projects
Exhibitions
14 Glasgow
(2022)New Glasgow Society
11th - 13th November 2022
https://digsglasgow.cargo.site/
Informed by concepts of the ‘House as a Symbol of the Self’ from work by Professor Clare Cooper and work on the psychological impact of spaces by Gaston Bachelard and Carl Jung, 14 Glasgow shared the work of GSA MFA graduate Chih-Kang Hsu, GSA Graphic Design graduate Greer Lockyear and photographer Ross Nolan.
14 Glasgow is an ongoing curatorial project exploring the relationship between dereliction and the psyche. Supported by research derived from Bachelard’s concept of topoanalysis (the systematic psychological study of the sites of our intimate lives) and dereliction as a symbolic concept- from the latin word derelinquere, ‘de‘-entirely, and ‘relinquere‘- to leave behind, 14 Glasgow is a prompt for visitors to engage with individual ideas of ‘home’, to reflect on spaces that have held us within security or discomfort and the legacy of these spaces for both self and society.
14 Glasgow exhibition literature, expanded view available https://digsglasgow.cargo.site/Exhibition-literature
1Chih-Kang Hsu, Post-all, 2021 (recto)
2Ross Nolan, Castlemilk, 2021, digital photograph
3Greer Lockyear, This Scar Will Never Heal, 2021
Photographed by Inez de Rijke
Audio accompaniment For the 14 Glasgow project I was fortunate to collaborate with Johnny Rodger, Professor of Urban Literature at The Glasgow School of Art, on two audio accompaniments to the exhibition- the first relating to the exhibition’s artists and artwork and the second an overview of Glasgow’s architectural history. Since meeting for a consultation regarding the To A Passer-by project in 2020, I have appreciated Johnny’s warm and engaging approach to discussing topics of architecture and the arts. I wanted to create an accompaniment to the exhibition that visitors could either use as a way to navigate the artwork and topics in person or take away as a memento of the show. As I have experienced firsthand, it can sometimes be intimidating to visit an art exhibition, for a variety of reasons, therefore the audio accompaniment was intended as a warm welcome to all visitors regardless of individual levels of social interaction or prior knowledge of the themes.
https://soundcloud.com/extrafacets/johnny-rodger-an-introduction-to-14-glasgow
https://soundcloud.com/extrafacets/johnny-rodger
Visitor postcardsIn a similar vein to the audio accompaniment, I created postcards, a nod to the postcard format of 14 Glasgow (2021), to encourage visitors to interact with the exhibition in the form of leaving a comment or by taking the postcards away as a souvenir. The result was a collection of visitor responses including messages resonating with the exhibition themes as shown in examples below ‘Every time I pass an abandoned building, I think about how I could transform it and fill it with people and cook them all dinner’. I found that in discussing dereliction with visitors of the exhibition, there was a shared sense of loss relating to Glasgow’s built environment, however also a feeling that the buildings represented blank slates on which visitors could imagine a new reality for the community.
14 Glasgow 'guest book’ postcards
A photo showing a young visitor’s response to the exhibition, shared with parental permission
14 Glasgow
(2021)Online exhibition
August 2020
https://digsglasgow.cargo.site/14-Glasgow-2021
14 Glasgow (2021) invited artists to engage with Glasgow's derelict buildings through postcard artwork. The project was intended to reinvigorate dormant 19th-century houses with personal correspondence, following an increasingly isolating period due to the Covid-19 pandemic. By utilising the same form of correspondance as was received in the late 19th – early 20th century with the advent and widespread popularity of picture postcards, the artist responses created for 14 Glasgow shared messages of care and connection with otherwise forgotten remnants of our built heritage.
The project is informed by archival research of 20th century Glasgow through photographs, architecture, and the personal ephemera of picture postcards and the history of postal correspondence. The concept of postcard correspondence was influenced by the desire for connection and estrangement felt during the covid-19 pandemic. A return to the nostalgic and sentimental form of postcard communication is used in 14 Glasgow to create a personal interaction with the vacant domestic space, based on concepts of the 'house as a symbol of the self' and Bachelard's Poetics of Space. The psychological link between self and space is highlighted in the language used to describe derelict spaces, Latin derivatives of the word derelict meaning 'de' - 'entirely' and 'relinquere' - 'to leave behind, forsake, abandon, give up'.
Sean Patrick Campbell, anamnesia, 2020 (recto and verso)
chema rodríguez alcántara, Untitled, 2021 (recto and verso)
To a Passer-by
Online artist-led walking tours
November 2020
To a Passer-by was co-curated with Holly O’Brien and Agni Roussou, as a series of artist-led audio walks calling attention to disused buildings and forgotten spaces across Glasgow running. The project originated in discussions of the 19th century concepts of the flâneur and flâneuse, identified by Baudelaire as ‘the dilettante observer’, in the context of a deepened sense of isolation during the second Covid-19 lockdown in the autumn of 2020, Throughout the project we created four walking playlists - City Centre, West End to City Centre, East End and Southside in which 13 creative practitioners created four walking routes across Glasgow, corresponding to the spectres of derelict buildings and their history.
A connecting thread in my curatorial practice is engaging with both aspects of Glasgow’s built heritage and creating opportunities for connection and engagement for the visitor or audience as individuals and creating work that is accessible regardless of involvement or prior knowledge, in this case of audio artwork and architectural history. We created QR code stickers for noted sites along each walking route and a particularly important aspect of this project were the responses of people that had stumbled upon the walking tours and had since had an ‘adventure’. As mentioned in relation to 14 Glasgow (2022) it is meaningful for me to create accompaniments to allow further connection and engagement with the audience of my projects- in this case company in ‘an otherwise empty afternoon’.
