I am currently based in the North of Iceland in a remote town called Olafsfjordur where I have been living and working for five months as artist in residence with two separate organisations: Nes and Listhus.

Prior to this I have spent a large amount of time in residency programmes including an expedition around the Northern Isles of Scotland with the Clipperton Project and working with the Bothy Project on two different projects. I have been selected for numerous artist in residence programmes this year which include Lyth Arts Centre in Wick, Cove Park, Cill Rialaig in Ireland and also one of 10 artists globally to be selected for the annual expedition around the archipelago of Svalbard with the Arctic Circle Organisation this coming October.

When I am back in Scotland I have a studio in Dundee where I work full time as an artist and exhibit my work locally and internationally. I have exhibitions scheduled for this year including two in Iceland, Grampian Arts Trust Solo show, John Muir show and ‘Just Landed’ exhibition at An Talla Solais, Ullapool from the 25th of March to the 1st of May.

My process in my visual art work is very much based place based. I tend to work in various mediums mixing them together and creating layers and textures responding to the land around me.
My drawings are large scale, gestural, and sweeping, in imitation of the landforms themselves. My prints are layered and tactile, responding not only to the land-forms but the textual rock surfaces as well. As my work has developed, it is the internalised grandeur of the landforms that take precedence. My photographs highlight the bareness and hostility of these wild landscapes that are exposed to the elements on the edges of the land.

I hope my work can serve as records of landscapes in flux, honoring the transition of them and inspiring our global community to take action for the future. By producing my art work I hope it will give people a chance to connect with that landscape and respect the nature that is so wild around us, to then cultivate a deeper understanding and inspire others to make a difference.

My future plans are creating larger work produced from my time spent in Iceland and all of the inspiration I have gathered here, preparing my work for upcoming exhibitions and getting organized for my largest project to date: my upcoming trip to the High Arctic this October.
I have been invited among a select group of artists and scientists worldwide to participate in The Arctic Circle Residency Programme in October 2016 for three weeks around the remote and northern Archipelago of Svalbard. The other residents and I will sail together on an ice class barkentine tallship explore Svalbard, just ten degrees from the North Pole, creating, collaborating, observing and documenting as we go.
This residency is incredibly important to me as it is in Svalbard where the effects of progressive climate change are the most apparent and where wildlife and the sea ice is significantly under threat. It is a place of wonder yet fragility and I find it important for my practice to record the shifting of the landscapes and the effects that global warming is inflicting on the Arctic.

I aim to record, document, and build up a large body of new drawings/ paintings, prints and photographs all made on the voyage through the Arctic and all directly connected to the place and what I observe whilst on the expedition. I hope to instill love for the landscapes in people so they too can be inspired to conserve this place that is significant to our future as a whole. I am currently raising funds for my project so if you would like to back my trip and receive art work made in Svalbard in return please click this link.

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Model for Ideology VI, Nicola Dale, 2015

In 2013 I was awarded a month-long residency in Shanghai, China, courtesy of Metal Liverpool and Shanghai College of Fine Arts. I undertook a research and development trip that would inspire new artworks around the theme of knowledge and how our relationship to it is changing. As the ancient birthplace of paper, ink and books, and as the supreme manufacturer of electronic devices, China seemed the perfect place to go for someone wishing to learn more about the shift from the former to the latter.

Untitled, Nicola Dale, 2013

My overriding and lasting impression is that China is a double-edged place, simultaneously full of constraint and potential. There is a ferocious drive to tear down, start again, build and expand. The state channels the energy of millions of Chinese citizens into a devastatingly effective work ethic, but this comes at a cost: the unbelievably heavy burden of top-down work crushes creativity. Over there, perspiration is not inspiration. “Ideas” are not encouraged. “Imagination” is not in evidence. What a different world to ours – we Westerners wouldn’t know hard work if it booted us in the jaw, but we’re up to our necks in blue-sky thinking…

