Study for a Landscape
2010
Paintings on canvas
What I'm trying to do is create an image of a subconscious landscape that I may not have ever seen. It's not about any visible, physical landscape, but about the idea of one. I am thinking of a memory of a landscape, or perhaps a memory of a photograph of a landscape. But memory is elusive and the unconscious, when questioned, is unsure. Decision making becomes less impulsive, as the image becomes more convicted and I find myself within familiar territory and with repetitive conclusion. Searching for something that may not be there represents an eternally familiar need, but how is it possible to create a visual recording of this?
Neil graduated with a first class honours degree in Fine Art from The University of Chester in July 2009, and is practising as a contemporary artist in Manchester.
The New Devonshire
2009
Rob is a practising photographer and technical demonstrator in photography.
http://www.chester.ac.uk/departments/art-and-design/staff/meighen
Untitled
2010
(Sculpture and installation)
James graduated in Fine Art from the University of Chester in July 2010 and is now a practising contemporary artist, alongside his employment in a box factory.
Sea-mine
2004
(Lightbox and transparency)
This image is drawn from an ongoing personal archive entitled Inventory for a Reverse Journey: A collection of photographic images and found objects function as spatial-temporal markers which reconfigure a metaphorical journey in space and time.
Cian is programme leader in BA Photography.
http://www.chester.ac.uk/departments/art-and-design/staff/quayle
Accumulation
Accumulation 2
Untitled
Kneeling Pad
2010
(Textile sculptures and performance)
Encompassing sculpture, textile and performance, my work refelcts a tension between psychological and physical burdens. The body is a device through which I have explored this territory, examining how psychological burdens can manifest themselves within physical surface of the body. By creating textile pieces that envolop, weigh down and distort the body I have scrutinised the effect that this bodily condition has on one's psychological state. Inspired by the context of the church, I have sought to extract pieces within it, replacing them with textile works. These will be used in a performance that reflects the profound psychological effect that the accumulation of bodily discomfort can create.
Helen graduated with a first class honours degree in July 2010 and is now an art teacher and practising contemporary artist in Chester.
Innocent X
(Video projection)
An isolated figure in some sort of trance or sleep is continuously irritated, attacked or perhaps tortured by some unseen force. The indication of a moving computer cursor suggests some notion of manipulation and game-play albeit within a cruel and abusive setting. The installation within a church propses further readings in relation to the notions of suffering, and the operation of unseen or supernatural forces, both of which are important factors that are inherent in christian doctrine.
Untitled
(Books and vintage photographs)
Untitled Alchemy 4
2010
The goal of alchemy is to treat base matter in such a way as to transform it into gold. In this respect, alchemy is the art of transmutation. Instead of applying the process to metals or to the self, my current series of drawings applies to the stages of alchemy to graphite marks, with each stage being subjected to an increasingly more intense purification.
Church of the Chora, Istanbul
The ancient site of this Christian Church lent a timeless quality to the interior, which exuded warmth and mellow light, reflected from the surfaces of stone rubbed smooth with age and with touch. The church has been a pilgrimige site for centuries, representing as it does the marks of difference between East and West, the locus of specific beliefs and cultural values which constitutes Istanbul. The interior's chiascuro highlighted the simple power of the early Christian works of art. The heat of the afternoon distilled by the deep shadows of the interior. Time lengthened as the voyeur photographer recorded the pilgrim visitors steeped in the unknown aura, graced by the moment.
Maggie is senior lecturer in History of Art.
http://www.chester.ac.uk/departments/art-and-design/staff/jackson
