Jane Cordery
Newsletter 3: April to June 2024
April felt a busy month!
Not only was I already engaged in: my own daily art practice, preparing for a residency with Pure Arts (an artist support organisation in SE England), undertaking a course that supports artists in their on-going art practice (to know more see * below) and following a series of zoom sessions with Parker Harris (a London based artist support organisation), when a friend who I sometimes collaborate with (Lorrain Mailer, Ashford, Kent, UK) asked if I would do Artquest London's #30 works/30 days challenge again this year (I did it last year for the first time). Artquest is another organisation there to support artists. We are so lucky to have so much support out there!
Thinking outside the Box:
Artquest's #30works/30 days challenge requires you to make a new artwork every day that (ideally) responds to a set task; you must complete it each day and submit before midnight. While panic sets in on a busy day when you're just heading for bed and remember you haven't yet completed your 'mission impossible' it does make you think outside of the box and, from that instinctual response, new ideas may emerge (as indeed they did!).
Thinking outside the box is critical (not just for artists!) as it is so easy to follow a single line of thought/creativity. Every artist gets 'comfortable' with their making but it is taking a step into the unknown that is the most exciting part of working creatively.
I do truly admire (and envy) those artists that can just continue to make work in a similar format to the last piece and to a certain extent you need to do this in order to see projects through. However, for me, once I conquer the ability to do something I need the challenge of the new - so art challenges help me to think outside the box to provoke my creativity.
So what's new for me currently? A while back I made a sculpture 'Eve' which consisted of eight embroidery hoops over which I worked a finger knitted pattern in eight different tones of red, which flowed out like eight umbilical cords and combined into a 'river' of combined threads. For those interested this emanated from combined thinking about racial inequality and the historical ancestry of 'Mitochondrial Eve' (the most recent common ancestral mother to all living humans and currently thought to be in Africa). The eight different reds broadly related to the eight main different blood groups for the majority of humans.
Working with the embroidery hoops led on to experimenting with different forms I could make out of the bamboo hoops and slowly I have developed a haptic way of working with my hoops and hands, leaving my mind free to wander; these thoughts become one with the forms I am in the process of constructing.
Once I have composed these to a point where I am satisfied, where mind and matter have 'married' together they are then converted to a steel structure. This requires some adjustment; steel rings do not flex like bamboo so there are modifications. Once I am satisfied, they are welded together, each steel ring a composite part of the whole.
I feel I am working at the edge of control; nothing is truly familiar yet nothing is alien either - it is that perfect harmony of hands and brain working until they merge as one form.
I will be exhibiting the first of these forms in a Group Show 'Only Connect' at the Kaleidoscope Gallery in Sevenoaks in Kent in June as part of the FAPD course and at a joint exhibition 'Ever Past, Ever Present' at The Horsebridge in a joint show in July with my friend and art colleague, Mark Garbutt. Please see my Exhibitions page for more information.
As ever, thank you for taking the time to read this. If you would like a personal copy e-mailed to you once a quarter please message me through the contact form on this site or DM me on my Instagram page @janemcordery.
* The Bridge Art School is run by experienced Tutor and Artist Samuel Herbert at the Kaleidoscope Gallery, Kent UK, in partnership with the Sevenoaks Visual Arts Forum (SVAF). The Fine Art Practice Development (FAPD) course accepts applications from artists at all stages of their career. The course is particularly suited to any art and design graduates or artists who have an established practice or exhibiting experience. There are a few places left for the 2024-25 academic year which starts in September. Places are going fast, so contact Sam by email (thebridgeartschool@gmail.com) for more information or to reserve a place if you are interested.