On February 17th we held our 52nd artist peer group at the Free Space Project in Camden. This month we had two artists — Claire Callow and Caroline Jones — presenting their works with feedback from the group.
Claire Callow shared works-in-progress for her upcoming group exhibition Fairytales and Other Stories (opening 17th March at Menier Gallery, London). Claire wanted initial feedback and responses to the aesthetic choices she’s made, as well as comments on her research on anthropology and fairytales. We talked quite a bit about the aesthetics of the fairytale, particularly the saccharine nature of Disney’s aesthetic and the extreme gender roles presented in many of those stories. What might diversity look like with contemporary interpretations of the fairytale stories? What contemporary archetypes could be princesses (i.e disabled princesses, older princesses etc).
References:
Artist: Rachel Maclean
Book: Women Who Run With the Wolves
Book: The Uses of Enchantment: The Meaning and Importance of Fairy Tales
Caroline Jones shared work from her project Headcase about her experience of living with cancer. Caroline invited 12 artists to collaborate with her, using your head as the starting point for conceptualising experiences. The work has been shown previous in Cardiff and Caroline had questions about where it could go next, particularly around exhibiting but also using the work as a catalyst for a socially engaged creative programme.
The group talked about potentially partnering with an organisation to deliver a series of workshops for people affected by cancer, focusing on conceptualising what happens in the mind when undergoing cancer treatment. Caroline mentioned that the work was less about the body and more about how the mind processes all of this information. There was also a suggestion of speaking about this work at medical conferences such as through the Royal College of Nursing or Royal College of Physicians, as a way to highlight the patient experience.
References:
Artist: Tim Andrews — Over the Hill
Artist: Phil Levine — Headism
Artist: Meri Lahti — Costumotions
Artist: Claire Collison
Opportunity: Wellcome Collection’s Reading Room events
Venues: Royal Marsden
Charities: Maggies, Macmillan, Look Good Feel Better
