same time describes the process of intervention between the mind of the creator of the image and the mind of the recipient. In this scenario, I become the third mind, distorting or corrupting the signal on its journey.

You just exhibited your first solo show at Public House Projects – since then, are there particular types of work you found were more suited to exhibition format?

Yes, the ‘Haunted’ series of works involves illuminating a single page from a magazine to highlight juxtaposition, so it is important that the viewer witness the transformation of the image. When exhibiting, I try to push this sculptural element further by enlarging the work to wall-size and attempt to let the work spill over into the space.

Why did you choose to focus your recent work around the way women are portrayed in the media? Do you hope your work will promote media literacy and self-acceptance?

Absolutely. When I was beginning to experiment with the folded collage technique, I stumbled upon a documentary series entitled ‘Killing Us Softly’ by Jean Kilbourne, which examined the irresponsible attitudes towards women in advertising. This became instrumental in the way I approached the work. It seems that most people are aware that advertising abuses its power and can be misrepresentative, and yet it is widely accepted.

What can we expect to see at Sum of Substance and what’s coming up for you next?

A mixture of old and new works. I am happy to be exhibiting the lightbox plinth, as it has that interactive element. With the new work, I have focused on the fractured nature of the viewer and viewer by collaging different pieces of the face together to create Frankenstein’s monster-type visages. Visually engaging yet horrifying, I feel these images portray the way advertising promises empowerment and freedom and yet in reality creates a fractured sense of self.

Beyond Sum of Substance, I have been asked to give a lecture about my work to a sixth form college and curate a community project with the students. I am also working collaboratively with musicians and sci-fi writers on an as-yet untitled project.

Originally published on Jotta. Interview by Rebecca Santiago.

Sum of Substance exhibition at the Affordable Art Fair, 15 – 18 March 2012.

Sum of Substance also features work by Camberwell MA Fine Art student Joachim Sefzick and BA Painting graduate Bayly Shelton.

Images: Paul Gallagher

Three Camberwell BA Drawing alumni – Kathryn Whittall-Williams, Theo Turpin and Jane Dalton will be showing at the Recent Graduate exhibition at The Affordable Art Fair in Battersea. Curated by Jotta the exhibition offers a platform for 18 emerging artists whose practices test new perceptions of the archetypal landscape. The artists selected for ‘Land Without A Map’ reconsider natural and spatial elements, while questioning conventional visual assumptions.

Exhibition open: 11-14 March 2010
Curatorial talk: Saturday 13 March, 13.00

www.jotta.com   /  www.affordableartfair.com

Images top to bottom: Kathryn Whittall-Williams, Theo Turpin, Jane Dalton.