Photograph taken in Shanghai, Nicola Dale, 2013

My experience of China encouraged me to reflect on the path that my work takes. When I think about my process, I see that it can be broken down into three parts: the first is the most exciting – the ping of an unexpected connection, the thrill of the idea; the second is the most draining – making the work, dealing with its physicality; and the third is the most mysterious – the moment of understanding that comes once you see your work reflected in the eyes of others. With luck, the first and second parts of this process do a little dance together: they wiggle back and forth happily between idea and practical decision-making. However, this dance is easily destabilised: wallowing in ideas without realising them is an insult to your practical skills; becoming slave to a technique is offensive to your imagination and both are forms of cowardice. Being in China helped me to understand that my practice feeds off a BALANCE between constraint and potential, between letting my mind wander and hard work, between imagination and technique and that this balance is, above all else, what I should aim for with my process.

Kexy, Nicola Dale, 2014

Nicola Dale will be showing new work inspired by her residency in Shanghai as part of her forthcoming touring solo exhibition, Not so firm as faded ink. Commissioned and curated by Mark Devereux Projects, the exhibition will visit Centrespace Gallery (Bristol) from 11 – 22 April before moving on to Arcadecardiff (Cardiff) 15 – 23 May.

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My work focuses on the relationship between human beings, society and social justice, with a particular emphasis on the power of dialectic and participatory practice, and the conflict between state power and personal autonomy and responsibility. I’ve taken part in exhibitions in Italy, Scotland, Ireland, Spain, United States, Chile and India.

I went to New York for the first time at the beginning of October to be artist-and-utopian-in-residence at Utopia School, a month-long social center hosted at Flux Factory with classes, screenings, workshops and discussions about the ways we can re-imagine our future. It was one of the four major exhibitions of Flux Factory for the 2013-2014 season and it was such an amazing experience that I ended up extending my time there to keep working within that environment. I’ve always liked the idea of working within a collaborative, creative environment; being surrounded by hard-working and motivated artists and community organisers that enjoy sharing tools, ideas and conversations. Flux Factory was therefore the perfect place to host my research.

When I started working on my exhibition I decided to focus on the lack of social justice and the gross human rights violations in Mexico.

On Friday 26 September 2014, dozens of students from the rural school “Raúl Isidro Burgos” of Ayotzinapa (Guerrero, Mexico) went to Iguala to hold a protest against what they considered to be discriminatory hiring and funding practices by the Mexican government that is considered to be discriminating against teachers from rural areas. During their journey they were intercepted by local police. A conflict broke out and by the end of the night, 6 people, 3 of which were students, had been shot dead, 17 had been wounded and 43 students went missing while they were in Iguala police custody and they where allegedly handed over to the criminal group Guerreros Unidos and presumably killed. Early the following morning, a student’s body was found with his face skinned and his eyes gouged out.

Founded in 1926 to offer children of farm workers access to education, the rural school “Raúl Isidro Burgos” where the 43 missing students were studying to become teachers is an iconic school for elementary rural teachers in Ayotzinapa. The school and its students are well known for their activism and for being a bastion of the leftist ideology of the Mexican Revolution in the early 20th century. These students are the most promising pupils of their communities and out of 600 who requested to be admitted to the school, only 140 were accepted, including the 43 that are now missing.

The generation of the first year had 140 pupils.
140 – 43 missing = 97
97 – 3 dead = 94
94 – 2 seriously injured in hospitals = 92

Out of these 92 students, more then 67 have already moved back in with their families and they will probably never go back to that school. These numbers have been the main focus of my research.

I went to a lot of demonstrations and sit-ins, most of the time being one of the few non-Mexican people present, but I can speak Spanish fluently so it wasn’t a problem at all. During these moments, I felt the disillusion and the anger of the people, but also their strength and the huge amount of solidarity they were able to show to their own community. Searching for strategies of solidarity has always been one of my priorities, both as an artist and as an activist. I’m aware it’s an extensive and continual process and therefore I’m always amazed when it happens.

Once I chose the title #FUEELESTADO, I started working in the gallery’s space installing 97 tiny little sculptures all around the room; each one representing one of the 140 students of the first year. 43 sculptures were missing and 3 of the 97 were broken. On the walls I painted the portraits of the 43 missing students with a paint that was barely perceptible in daylight, but glowed in the dark.

