artist / curator / collaborator

  • ARTIST

    My artistic practice explores aspects of my own identity. I work with materials taken from the places I lived during my childhood such as rocks, sand, dirt and found objects. These take on forms that I feel resonate with the sense of place and my associated feelings and can include sculpture, installation, drawing, photography and film.

  • CURATOR

    As an independent curator I deliver a range of cultural projects that are a mixture of client led and self initiated. I work with clients such as National Trust, The Mercer Art Gallery, Leeds Playhouse, Sunny Bank Mills and Rushbond. I founded the Leeds Summer Group Show in 2015 and I write a monthly column for The State Of The Arts called Snooping Through Studios.

  • COLLABORATOR

    I take a collaborative approach to much of my work. I have a collaborative working relationships with some artists and I also have formal collaborations with brands and organisations such as Eye Room, an independent optician in Leeds City Centre and Rushbond, the Yorkshire-based property developer.

BACKGROUND

Just a quick overview since uni:

  • Studied art and transferred to design

  • Worked as a graphic designer for a newspaper and then in sales for a radio station.

  • Moved to the UK and my first proper job was at Leeds College of Art & Design in marketing

  • Worked in HE but missed the arts

  • Became the Director at Left Bank Leeds where I got to curate and oversee the arts programming

  • Started the annual Leeds Summer Group Show

  • Curated shows and commissioned new works including INF23 by Michael Shaw (this was quite key in what I’m doing at the moment)

  • Did an 8-week research trip around WA for my Returning Project

  • Worked with LMG

  • Have been freelance for three years

CURATING

Your role as a curator is to care about the art, how it is shown, the stories it tells, the context in which it’s presented and the way audiences engage with the works. 

I suspect that for the end of your show, you’re not only curating but also installing.

Here’s a top ten list of things to consider when curating your end-of-year show:

  • Consider the viewer, how they navigate the space and site lines

  • Logistics and restrictions can help guide some decisions and try to use things you have to hand when problem-solving

  • Size and scale 

  • Colour and contrast 

  • Space and lighting

  • Storytelling and context  

  • Look at how shows are curated and hung

  • Be brave and try things out to see how they look

  • Be organised and give yourself contingency time

  • Be the sort of person that people want to work with

PROJECTS

Over to you!

Q&A