Alongside being an artist, I’ve worked in the music industry for over 20 years, as a promoter, talent booker and drummer. This time spent behind the scenes has given me a unique understanding of the mechanics, props, rituals and pose that underpin performance, and has fuelled my practice in many ways. I regularly witness performers cross thresholds between everyday life, to moments in the spotlight, and back again. I’m fascinated by these momentary behavioural shifts and how I can apply this to materials, themes, contexts, and how I consider audience within my work.
In my practice I navigate implied hierarchies and positions between on and off stage; amateur and professional, original and imitation. I'm interested in considering how and when audiences encounter art, and the possibilities of altering people’s perception and viewpoint in unexpected ways.
My work has been shown in a range of sites including galleries, shops, on pavements, newspapers, as merchandise and in rugby clubs. I’m interested in the nuances between these contexts and how they affect the dissemination, encounter and reading of the work.
I’ve worked with buskers, footballers, iconic drum beats and second hand car dealers. I have an affinity for found, undervalued and often overlooked materials like car mats, supermarket shelves and black bags. I use these recognisable materials and cultural references as a bridge between everyday life and the artworld, seeking to find ways for the two worlds to meet. Through repetition and remixing things to the point they become unrecognisable, I explore transforming ordinary things into something else, motivated by the possibility of finding the remarkable in the seemingly mundane.
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I draw on my experiences of growing up working class in Redruth, a small landlocked town trying to shake off its post-industrial past. I've spent the last 12 years running artist-run spaces in the town to create a platform for myself and others to make and show work, most recently setting up Auction House in 2018.
Auction House hosts a regular programme of public exhibitions and events, recently including Mark Leckey’s Music & Video Lab, a project that offered people aged 18-24 the opportunity to learn video editing and music production which I co-led with the Turner Prize Winning Artist, in association with CAST in Helston.
Born, lives and works in Redruth, Cornwall (UK)
SOLO EXHIBITIONS
In between the other things, and the sorrys – Flamm Festival in conjunction with Art Night, Redruth. 2023
F O U R F O U R - Grays Wharf, Penryn. 2022
Amen Brother - Exeter Phoenix, Exeter. 2018
between us - Back Lane West, Redruth. 2017
AAA - Gallery 333, Exeter Phoenix, Exeter. 2017
I'm Fed up of Looking at Things - Krowji, Redruth, Cornwall. 2013
SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS
Out with the old, in with the new, studioKIND, Barnstaple. 2024
The Redruth Albany Club, Kingsgate Project Space, London. 2023
Gatherings, SET, London. 2023
Rapture, Tremenherre Sculpture Gardens, Penzance. 2023
The Redruth Albany Club - Redruth Albany, Redruth. 2023
Drums in the night, Arcadia Festival 3: 'Brave New World' in Ebersberg, Germany. 2023
The Living Studio, Whitechapel Art Gallery, London. 2022
Pa-ra-did-dle - with Krystle Patel, TURF Projects, Croydon. Nov 2021 and Back Lane West, Redruth. Dec 2021
Antibodies - Maketank, Exeter. 2021
Your Foot in my Face and other Tectonic Strategies - Kingsgate Project Space, London. 2021
Where is the Way to Arcadia? in So the Red Rose, Tyman & Webster, Arkadien festival, Ebersberg Kunstverein, Germany. 2021
Synesthesia - Online Project. 2021
Break us Gently - in collaboration with Georgia Gendall & Rosanna Martin - Porthmeor Studios. St Ives. 2019
Sol-Force (curated by Jesse Leroy Smith), Tremenheere Sculpture Gardens. 2019
Axisweb x Artwalk Wakefield, Wakefield. 2019
Structures - Newlyn Art Gallery, Newlyn. 2018
Plymouth Contemporary Open - KARST, Plymouth. 2017
Visions in the Nunnery - Bow Arts, London. 2016
Inland Art Festival:The Future Project, Redruth. 2016
LIMBO Associate Members Show selected by Adam Chodzko - Limbo, Margate. 2015
RESIDENSIES/WORKSHOPS
The Exchange - via CAMP, initiated by Eastside Projects, Birmingham. 2021
Structures (led by Ivo Ringe) - Newlyn Art Gallery, Newlyn. 2018
between us - Back Lane West, Redruth. 2017
The Cornwall Workshop led by Christina Mackie. 2017
Weekend Shift pt2 - Residency exchange at Back Lane West Redruth. 2014
Weekend Shift - Residency exchange at Stryx Birmingham 2013
AWARDS
Cultivator Mentoring Award, working with Hannah Rose, 2023
CAMP Mentoring award, working with Simeon Barclay, 2022
Cultivator, Cultural Investment Grant, 2022
Cultivator Skills Development Award, working with poet Ella Frears, 2020
Cultivator Mentoring Award, working with George Vasey, 2020
Exeter Phoenix Artists Moving Image Commission, 2018
Visual Art South West Artist Bursary, Artist Jamboree, 2018
a-n New Collaborations Bursary Award with Kirsty Lowry, 2013/14
Axis Web, MAstars, 2012.
Sandra Blow Scholarship Award, 2012
PUBLICATIONS
Martin Holman, Art Monthly : FLAMM Contemporary Art Festival (published Dec '23-Jan '24 Edition). 2023
Four Four, featuring an essay by George Vasey & interview with Guardian music journalist Laura Snapes. 2022
Modern Cornish Poetries 1, Broken Sleep Books. 2021
‘It’s manic!’ Turner-winner Mark Leckey’s dream comes true…’ The Guardian 2022
Pa-ra-did-dle, with Krystle Patel, 2021.
Synesthesia, essay by Holly Willats of Art Licks. 2021
Plymouth Contemporary Open. 2017
Everything is F**ked. CMR, 2017
OTHER
Co-Producer, Abigail Reynolds, CORE. 2023
Production Manager, FLAMM Art Festival (in association with Art Night), Redruth. 2023
Co-director, Back Lane West, Redruth. 2023 onwards
Co-leader of Mark Leckey’s Music & Video Lab with Mark Leckey, Auction House, Redruth. 2022.
Visiting Lecturer Fine Art, University College Falmouth, 2021+
Founder/Director - Auction House CIC, Studio provider and project space, Redruth. 2018+
Co-Founder/Co-Director - CMR, Redruth. 2012 - 2014
Founder/Director - Tardis Projects, Truro. Cornwall, 2010-12
EDUCATION
2010 - 2012 - MA Fine Art Contemporary Practice (Distinction) - University College Falmouth
1998 - 2001 - BA (Hons) Fine Art (First Class) - University of Hertfordshire