What creative project are you currently working on?
Currently I am exploring the perception of conspiracy theories and observing how minds can be moulded by the media so that we accept things as fact. I am interested in the new term ‘fake news’, but I am also exploring how this has been documented in the past before this term was applied. I am exploring how society has responded to this using found images and song lyrics taken from American culture in the 1960’s and present day.
How does your creative process work?
I am inspired by artwork that encourages storytelling and documents the current world we live in. I am constantly on the lookout for images that I can use in my work. I attended an artist talk with Maurizio Anzeri at Baltic in 2011. He finds vintage photographs at car boot sales and is both saddened and inspired by the fact that these photographs have been abandoned when they may once have meant so much to someone. I love the idea of creating new personas of anonymous people and distorting the perception of the viewer by using thread, collage or text.
What tools or materials could you not live without?
I would be lost without typography! Stamps of various sizes, words cut out of newspapers, stickers and Letraset (which is sadly depleting). If I have a creative block I can always rely on a song lyric, a statement or quote to inspire my creative process.
Where do you search for creative inspiration?
I am privileged to work with a number of creative people in the north-east as part of NEATEN who work in both schools and galleries. They challenge me to alter my teaching and artistic practise depending on the projects I am involved with. For example, I am currently working on a project with Amnesty International where young people document a journey taken by refugees using poetry and photography, encouraging compassion and creativity. Artists and campaigners such as Shepard Fairey (‘I give people work to debate and dream about’) and Bob and Roberta Smith (‘Art is your human right’) exude peaceful yet powerful messages in their work which influence both my artistic and teaching practise. Using these influences in my art lessons in turn gives me creative inspiration. Seeing young people interpret art in ways I had never thought of encourages me to think differently.
What is the best piece of creative advice you have been given?
‘Don’t think about art, get it done’ Andy Warhol
