Eagle has landed..
Well the blog has been quiet (or should we say the blogger!) due to an interesting upturn during the residency. The College is about to open the third and final phase of what is called The Eagle Project, a multi million pound, surgical training skills centre of excellence! The beautiful white walls might have lain empty till someone realised that there was an Artist in Residence who had the very subject matter to grace the space!
Suddenly I had the opportunity to think about a preliminary show of some of the work I’ve been doing! So to cut a long story short, images were selected and worked on. The space was analysed and treatments found (did not go for traditional framing). I got to work with two amazing companies who helped me acheive the kind of effects I was after (this included printing directly onto mirror!). Last night the installation went extremely well (what a luxury to get to direct a hanging instead of wielding tape measure and drill oneself!) The new wing opens on Wednesday night so here’s looking forward to hearing some reactions!
Some of the pieces that I am especially pleased with are of historic amputation knives. As mentioned they are printed onto mirror and I took a risk in seeing how my idea might translate to the medium. The printers wondered why one would want to print mostly black ink onto a mirror, but in fact the effect is stunning as the mirror just shows through on hilights which really accentuates the physicality of the blades and invites a unique engagement with the viewer. In this context, surgeons will see themselves reflected within the tools they might wield…
Particular thanks go to: Simon Chaplin, Briony Hudson, John Carr, Johnny Fountain, Lawrence Payne, Jane Dickey and of course Wellcome Arts!
