I have been Artist-in-Residence at Ruthin Craft Centre for nearly three months; in this time I have been wholly consumed by art: making, thinking, viewing and talking. It has confirmed for me that this is what I want to be doing full time. I feel ambivalent about the use of the term ‘career’; I am not sure that art is a career so much as a creative lifestyle. I have come to see that other aspects of my life inform my art, as art likewise informs my existence outside of my practice. At times the two conflict, but I am working on acknowledging their inter-relatedness and achieving a balance.

The studio

Ruthin Craft Centre has been fantastic to work in. The space is ideal; the opportunity to make a mess and experiment has really expanded my practice. I have also really enjoyed visitors dropping into the studio, chatting, asking questions and sharing their interpretations of my work. I am very excited to be involved in an event that has been organised by RCC; a panel discussion, entitled Craft and Concept, centered on the use of textiles within the conceptual art field on Saturday 8 March.

The residency has not been completely stress-free. It is so easy to underestimate the time a project like this takes; luckily, the Arts Council of Wales has been very supportive and flexible about adding a month to my end date. I also proposed to create an artist book to accompany the residency, but it is not going to be possible while I have the space at RCC. I intend to work on the book directly afterwards when I have more time to dedicate to it. Additionally, I now realise I was getting ahead of myself as the work being created during the residency will inform the final product.

The installation in progress

The installation, Interiors, is almost complete. I have decided not to rush these final bits but to take my time and make sure I get it right. There have been elements I had not considered in my original plans and other issues have emerged, changing the piece. As I spoke about in my last blog post, this is all a part of the process and I have really enjoyed the necessary problem solving. I am still undecided on some components, such as how to treat the floor, but have resolved to give myself some space and see what solutions emerge.

Rupture

In addition to the installation, I have also been experimenting with new work. A big battle has played out in my studio (and shall continue indefinitely I am sure) over what I want to be making and what my artistic concerns are. I have realised that I make art to mediate the things that present as difficult in my life. In each piece one element represents me and another represents a problem or concern. I can go back through works made in the past several years and define each of these parts; the strongest pieces are those that emphasise a third component, the tension between these first two elements.

This realisation has given me a bit of direction with future works, but I look at the artist statement I so carefully wrote last year and it feels woefully inadequate. I see now that defining my artistic practice is a process of constant refinement; looking back at the developments of the past few months I feel I am getting closer. Consistently writing about my practice for things like this blog and in my personal journal has helped me to define things significantly, but the difficulty of condensing ideas and motivations into a concise paragraph is particularly challenging. Rewriting my artist statement feels in some ways like starting at the beginning again. Then I remember that this is one of the reasons I have chosen to be an artist, I can’t get bored as things are constantly evolving and every project is a new beginning.

I am finishing this series of posts with a feeling of satisfaction, proud of my achievements over the past few months. More than that though I feel resolved, determined to continue with my artistic practice and excited about the future.

For more about Alana’s residency, check out part one of the series here and part two here. To read more about how Alana makes her work, take a look at her My Process feature from last year.

More: Website | Twitter

//////

Looking for more blogs? Visit here.

I have now been an artist in residence at Ruthin Craft Centre (RCC) for a month and I can’t believe how quickly the time has passed. The first day was about getting myself oriented in the space and at RCC. I was feeling nervous and to combat the pressure I didn’t take many materials or supplies. Instead I brought a couple of art books I had been meaning to read, my new journal, and a roll of masking tape.

The empty studio my first day at Ruthin Craft Centre

Not only did this take the pressure off but also allowed me to assess the space and how I was going to use it. I have two rooms at RCC joined by a double door. In one room I am experimenting and exploring new ideas, whereas in the other I am building a new multi-sensory installation. I immediately realised that the orientation I had envisioned for my installation should be reversed for optimal flow of visitors into the room. I spent the rest of the day taping out a spiral on the floor, reading and arranging both spaces.

The installation is based on my Interiors series and the phrase “It’s what’s on the inside that counts.” I want to completely envelop the viewer and to this end decided to build a room that you cannot see out of once inside. Along with assistance from a friend I built the wooden-stud spiral room over two days. It was very exciting to see the idea that had been floating in my head for well over a year materialise. Now over the next period I will be working on making the manipulated fabric to cover the walls and ceiling (it is all hand stitched), building a machine to make the walls “breathe” and creating a sound piece to accompany the installation.

Spiral Room

Working at Ruthin Craft Centre has been a fantastic experience thus far; I am getting so much done! I feel liberated from the inevitable distractions of my home studio and the 45-minute commute makes me feel the need to put in a full day at RCC to justify the travel expense. I also do not have Internet access in the studio. This is probably the best thing possible for me – I am often easily distracted by ‘research’ and plunge down a rabbit-hole of technical forums and YouTube videos about materials. Freed from this, I have been forced to experiment and work with what I have (not that this has stopped me from researching in the evening at home).

My rate of production has really multiplied and I am finding that I am once again working in series. When I was in art school I always worked in series, really exploring an idea thoroughly. I think this is a positive approach to art making but I’ve stopped doing it over the past few years. Through critical conversations with mentors I have really tried to analyse my practice and identified a couple of key reasons I stopped working this way. Firstly, I am very cautious with money and sparing with my materials, this has definitely stunted my experimentation and been a hindrance. The funding that I received from the Art Council of Wales to facilitate this residency has obviously been a big help but I am aware that this is not a permanent situation. I don’t intend on using materials recklessly but I am now trying to achieve a better balance and not be so afraid of “waste.” Secondly, I tend to over analyse in my sketchbook and sometimes completely realise a piece on paper, to the point that I feel done with an idea before I’ve actually made anything. I know it can be argued that there are artists who just write proposals and that you don’t need to make every piece; this is not the case here and I must admit that I am just being lazy. I am probably not supposed to publicly admit things like this but recognising it has allowed me to address the problem. Without experimenting and actually creating a piece, I am not giving myself the chance to discover and develop beyond the initial ideas.

This brings me to the second room at RCC and my goal of also experimenting with new ideas and work during the residency. As a starting point I decided to address weight, balance and tension. I began crocheting, using the same threads that I had taken with me a month earlier for a week-long residence at Kurt Schwitters’ Merz Barn. I crocheted a bag-like form, a sack; I used fine cotton thread and wanted to fill it with something that would strain the delicate loops. I tried various things and finally settled on concrete. I have never worked with concrete before but I am really enjoying the puzzle of a new material. Working in series, I am experimenting with different sack forms and different ways of casting the concrete inside. I really like the pieces where the concrete stretches the crochet to its limit but is also changed by it, in a contradictory way it is shaped by the delicate threads. I don’t yet know where this work is heading but I am enjoying the journey.

New Experiments

For more about Alana’s residency, check out part one of the series here. To read more about how Alana makes her work, take a look at her My Process feature from earlier this year.

More: Website | Twitter

//////

Looking for more blogs? Visit here.

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.

More: Website | Twitter

//////

Looking for more blogs? Visit here.