On Sunday December 6, the closing day of my show, forensic experts confirmed that charred remains found in a river near Iguala were those of one of the disappeared students, Alexander Mora, therefore I broke another sculpture.

A few days after I was part of Many Mini Residency in Mexico City, a collaborative project organised by Sarrita Hunn and Ryan Thayer.

For my 12-hour long distance residency, I decided to keep working on the Ayotzinapa’s case. I spent the first 6 hours talking on Skype with Sarrita and Ryan about social justice and the over-militarisation of local police departments, both in Mexico and in the US. Together we’ve been analysing the role of street protests and demonstrations and the role that direct action and activism can play in this framework.

During the second part of the day I worked in my studio at Flux Factory on a small book with portraits of the 43 missing students investigating what the word “desaparecido” means, as it’s not just about missing individuals, but it involves the state. An interesting definition of “desaparecido” can be found in the Oxford dictionary that uses it to refer to “(Especially in South America), a person who has disappeared, presumed killed by members of the armed services or the police.” As far as I’m concerned, being part of the armed services or the police involves serving a specific community by respecting and protecting human dignity and maintaining and upholding the human rights of all persons, but this is not always the case.

The book, inspired by the murals of #FUEELESTADO, is called #NOSFALTAN43 and can be freely downloaded online at Institute for Autonomous Practices.

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Artist Alana Tyson was born in Calgary, Canada. She graduated from the Alberta College of Art and Design in 2006, with a BFA (Hons) degree in Painting. She moved to the UK in 2007 and currently lives in North Wales. Here she talks about her new residency with Ruthin Craft Centre…

When I first came to the UK in 2007 from Canada I was confused and frustrated about how to exhibit my work. This was largely due to the struggle of being an emerging artist and coming to a new country without my established networks. Additionally, in Canada it is common practice for galleries and artist-run centres to have annual call-outs for submissions and this seemed to be quite rare in the UK.

Gradation

I attended a professional development session at my local gallery and the curator there talked about how they went about programming exhibitions, which was primarily through looking at what other institutions and galleries were showing. The majority of the audience was pretty unsatisfied with this explanation and he finally conceded that for most artists it was about getting involved in the local scene and that after some years he (or a colleague) might notice you. I am not sure that I agree with such a one-sided curatorial approach so strongly informed by the “establishment” but his advice during the session was not all bad.

About five years have passed since then and I have become much more involved in my artistic community. Going to openings and events is a part of my job as an artist (I feel I have an alter-ego for this type of social events and this identity is something I have been exploring in a new set of video works). I also started sending out packages with images to local galleries and industry professionals whenever I complete a new exhibition or body of work. If curators are not going to be out looking for me then I will go to them. These packages are accompanied with letters, not asking for a show but instead inviting feedback; a major complaint of the curator at the original talk above was that artists never wanted to discuss their work with him but just demanded shows. I will say right away that I never received any feedback from these packages until about a year ago. I was at my favourite North Wales venue, Ruthin Craft Centre, viewing the latest show. The Director, Philip Hughes, walked up to me (I had introduced myself previously at various events) and asked if I would be interested in a residency. I saved the manic dancing until I got into the parking lot and very calmly said yes. He asked me to get in touch again after the next changeover and I quickly realised that the ball was again in my court. Philip is a busy man and would not be chasing me up; it was my responsibility to take full advantage of this opportunity.

Embrace

I first spoke to my local Arts Council of Wales officer about the residency and they advised that this was the type of opportunity they would potentially fund. An application deadline was approaching so I started writing my proposal and gathering supporting documents such as letters of recommendation. The whole process was a lot of work and took quite a bit of time, but it really forces you to assess what you want to do. There is nothing like balancing a budget to make you realise what is superfluous to your project. I am thrilled to say that my funding application was approved and I was able to go back to Ruthin Craft Centre showing I was able to commit the time and funds to the residency. They in kind are providing me with a fantastic project space as well as mentorship and support.

