New Beginnings...

It is now 6 years since I completed my MA in Fine Art, and therefore six years since I last had a studio space. The residency at Harrington Mills over the summer reminded me of the benefits of working within a studio environment, and in particular there were two elements that I realised that I had been missing. Firstly, of course, when space is limited it becomes easier to work on a small scale, and working as I do, mainly with photographic and text based works - the work tends to stay on the computer, and never see the light of day. So the first thing I have been missing is having the physical space to see my work in the flesh, and to actually make work off the computer - onto paper. The second thing that I have been missing, is of course the social aspects of having a studio space: having other artists to talk to on a daily basis, other people who might have an interesting insight, or a new perspective on what you are doing. I am really pleased then to have sorted myself a studio space at the AirSpace gallery I have only had my space for a week now, and have only managed two afternoons so far due to being busy at University, but i am really hopeful that this could mark a whole new phase of practice...I'm looking forward to getting stuck in. Friday afternoon was spent in the studio working on the Anfield long photograph for the Future Visions of History newspaper which will be coming out across locations in Liverpool during the Biennial. This is a collaborative, curated project by artists Daniel Simpkins and Penny Whitehead Future visions is
"...a free one-day newspaper exploring regeneration, decay, the role of the artist, and the repetition of history in the context of Liverpool as European Capital of Culture. The newspaper will be distributed over the course of a day during the Liverpool Biennial, via a series of mapped routes that will take in relevant aspects of the city’s landscape, culture and communities, including regeneration areas, affluent and deprived suburbs, cultural and commercial quarters, shopping centres, government buildings, art institutions and artist-run spaces."
This is how much of the Anfield Image I got done during one afternoon in the studio. The photographs were taken on Venmore Street, Anfield. There are 24 houses on this section of the street, and at this point I have only stitched together 7. The Liverpool Football Club Stadium is just at the end of the street. The streets all around the current stadium are emptied and derelict, like this one. I spoke to some of the people that are still living in the area during my visit to take the photographs, there is an idea that the houses were emptied because of the Clubs planned move to Stanley Park, which would leave the Anfield area ripe for regeneration...The club's plans to move have been put on hold however, so who knows how long these streets will remain in this state. It does seem very shocking that the streets around such a large and wealthy company as Liverpool F.C. should be left like this, more shocking is the fact that on many of these streets, where almost every house is boarded up and falling down there will be one family home still occupied, as is the case with this street, but I haven't stitched on the occupied house yet - watch this space if you want to see the complete street...