www.chinese-arts-centre.org
[JUNE RESIDENCY]
My residency was split into two parts. In June 2006 I started to make and develop the Sock Bunnies project. 20 bunnies were made that took on average 2-4 hours each, depending on the type of sock (for some materials where much harder to work with). If you would like to see the technique I used you can see a set of [INSTRUCTIONS].
The act of repetition is a common method throughout my practice. I feel by repenting something it starts to lose it’s original meaning taking me into another state of focus, not unlike meditation, which I can fully immerse myself in the themes of my work. In this project with ever stitch I focused on how I felt about being fostered, adopted and the project without the stress of everyday thoughts getting in the way.
The idea for the Sock Bunnies project was based on a short project I started in 2004, in which I photographed the original sock bunny given to me by my foster family on a flatbed scanner. The old project only had a series of 3 images. In the June residency I re-shot and expand the amount of images to 16 with a higher resolution.
The June residency also was great opportunity to start thinking about other projects and how I could take the bunny project further. The deployment of this site began ready for the residency in September.
[SEPTEMBER RESIDENCY]
Between the time from the June June residency and the September one i was developing the website and giving the project more depth and structure. It was also when i started to contact adoption organizations and people who might be connected to adoption.
Unlike the June residency, the studio was used as a safe environment in which to meet and talk with people about the project and adoption. I wanted to keep the space as open as possible for the nature of the work, I as the artist felt I needed a greater personal connection with the viewers and bunny adopters of my work. I was lucky to meet up with some wonder people that i hope to keep in touch with.
What i was vastly surprised by was how adoption touched so many peoples lives, more than i have imaged. I also wasn't certain how many sock bunnies would get adopted, but I'm glad to say they all have been adopted. You can see the progress of the adopted sock bunnies in the [BUNNEIS] section.
In parallel to my sock bunnies I worked on a few ideas for some video pieces. I complete one in my time on the residency. You can see a link of the video [HERE].
The time on this residency has been pivotal in my practice and really felt it has allowed me to push myself a take a few risks.
|