To a Passer-By Soundcloud audio files:
East End Walk by Sofya Mikhaylova, Maria Sauva, John Barry, Craig Redshift and Oliver Julien
Southside Walk by Vita Lerche, Aaron Smyth and Nasim Luczaj
WO/
Vane Gallery, Newcastle
9th - 24th March 2018
WO/’ was curated in collaboration with artist Melanie Kyles to mark International Women’s Day 2018, showcasing work on the themes of the feminine experience, identity and expectations through the perspective of female-identifying artists and their work.. The exhibition raised questions regarding what it means to be a WO/man in the modern era; how past expectations and influences can affect women today, which parts of feminine heritage have we brought forward and which feel outdated and how do these themes relate to society’s ever-changing gender constructions?
1 Pelumi Odubanjo, Working Portraits, 2017, digital prints
2 Exposing Form, 2017, installation view
Exposing Form
Vane Gallery, Newcastle
9th - 11th March 2017
In celebration of International Women’s Day, Exposing Form was an intimate and unedited portrayal of emerging female artists and creatives associated with Orbis and Ampersand Inventions artists’ studios in Commercial Union House, co-curated with Melanie Kyles.
For the exhibition, myself and co-curator Melanie Kyles consciously focussed on the female - identifying artists as individuals in addition to sharing their practice. Each artist was presented ‘in the midst of their practice’ documented through a collection of working portraits by Pelumi Odubanjo as shown below. The exhibition was created with the aim to demonstrate both the strengths and vulnerabilities shared within each artist’s practice whilst highlighting the importance of female presence in the creative sector. Our selection of works encompassed a variety of media including portraits, sculpture, taxidermy, fashion textiles, painting, photography and videography.
Additional Curatorial projects
Ongoing projects within my role as a volunteer member of the Glasgow Art Club:
The Glasgow Art Club Collections residency
I have secured funding from the Glasgow City Heritage Trust to establish an artist residency, through which each participating independent practitioner or student will have access to the archival art collection of the Glasgow Art Club. Over the course of a month to two months, depending on the proposed project depth, each participating artist will be invited to collaborate with existing Glasgow Art Club members, explore the collections held within the heritage context of the Club and create work responding to their research, which will be exhibited and published at the residency’s conclusion. My intention with this project is to encourage further local and student involvement with the private club, creating opportunities for wider public engagement that will benefit both the Art Club and those undertaking the residencies through the work created in response to the archive material.
The Glasgow Art Club
I have been a voluntary member of the Glasgow Art Club’s gallery team since 2021, during which time I have been closely involved with many exhibitions in installation / deinstallation, condition checks and coordinating timelines with exhibiting artists. In addition, I regularly attend members’ meetings to take minutes and be involved in discussions surrounding the Glasgow Art Club’s programme of events.
Art For Ukraine – A Charity Auction
I worked with the Glasgow Art Club to establish an auction to raise money for the Association of Ukrainians in Great Britain. This involved coordinating with Natasha Raskin Sharp of Exhibit Auctions, arranging marketing and receipt of donated artwork and logistics surrounding the exhibition of auction items. I was also responsible for administrative tasks including corresponding with artists regarding donated artwork, creating auction documents including prospective price lists and updating the Glasgow Art Club auction page.
Ongoing projects within my role as a Committee member of the New Glasgow Society;
Monumenta exhibition
The Monumenta exhibition is a continuation of my ‘research-as-exhibition’ work for the New Glasgow Society, through which I provide curatorial guidance and support for individuals - including students, independent researchers and NGS members - with the intention of creating a public project or exhibition from their research. This includes workshopping ideas around presenting research visually, collaborating with artists or relevant practitioners and general support in facilitating exhibitions- installation, press/ marketing and event support. For the Monumenta exhibition, I am collaborating with Colin Drysdale to shape an exhibition showcasing the architectural motifs and sculptures of Glasgow and further discussing each context in relation to Glasgow’s built and social heritage. Colin has an online presence through his instagram page @thisismyglasgow and his digital photography will translate well within an exhibition context, creating an engaging and informative visual display. In addition, we are arranging a series of talks concurrent with the exhibition’s run, following Colin’s sell-out talk ‘Men, Myths and Monsters: A Brief Introduction to the Weird and Wonderful World of Glasgow's Architectural Sculptures’ in 2023.
Open Doors exhibition
For this year’s Glasgow Doors Open Days Festival, themed ‘“We're All Here": Diversity & Diaspora’, I am coordinating with the community group Migrant Voices, to support an exhibition hosted at the New Glasgow Society for the festival’s run.
‘Research-as-exhibition’ project
Within my role as a Committee member at NGS, I have created a project titled ‘Research-as-exhibition’, in which I have begun to offer curatorial assistance to individuals wishing to display their research in the community space. The remit of the project ranges from advice regarding how to translate the research material into a visual display, providing information regarding tips for exhibition budgeting and materials that may be needed as well as the offer of in-person assistance for exhibition installation. This project was created after multiple conversations with NGS members, surrounding the potential of exhibiting research to increase the audience for and engagement with research topics and themes, and the difficulty or hesitation associated with creating visual translations of research work.
Archive
I am currently working, in accordance with advice from the Scottish Council, on Archives to arrange the documentation of, and suitable storage for, the New Glasgow Society’s archive dating from the group’s inception in 1965. This archive contains documents relating to safeguarding Glasgow's built heritage and communities. We hope to encourage further community engagement and understanding of the NGS aims by supporting access to the archive both in person and online.