For 5 weeks during February and March 2013, Shaddock was artist in residence in Gallery 3 of Market Gallery, Duke Street, Glasgow. Helen used her blog as an online diary during the residency, tracking the development of her ideas and revealing the processes used to make the work. Here, Shaddock tells us about her residency and the resulting exhibition.

Several times a year, Market Gallery invites artists to apply to participate in its ‘Studio Projects’. This programme includes a four-week residency in one of Market’s gallery spaces and a resulting four week exhibition.

My proposal for the Studio Project was to conduct intensive research into colour and test the possibilities of combining controlled processes with chance elements when making work. I wanted to respond to the industrial nature of the gallery and make the most of the space, enabling me to work on a larger scale and experiment with the installation of work.

I specifically wanted to extend my work using plaster, polymer and pigments. I had previously used drainpipes as moulds to create column-like sculptures, but was keen to make my own moulds. The casting process is labour intensive and time consuming, but I was lucky enough to benefit from having a team of Market Gallery volunteers who kindly assisted me in the production of the work. This was a huge help, as someone could hold the mould while the other person poured the plaster. It also allowed me to work on a scale that I have never been able to achieve on my own. Some of the sculptures became so large that it took a team of four people to remove the cast from the mould!

I began by making funnel moulds from lino and dripping layers of different coloured plaster inside. I then poured more layers of different coloured plaster into the mould and rotated the funnel until the plaster covered the inside of the mould and set as a hollow sculpture. I repeated this numerous times until it was strong enough to remove from the mould.

I also made casts whereby I applied layers of different coloured plaster and then fully filled the lino moulds, leaving them to rest at an angle so as to create a less predictable shape.

I embraced the unexpected and allowed for chance elements within the process. Removing moulds from casts is exciting and can be quite nerve-wracking, particularly when I have invested a lot of time and resources into creating something that I do not know will work. When I took one of the sculptures out of its mould, I noticed that the pattern left on the lino was very interesting. In fact, I felt that this was more curious than the sculpture.

I am interested in the relationship between two-dimensions and three-dimensions and wanted to create a sheet of plaster that would be able to stand or be propped against a wall. I covered sheets of cardboard in parcel tape and then used a variety of techniques to coat the surface with layers of coloured plaster.

Conscious of the amount of floor based work that I was producing, I developed some wall-based works so as to make for a more interesting viewing experience. Referring back to the gallery space, I made a number of ‘object paintings’ the shape and size of the breezeblock walls.

I continued to use cardboard and parcel tape to make angular moulds, creating some unusual forms.

I had prepared some solid birch triangular shapes with plywood edges that could fit together and support each other. I played with the surface of the wood, leaving some faces bare so as to acknowledge the beauty of the wooden grain. I also poured different coloured plaster onto the surface that had a plywood boundary, and adopted an experimental screenprinting method using stencils on the reverse side. I assembled the pieces so that there would be surprise elements for the viewer when they walked around the form.

Over the duration of the residency I had produced a vast amount of work, and selecting what to include in the exhibition was a challenge. I wanted the installation of the exhibition to reveal signs of the production of the work, and did not want to present each piece as an autonomous object.

Overall the residency was an amazing experience and allowed me to produce work to a scale that I could not achieve in my studio. The public seemed to enjoy watching the development of the work as they passed the gallery each day, and I had some great chats with passersby who were intrigued by what I was doing. I am delighted with the work, and feel that there is real potential for further development.

I would like to thank the wonderful team of Market Gallery volunteers who assisted in the production of the work, the other artists exhibiting at Market Gallery, and the Market Gallery committee for their support and for helping make the residency such a positive experience.

The exhibition runs until 12 April and the gallery is open 11am – 5pm Thursday – Sunday.

This project is supported by Creative Scotland who awarded Helen Shaddock with Talent and Professional Development funding.

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I love getting to know an exhibition space. If you look closely, it may reveal a secret. The trick is to capture the moment and run with it…

When I first stepped into studio 41, I didn’t know exactly what my first solo exhibition would look like. I had a clear idea in my head, but some things you can’t prepare for. Nerve-wracking as that is, it’s also the exciting part of setting up a show.

When the walls were painted black and most of the works were in place, I was still trying to decide which of my video works to display. I had been installing every night after work till 2am. Tired, I went home and left the decision for the following day. In the afternoon, I headed down there again – for the first time in bright daylight.

I unlocked the shutters and the front door and closed them behind me. The window shutter was still down, mainly because it’s a bit of a nightmare to work with. Mysteriously, this stubbornness came with a peace offering. Before I had a chance to turn on the light, I saw something mesmerising. The crack at the bottom of the shutter filtered the sunlight so that an inverted image of the street outside was projected onto the walls of the exhibition space. Studio 41 is a self-contained camera obscura!

My excitement escalated when I saw that the sheet of A4 paper, which I had stuck over a hole in the shutter to prevent curious passersby from peeking in, also had an inverted image on it. Blurred, and most importantly in motion, it was like a tiny upside down cinema. I grabbed my camera and began filming. It was like being inside a cocoon and looking out through fine silk at the flicker of life outside. Cars, buses, lorries swept by in an arrythmic hum, while occasional pedestrians became fleeting black shadows. I suddenly saw what studio 41 sees when no one is looking.

In my work, I collect moments and materials that have the potential to be transformed into something else. For “Suspended Animations”, I reworked found moth cocoons by dissolving the tear-proof silk, carding them into fleece with hair brushes, and reanimating them into fragile textile pieces.

I scanned the handwriting of deceased relatives and used the letters of the alphabet they left behind to create new fonts. If the dead could speak, what would we want them to say? What happens when we don’t have enough letters to spell out the things we want to hear?

I spun audio books on cassette tape and films on VHS tape into yarn, rewinding them into balls to tell new stories. Likewise, spun music tapes became new strings on an old guitar.

The memory sticks suspended from the ceiling had been lying in a library since 2008 and no one had come to reclaim them. We use so many different recording devices to remember things for us, but like our own memory, they are expendable and can easily be lost or forgotten.

The futility of holding on to anything and the need to let go is the core of my practice. The more digital we become, the less likely we are to print out our photos and save them as physical keepsakes. When we do get around to it, we stick them on a fridge door with magnets or stick them in a cheap frame so we can exchange them if something better comes along.

I am intrigued by how necessary similes and metaphors are to express what we mean. Describing things as they are is seldom enough. My titles are like short spells that attempt to unravel the work.  But you don’t have to listen. You can spin your own stories as you go along.

Theresa Moerman Ib lives and works in Glasgow. “Suspended Animations” at Studio 41 is her first solo exhibition. The gallery is open Wednesday-Saturday from 1-6pm till 23 February at 41 West Graham Street, Glasgow G4 9LJ.

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