In 2009 I started writing a diary, not any old diary mind but rather a tool to externalize internal disquiet, a coping mechanism for a particularly unsettling time. I diarised my thoughts in this way until spring 2010 when the worst of the storm had passed overhead. In the same way I kept my head down writing poems and prose dealing with themes of relationship and intimacy, observation, self awareness and personal journeys, again born out of the same difficult era in my life. In 2011 I wrote a short story which looked back retrospectively on the events of the previous years, be them physical or psychological events.
In early 2010 I began a blog and started sharing some of my thoughts and experiences publicly, after which I was approached by Run Riot to write an artist's blog which would involve sharing my observations, self awareness and journey with a whole bunch more folk. I jumped at the chance, finding a sense of therapy in sharing these deeply personal anecdotes and notes on existence. In addition to writing my own unique pieces I interviewed, considered and reviewed the work of creative individuals who excited me. Later in 2010 I was invited to join Lazy Gramophone artists' and writers' collective and independent publishers. My short story from 2011 and my diary from 2009 are set to be published by Lazy Gramophone in 2013.
Listed below are some excerpts and links to select pieces of writing which I see as catalysts inspiring, infiltrating and enriching my artistic practice.
Fragments of a Storm Suspended in Time - Excerpt from My Short Story
"W-o-r-d-s -w-o-r-d-s -w-o-r-d-s, sticky and enticing like your favourite fruit chew, sweet and gummy, you work them through to a slow lubrication of each syllable. That's where it begins. They shower from your tongue like soft rain, hail stones or dew, drip patiently like runny honey, each one with substance that you can get your teeth right into. Of the words you hear you can choose the ones you like, which to remember and which to repeat... Like life raining down we allow our thoughts to project through time, choosing the right words to define each passing moment. And boy do we fail, fail frequently in our definitions. I called it love but it was just play acting." Read More...
Tracey Emin - Review for Run Riot
"As a 26 year old in 2011, I missed out on a whole lot of the meaning behind Tracey Emin's work the first time around. I remember her face on TV and in the media - she was hyped as a mouthy, egocentric YBA whose attempts at contemporary art were at best vulgar – key early works such as My bed (1998) complete with crumpled and stained sheets, and the infamous tent Everyone I have ever slept with (1963-1995) come to mind. I confess that I was more vulnerable to the opinions flying about at that time then I was to the sensitivity of her work. " Read More...
My Ex Boyfriend has Many Faces - Creative Writing for Run Riot
"A private letter to my universal ex boyfriend and a shared public experience. Dear ex lover, I hope this message finds you well and rested and that you are not too perturbed by attempts of mine to communication with you. Its not that I want to revisit old territories, islands irrevocably lost to the sea or try to recapture those meteors of love that we sent spinning into space all those years ago. It is true that those pieces of land have been surrendered forever to skies beyond our mortal reach, and that they will remain suspended for all time above and beyond our feeble grasp. It is true also that the unspoken keys to the great citadel we once reigned have been swallowed up by the earth, molded back into the ground as humble stones...." Read More...
Ursula Martinez - Interview for Run Riot
"Ursula Martinez' latest performance is on at Soho Theatre. 'My Stories, Your Emails' is a two part piece comprised of Ursula's intimate little anecdotes and memories from childhood and adolescence coupled with her response to the fan emails she received after the filming of a previous performance 'Hanky Panky' made it's way onto the internet. This new work is delivered in two distinct halves, first portraying the sexualised character from Hanky Panky, this time revealing something altogether more personal than a hankerchief from her never regions: memories of growing up made funny and others sharper to the taste – chewing her finger tips until they bleed and then dipping them in her mother's soup to sooth them" Read More...
Being Better - Artist's Blog for Run Riot
"Being better - an in depth thought process about learning and personal growth as roads to enlightenment. Now there’s a concept I can subscribe to - being in the eternal state of my existence, eternal and transitory, everything and nothing all at once, furiously calm. This is how I think about life, about what it is to exist. I am trying to grasp and express that energy, it’s almost tangible, I can nearly feel it between my fingers, squeeze and embrace it through my movement. I want to be able to play with this existence of mine, to explore its potential, to be the architect of myself. I think of just sitting, of just being and of experiencing true serenity and enlightenment in this simple state as one of the greatest aspirations I could strive for." Read More...
Life, Love, Sex & Art in Diagrammatic Form - Artist's Blog for Run Riot
"It's high time for a little interjection on matters of art, life and everything in between one might say. It's been a busy few months in my world, preparing artwork for exhibitions and events, planning shows and salons, working on new projects and generally just gearing up for what is already turning into an energetic and exciting 2011. I have become increasingly aware over the passing weeks of the world of run riot which I have been somewhat distanced from. No it is simply not true, I haven't forgotten you guys, the wonderful idea of you has been nestling in a warm spot at the back of mind, enjoying the back seat ride, waiting and watching for the right moment to stop me in my tracks!."
Sandy Nairne & the Stolen Turners - Interview for Run Riot
"I caught up with Sandy in the Orange Street offices to talk about everything from his new book Art Theft and the Case of the Stolen Turners which he'll be discussing at Richmond Lit Fest later this month to his work at the National Portrait Gallery, his thoughts on Turner's work to his ideas on Contemporary Portraiture and Self Portrait Artists like Tony Bevan, as well as some of the finer joys in life like making marmalade. Sandy first captured my interest because of the his work at the NPG and his progressive career which has meandered from the Museum of Modern Art in Oxford to the ICA and the TATE via the TV series State of the Art as well as very many publications and a regular participation in the jovial and highly competitive sport of racing punting." Read More...
I Below - Poem
"This heart feels like a humming-fish in the buried chest today,
flapping and groaning and noticeably there,
condensation forms drips down the portals of my subaqueous flat
as emotions prevalant soar and dive, rise and fall
encouraging the mind to gush and glide,
finning it to god knows where,
fluttering up and away from here,
leaving me some place
trapped beneath the depths of a lung full of breath"
It Gave Me the Shitters - Creative Writing for Run Riot
"Today is where I find myself having left yesterday behind a while back. Tomorrow is cause for hope I like to think, lurking out of sight as some kind of invisible memorial to future potential. There's definitely something about past, present and future that holds significance I’m sure of it, there's definitely something to be said...
And then there are those weekends, whole weekends dedicated to day dreams of dozing, sleep walking through the hours with disinvolved participation, finally heading to bed only to find yourself muttering and riving wakelessly through visions of lack of it." Read More...
The Haircut Before the Party - Review for Run Riot
"Lewis and Richard, the two friendly faces behind The Haircut Before the party or THCBTP, have set up a radical hair salon just behind London's busy Commercial Street. It's radical because the haircuts are free. It's both an interesting and a very welcome concept at a time when you expect to pay through your teeth for most things in life: the offer of a service without the expectation of handing over a sum of money in return. But these boys aren't doing it for the kicks, they have a point to prove about the nature of exchange." Read More...