I had originally proposed to start the residency in June but because of scheduling clashes I will start on 10 November. I am going to create a multi-sensory, kinetic installation in the space provided as well as use the time for experimentation and development. I have spent the past month preparing for the residency, gathering materials, writing press releases and contacting all of the people who will be assisting me. I will be collaborating with a couple of other artists in order to realise my installation as well as working with several ‘critical friends.’ I had a final pre-residency meeting with Ruthin Craft Centre recently and firmed up plans for the coming months. Sending off my images and bio blurb for their marketing material felt like a big step, that this is really happening.

Best Laid Plans

Which takes us up to now and hence this blog-post, the first in an instalment of three discussing this residency. I face the next four months with a combination of trepidation and anticipation. My stomach flips when I look at what I promised to achieve in my funding proposal. At the same time I am super excited, things have started to click with my artistic practice recently, it doesn’t seem like such a struggle anymore. I am looking forward to experimenting and making lots of art, so bring it on!

Read part two in the series here. To learn more about Alana Tyson’s work, check out her previous Central Station feature here.

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Watershed is a multi-disciplinary arts venue and producer based in Bristol. They are now seeking applications for their Studio Artist Residencies programme. The residency is two months in duration, starting in September and based at Pervasive Media Studio. This opportunity is for thinkers, collaborators and makers. The residency is open to all forms of art, and to both individuals and groups. The programme includes a bursary, a programme produced by Watershed, and a budget to support travel, relocation and production.

For more information see the Watershed website.

Deadline: 19 June

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One of the ways in which BBC Arts is looking to make the most of the BBC Archive is by opening it up to artists. Artists and Archive is a six month artists’ residency project which places six Scottish artists, who work with the moving image, at the heart of BBC Production. The project is delivered in partnership between BBC Arts, LUX: Artists’ Moving Image and Creative Scotland.

The six selected artists are, Kate Davis, Kathryn Elkin, Turner Prize-nominated Luke Fowler, Torsten Lauschmann, Alia Syed and Stephen Sutcliffe, who were selected from a long list of talent from across the country. They will create six new moving image works.

Alia Syed, Photo courtesy of BBC Scotland

Jonty Claypole, the BBC’s Director of Arts, said: We were bowled over by the quality of moving image artists in Scotland and are looking forward to seeing what the chosen six are able to produce. The BBC Archive is a rich and unrivalled resource so this is a unique opportunity for some of Scotland’s most interesting artists to create an eclectic mix of new works. We want to learn from these artists and see the archive used in new ways.

The archive stretches back to the founding of the corporation by royal charter in 1927. It contains a myriad of content, stored on different formats, from wax cylinders to pages from ceefax, 16mm film to video tape. The BBC archive is vast and packed with untapped potential, it is one of the largest archives of any broadcaster in the world.

Kate Davis, Photo courtesy of BBC Scotland

One of the artists in residence, Kate Davis, was born in New Zealand, but lives and works in Glasgow. Kate’s work is concerned with questioning how we bear witness to the complexities of the past. Her work is an attempt to reconsider, reclaim and reinvent what certain histories could look, sound and feel like. Informed by successive waves of feminist art and theory, Davis works across a range of media, including drawing, installation, bookworks and film/video.

“Normally I work on my own in the studio so it’s been wonderful to work in such a supported group environment where we are learning new skills, gaining special access to the archives and engaging with what the other artists on the residency are interested in and working on. The BBC archive is unique; it is a way of understanding how Britain saw itself and saw the world. The support has been tremendous from the BBC, LUX and Creative Scotland.”

Photo courtesy of BBC Scotland

This initiative marks the start of the BBC’s on-going commitment to allow artists access to archives. This is a truly exciting project and one which places artists and art making at the heart of the BBC.

The work will initially be exhibited through BBC Arts reinvigorated online platform, when it re-launches in June and then subsequently at different galleries around the UK.

For even more about the BBC archive and to catch a glimpse of some of its content be sure to check out Arts in the Archive at Art Screen, a new festival celebrating arts documentary running from 10 – 13 April at the GFT and CCA as part of Glasgow International.

