The Gallery - conceptual art
Title : Dark Nature
Artist name: Laura Foster
Description: Laura Foster is a textile based artist in the West Midlands. Her most recent collection is titled 'Dark Nature'. Having a love for fashion she fuses this with art to create editorial fashion images of head pieces and masks showing nature taking over the human form. She draws inspiration from textures found in nature and fashion designers Alexander McQueen and Iris Van Herpen.
https://laufoster.wixsite.com/lauraaliceart
Photography by @chrisbentleyphotography on Instagram
Instagram handle: @lauraalicefosterart
Title: Cleaning Squares
Artist name: Amy Jackson
Description: Cleaning Squares, 2005 to present, happenings, street art and documentation.
Cleaning Squares is a conceptual street art piece developed using household cleaning products though a series of happenings. Unlike traditional street art or sculpture which often uses materials with a large environmental footprint, Cleaning Squares treads delicately, using sustainable cleaning products and a bit of elbow grease. Over 3,000 squares have been cleaned and documented across the UK since 2005, aiming to raise awareness and discussion on topics including mental health, the environment and the art world in general. The piece takes us back before the emergence of the grotesque 'celebrity artist' and considers a revival of conceptual art, which rather than questioning what the 'object d'art' is - asks instead 'do we really need more stuff in the world?'
Instagram handle: https://www.instagram.com/thisisamyjackson
Title: Phoenix feathers
Artist name: Michelle Devlin
Description: In this piece, I worked on the concept of merging visual elements from different areas of studies such as meteorology, mathematics, and dance. I made Phoenix feathers while I was on sick-leave from a former job to help keep me busy, and to continue my art as a working artist. Obstacles in the creation of this piece included working in a more-isolated-than-usual setting while dealing with an intense bout illness at the time.
Instagram handle: @mderpth
Title: Plato's Realm of ideals
Artist name: Ally Zlatar
Description: This piece explores our quest to understand ourselves. We all strive to be something we are not, but what do we want? What does it mean to be idealistic? How can we truly understand ourselves when we can barely comprehend the world around us.
Instagram handle: @allycardone
Title: Grow in nothingness
Artist name: Fengjin Yu
Description: This art piece is a virtual environment built with 3D modelling technology. In this environment, the laws of physics and common sense of nature in the real world are not adopted.This can be regarded as a completely independent and fictional environment of the real material world. In this fictional context, the phenomena that are abnormal to the real world are created, and at the same time, it has its own laws and alternative ways.
Instagram: fengjin_kongge
Title: ‘Opened. Matter.’ continued. Redecorating under lockdown
Artist name: Alexandra Huddleston
Description: In June 2020, after three months of sheltering at home due to the Coronavirus pandemic, artist Alexandra Huddleston began to redecorate the living room of her mother’s house. The work exists as the installation, the installation shots (submitted), and as an installation video https://vimeo.com/441649969 . Even as the work expands a domestic interior to include a forest interior, it also re-focuses our experience of the work from its completion to its process of creation.
Instagram handle: @adh2103
Title: Curiosity & Conversation (1)
Artist name: Skye Williams
Description: Childhood and play are this work's main focus, contemplating how creativity is often inhibited from an early age. The installation of everyday, household objects invites the public to interact with them through the mediums of drawing and writing, in a manner that would typically be disciplined in childhood; set up in a public area, passers-by are able to form unspoken conversations between each other.
Instagram handle: @SW.FineArt
Title: Grounding
Artist name: Chelsie Dysart
Description: Exploring the human form and the spatial existence that it fills.
Instagram handle: ceedee.artist
Title: Oil on canvas
Artist Name: Nichola Jane
Description: This work has emerged over the last year, I was reading ‘women who run with the wolves’ a book that explores folklore and stories on wilding the woman and natural instincts women have and have lost , how humans have lost the connections with the earth. Our bodies and our skin becomes landscape, surfaces that get contorted, pulled, prodded and disrespected by ourselves, and each other. This work explores the soft curves of land and body within a neutral space, how we can connect back to the land and realign with ourselves and earth.
2019 oil on canvas - Has she come to guard us and protect us while we realign ourselves with the strength of feminine energy?
Instagram handle: @nicholajaneart
Title: This belongs to everyone, so enjoy the view
Artist name: Aurelie Crisetig
Description: ‘This belongs to everyone, so enjoy the view’ depicts the alteration of landscapes through digital topography. The fragment of areas assembled together compose an ensemble of imaginary panoramas. Every pattern of land represents a variation of time and space in both the digital and physical world. Merged together, each landscape becomes an abstract vision of mending views, recreating a conceptual, unknown environment. These patchworks of scenes taken from Google Earth express how diverse a location on our planet can appear through a visual dis-positive. These transfiguration were both digitally man-made by the apparatus used to capture the landscape, but also physically transformed by the global warming produced by human beings. Both changes depict the unpredictable development of landscape during this tumultuous time. Not being able to explore the world during this tough time is pushing every creative artist to explore different path and alternative to fill the void of producing art in a stable environment. As a street photographer, my work revolves around the outside, the architecture and streets, the open air, the outdoor. Google Earth is nowadays my only resource for my work and my only escape on the outside.
