In 2016 I established a firm base in Sheffield from which to exhibit and develop my creative practice. A success, all things considered. However, this year I intend to widen my audience and develop my practice away from Sheffield with the intent on establishing myself as a UK artist. You see, while being relatively known locally is nice and indeed important as it provides a solid foundation from which to build, by ultimate aim is to become an established UK based artist – with a UK wide audience.
It’s hard to believe that this time last year I had no experience in exhibiting my perfume portraits. However, over the course of 2016 Perfume as Practice found its way into 3 solo exhibitions, a few talks, a few group exhibitions and even a few commissions. The sheer presence of the project enabled me to initiate relationships with other arts institutions and as such, my aim of housing 2 solo Perfume as Practice exhibitions a year, under the guise of Spring/Summer and Autumn/Winter collections will almost certainly be achievable this year with an expected show at Surface Gallery, Nottingham, in September.
Perfume as Practice at Bank Street Arts, Sheffield; December 2016
Inadvertently, I established myself as something of a facilitator of artistic activities in 2016, as evidenced by UNITY – a group exhibition devised and curated by myself and Sharon Mossback, and FUSE – a group exhibition at The Holt, Sheffield. This is something that I see myself building on this year, especially with the imminent arrival of The Court of Love and corresponding poetry open call.
Unity Exhibition, Exchange Place Studios, Sheffield; August 2016
Speculative Studio Spaces – a.k.a that other thing I do that isn’t perfume – had some presence in 2016, with a solo show at BasementArtsProject, Leeds. This project seems a little underdeveloped in comparison to Perfume as Practice and as such, I aim to create a firm body of work which will take the guise of a small stage play: If I can get the play written and performed at some point this year than I’ll be happy.
Speculative Studio Spaces at BasementArtsProject, Leeds; June 2016
And what of that old chestnut Pixel Poetry? This project saw resurgence in the latter half of last year. With a few more poems based on video games created and performed. I’m pretty happy to have this one continue to bubble under the surface. It’s sort of established itself as a hobby more than anything – a relaxed alternative to the pressures of my other projects, which are bloody hard work at times.
So this year I want to build on the successes of last year, develop more coherent perfumes, create a stage play and have fun with a little poetry, all the while establishing relationships with arts organisations outside Sheffield. Better get on with it then!
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