This is a one-year residency, commencing in June/July 2014 for an artist working in any medium inspired by and contributing to the history of (women’s) art and activism. Prospective artists are to be inspired by the Zero Tolerance campaign materials housed by Glasgow Women’s Library and the art practice of the Scottish photographer, Franki Raffles to create new work.

The Artist in Residence will have access to the collections at Glasgow Women’s Library including the Zero Tolerance archive. There is a fee of £10,000 with a further £5000 available for materials and publicity.

If interested in applying, please download the full guidelines and application forms.

Deadline: 4 April

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Alex Boyd with his portable camera, Downpatrick Head, Ireland

For several years now I’ve been working as a photographer specialising in historic processes such as wet-plate collodion. This is one of the earliest ways of making images and was first invented in 1851 by Frederick Scott Archer.

Den Bruiste Sea Stack, County Mayo, Ireland

This process has the slight downfall that it requires you take your studio with you, with enough chemicals, supplies, water and materials to make images wherever you are working.

Alex’s portable studio

It currently takes a car to move my studio from one location to another, with little room left once the camera and my darkbox are packed alongside me. If I’m working inside, in a dedicated studio space, or an improvised one such as the vaults of Stirling Castle, then making images is fairly straightforward, as long as there is an ample supply of light and water, and the chemicals such as silver nitrate are behaving themselves.

Inside the darkbox, portrait on tintype

Louise Boyd

Working outside in the landscape however brings a whole new set of challenges, difficulties and frustrations, however it is probably where I most enjoy working with this process. Setting up my portable darkroom, in effect a large wooden box in which I can work in the field, I need to contend with high winds, rain, snow and intense heat and in the case of a residency on the Atlantic coast of Ireland I undertook earlier this year, all of these within a matter of hours. Difficult locations also mean that you have to drag all the gear to where you want to make images, sometimes a back-breaking and laborious task.

Alex’s studio, WW2 bunker, Downpatrick Head, County Mayo, Ireland

Scottish artist Hugh Loney

To date I’ve worked across Ireland, Scotland and England with my darkbox, everywhere from Rannoch Moor up in the Highlands, to the ruins of several Second World War clifftop bunkers in County Mayo in Ireland. Working in this way allows me to completely immerse myself in each location, due to the slow and methodical approach to image making, with each plate taking 15 minutes from the moment I pour collodion on the glass, to the final development using potassium cyanide.

Darkbox, camera and chemicals in studio

I’ve been asked many times why I persevere with collodion photography, especially given the difficulties in producing images using chemicals and the need to bring so much equipment with me. The answer is a straightforward one – it perfectly complements the way I make images. I found that with film and digital my approach was slowing down and becoming more contemplative, and that I was investing more time into each individual shot. This of course does change with the subject, however for landscapes I would say that my pace at the moment is fairly glacial.

Cashlanicrobin Rock, County Mayo, Ireland

The approach also produces distinct images. Aside from collodion’s unique aesthetic, each image is a moment in time recorded on glass, not just the scene before me, but every flaw and imperfection which goes into making that image. This can range from chemicals producing chaotic and unexpected results, to blades of grass from the side of Loch N-achlaise or midges from Glen Etive trapped forever in the collodion like amber. The corner of every image also contains my fingerprint from where I held it during its creation, a marker which signifies that I was there.

The Old Tree Graveyard, Ballycastle, Ireland

Alex Boyd is currently the RSA Artist in Residence at Sabhal Mòr Ostaig in Skye.

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‘Where I Make’ invites readers behind the scenes of artists from many disciplines to share photographs and a little insight about where they create their masterpieces. See more from the series here.

The theme of Hidden Spaces has a real lure for me. I started thinking about all the hidden spaces I’ve had the privilege to discover/be invited into over the last year or so. My plan is to blog about a few of those spaces…

So, first up: the Greenwich Peninsula. I was writer-in-residence there, alongside the poet Aoife Mannix, as part of a project called Almost an Island? in the autumn of 2008. I fell in love with the mysterious, industrial, moonscape of the west side of the peninsula – a far cry from the increasingly smart, regenerated east side. The peninsula, like so much of the land along the Thames to the east of London, was a dumping ground – a venue for the dirty industries that the city relied on but didn’t want to see. The very word, peninsula, which the OED defines as “A piece of land that is almost an island, being nearly surrounded by water”, and which comes from ‘penumbra’ – the edge of a shadow and ‘insula’ – island, intrigues me – a place of shadows, an almost place, not quite land, not quite water.