Instagram handle: @aureliecrisetig
Title: Nuclear Tides
Artist name: Alex Billingham
Description: I approached the hazardous cultural baggage of Nuclear technology from my own gender-queer perspective. Almost all of the source material relating to Nuclear technology was created from a white cis male perspective and I felt it was vitally important to provide an alternative way of handling this topic. In order to do this I had to adapt my Live art practice to a Theatrical setting, producing a soundtrack which acted as a
replacement for the traditional linguistic narrative theatre attendees expect.
Instagram handle: https://www.instagram.com/billingham_alex/
Title: Double Jeopardy
Artist name: Joe Tymkow
Description: The concept for this painting was prompted by a creative response to the current oceans plastics crisis. Playing with the notion that there are more consequential life and death dilemmas than we would initially imagine or expect to see. We have a vague feel for the volume of plastics in the ocean; How much more is still on land? Acrylic on board, 61cm x 122cm
Instagram handle: @joetymkow
Title: Out of Element
Artist name: Tori Stewart
Description: Working with colour and line I construct abstract environments that represent the psychology behind self image based upon different fragments of perspective. During this abrupt adjustment, it is safe to say that the public is feeling very dismantled and out of their element, with this I wanted to articulate these bizarre emotions through congested compositions that reflect the mental introduction of this new reality. The largest obstacle faced when tackling this piece was first understanding how I was handling the changed times, and then being able to express that in a way that would make sense to the average person ;for the average person to be able to understand what I am unable to articulate with words.
Instagram handle: @curatori.compositions
Title: A passage of time and what remains...
Artist name: Priyanka Singh Maharjan
Description: Our memories are the foundation of who we are today. They are the layers of
information, each level imparting different bits of details crucial to one’s consciousness.
These pieces of information come to the surface and sometimes slowly fade away.
Memory however can be very selective; some memories are strong, vibrant, easily
influenced by external factors whereas some are just buried in our subconscious. The
old family photographs that occupy everyone’s home can be helpful to remember the
past. I often go through old photographs at my home to question how much I remember
and what have I missed along the way. I hand embroider on images transferred from the old photographs. Embroidering makes me feel connected to home and often home is where one’s memory is deeply rooted to. The process of my work has always been as crucial as the artwork itself. Focusing and needing to work continuously in repetition with infinite profusion of details has been a meditative working process. From the beginning to end, this work is not just about
memories but also a very personal journey, unashamedly autobiographical.
Instagram handle: pre_yanka
Title: Oh Limpia
Artist name: URSULA VARGAS
Description: "Retablo" , a sophisticated Peruvian folk art in the form of portable boxes which depict religious images to be adore or pray at, located behind the table or altars of Catholic churches in Spain and Latin America, using the concept to present instead inside them the female figure to be exalted and adore. Producing for this project 3 of them already.
Instagram handle: https://www.instagram.com/ursulavargas_art
Title: Turn the Tables
Artist name: Verity Baird
Description: My work acts as a Trojan horse; not to deceive but to bypass patriarchal control through manipulation of symbols. I’m inspired by Helen Cixous’s notion of ‘self-authorship’ which has encouraged me to layer my paintings with my thoughts about being a woman artist in Contemporary society. I believe some censorship of one’s own identity is healthy in today’s world, especially for a feminist artist like me. My pre-pandemic art was a more ephemeral version of this work and the pandemic forced me to use materials I had at hand such as oil paints and canvas. I overcame this obstacle by taking advantage of this mediums materiality to illustrate the importance of process for my feminist approach.
Instagram handle: @bairdverity
Title: Street
Artist name: Noah Wing:
Description: My concept behind this work was to see if I could create a section of street on canvas. I wanted to make sure that the yellow strip was accurate in the sense that I only wanted it to be reflective if a light source was shining directly on it. It was a challenge to find a reflective spray that gave the effect that I wanted, but I was able to find one and I was pleased with the final product.
Instagram handle: noahgarrettwing
Title: Starvation Diet
Artist name: Beth Barlow
Description: Some people (like me) eat too much and are overweight whilst others are starving. Starvation Diet was an art life project where I avoided food I didn't need and gave the money saved to a charity dealing with starvation. I went down 3 dress sizes, documented the process at https://starvationdiet09.blogspot.com and created spoof posters and clothing to highlight the issues.
Instagram handle: bethbarlow13
Title: Elevation
Artist name: Valdengrave Okumu
Description: This painting, created with oil medium explores the message of the artist being a vessel who brings universal truth through his or her art. The challenge was to combine a surreal art concept with a strong message.
Instagram handle: @valdengraveart
Title: Many Worlds
Artist name: Jo Heatley
Description: This piece depicts a deformed being journeying a moonlit mountain scape, wandering forever. The piece was made a commission for an drum and bass EP cover. The dnb artist wanted something familiar but disturbing and abnormal, to reflect stepping into new territory both mentally and physically. There are a lot of challenges with doing so, but with the right mindset and ambition, there's nothing stopping you. I'm usually a portrait artist so it was challenging pushing myself to do a whole landscape, but it was extremely rewarding seeing the final piece come together!
Instagram handle: Joheatleyart
Title: I still cant’t hear you.
Artist Name: Jenna Fox
Description: Exploring the concept of communication, you tell me, but my understanding may not be what you understand is what you told me. With the nuances of language and the subtleties of body language and the unsaid , it’s a miracle we communicate with m=any meaning at all.
Instagram: jennafoxartist