Here’s one of the short pieces I wrote as part of my residency.

Beach

There’s a sign saying the footpath’s closed, but no-one to police it. It’s an empty part of the city; a lorry now and again, the driver perched high in his metal castle, his eye line way above your head, whistling.

The tide is neither here nor there. There’s no barrier, but I suspect they wish you wouldn’t walk amongst the treasures. Here at the top it’s all plastic colours. Bags hold onto their contents. Blue pot pourri – dyed husks that have forgotten their smell. A red strap that used to hold things together. Further in, the colours grey. Cracked glass. Feather soft ash. And down here by the shore, rusted up shapes, like tempura vegetables. A nail, a hook, the loop from a long rotted tarpaulin.

I prefer here to the tarmacked path, dissected in two, punctuated by red signs in anticipation of emergencies. Here, moss clings slick green to concrete corners. Cobble stones bridge the shore. Here, the water is closer. It’s just a step across to the stacks of windows on the far shore. But standing there, I wouldn’t feel the crunch and give of cracked ceramic and rusted metal and rock underneath my feet. Standing there, for too long, I would be asked to leave.

Find out more about Sarah Butler here.

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Hidden Spaces – a month of blogs by members about their hidden space – whether they be real, imagined, unbuilt, cut-off from the public, demolished, spiritually significant or politically sublimated. Read more from the series.

In September 2008, Glasgow – based curator Patricia Fleming was invited by Larys Frogier, Director of La Criée centre d’art contemporain in Rennes, to make a proposal launching a new cycle of cooperation with European curators. Social Landscape is the first in this series and aims to create links between the cultural sectors in Rennes and Glasgow introducing new work to each city.

Social Landscape appears at GI 2010 as a one -off event held at Stereo on Sun 18th April.

The event starts at 4pm with a performance by Muscles of Joy, an eight member, all female, all singing, instrument shifting, art into pop group, featuring new animation by Glasgow – based artist Katy Dove created during her residency in Rennes.

Visual artists and band members Sophie Macpherson, creates a sculptural intervention taking the form of a stage set and Anne-Marie Copestake presents a special edit of a new video featuring Muscles of Joy.

Jocelyn Cottencin has created a collection of posters playing with words from decade defining tracks. Steff Norwood presents his unique take on social sculpture.

French sonic artist Damien Marchal performs new work created during a three – month residency at Trongate 103 in collaboration with musicians from Glasgow, including innovative choral group Sirens of Titan and The Glasgow Improvisers Orchestra’s Stuart Brown.

David Zérah will screen a new film made in Rennes and Glasgow, Artist’s Talk About Their Work made during an experimental on-line residency for Social Landscape in collaboration with members of www.thisiscentralstation.com.

Social Landscape is hosting a new publication commissioned by Volume London curated by Caroline Stevenson in association with GI. Content examines the role of written language in contemporary visual art practice. Bringing together text and image contributions from six contemporary artists and curators, it is inspired by the capacity for writing to create slippages and intimate connections with art, extending beyond the object and creating another entry point into contemporary art practice through language.

Artists: Anne-Marie Copestake, Jocelyn Cottencin, Katy Dove, Steff Norwood, Muscles of Joy, Sophie Macpherson, Damien Marchal in collaboration with (Stuart Brown) and (Sirens of Titan), David Zérah.

Contributors: Shama Khanna, Rashanna Rashied-Walker, Tamarin Norwood, Ross Birrell, Criodhna Costello and Claire Nichols. Designed by Michael Brauchli.

Social Landscape and Content are produced in association with Glasgow International Festival of Visual Art 2010. Content is available throughout the festival from Aye Aye Books, Centre for Contemporary Art Glasgow and Social Landscape on April 18th, Stereo.