Gage Gallery Exhibition

Gage Gallery

Left: Hanging detail, Right: Final Hanging of 'EBOV VP40'

Exhibition set up

Exhibition Opening Night

My Experience of Gage Gallery 

Overall I think my final outcome at Gage Gallery was fairly successful given the time scale we had. My final piece EBOV VP40 was a continuation of my current practice. Having the opportunity to present my work in a gallery space really challenged me and enabled me to think about the real world application of the work I produce in my practice. 

During my time at Gage Gallery we faced a few challenges in both the organisation of the exhibition itself and personally with the presentation of my work. Workings part of a group held its own challenges with communication and working out how everyones work will both fit together in the space, generating conversation between the work whilst also creating an exhibition that flows and makes sense for the visiting audience. We also faced challenges with publicity of the opening event. 

When first putting up my work in the gallery I had concerns over the size of my work and whether it would work and whether it would have enough of a presence against the other work featured in the gallery. After talking to visiting tutors I would have liked to have developed my work more but unfortunately due to workshop availability and time I was restricted to what I could do, although I feel adding the curtain to the work both enlarged it and gave my work more of a presence whilst also adding another dimension to my piece, creating a stronger connection to the medical connotations of my subject. 

Looking back at my time at Gage Gallery, if I were to exhibit my work again in a similar situation I would try and be more prepared to handle the challenges the space presents. For example; visiting the space earlier so I can get a better idea for placement of my work, booking in workshop time early to tackle such problems and enable me to experiment more with ideas and make sure that publicity and advertising of the event isn't side lined in order to ensure a successful opening event. 

I am pleased with the outcome for the exhibition as a whole and believe it has been a very valuable experience in preparation for future shows that occur. 

Crit Feedback

Having presented the work shown above in crit, I have been given a lot of useful feedback and some really interesting ideas to try.

- Printing on to physical ward curtains or plastic sheeting in order to provide a more direct link.
- My crit group liked the idea of the tracing paper, describing the Ebola cases as ephemeral although they also raised an interesting point that the ephemerality of the disease is more apparent in the cases of William Pooley and Pauline Cafferekey, however, it seemed to have more of a lasting effect on the lives of people in Umaru's situation.
- The group also discussed that it may be too obscure and need more information in order to make a clear link to the subject matter within my work.

Using this feedback I am going to look at ways of distinguishing the difference between the people pictured in my work and their constructing circumstances. I would also like to look more directly into portraying the sense of hypercondria I previously spoke about, considering ways in which I could recreate such a sense with no visible threat. I am particularly interested in the idea of using ward curtains or a similar material in order to reinforce connotations.

Sketchbook Portraits...

Pen Drawings of William Pooley, Umaru and Pauline Cafferkey

Scientific Illustration of the Ebola Virion

Sketchbook Development

Following on from from my research into Ebola cases in the UK and Freetown, Sierra Leone I have continued to draw portraits of each person affected by the Ebola Virus. Above I have experimented using paint and tracing paper in order to show the temporary effect of Ebola.

Illustrations of the Ebola Virion, Pencil Drawn (Right) and Screen Printed (Left) 

Using the scientific illustration of the Ebola Virion, I have used tracing paper in order to overlay the image of the portraits of each of the Ebola victims. I have decided to use the tracing paper to reflect the layers found in the specialist care units. I feel that the tracing paper also reflects the how people view those who have contracted the virus, blurring the identity of the person behind the label. 

I feel that this piece works fairly successfully to convey what I am trying to say within my work, however, I would like to develop this idea further to show the difference in treatment towards each person after being both confirmed Ebola positive and post treatment, for example, the isolation by groups of people of some victims such as Umaru. I will be taking this piece to show in Crit in order to gain a wider perspective and se whether my message is as clear as I'd hope it to be. 

Art & Science: Research Progression

Ebola: Alive Again

Following on from my last post I have found a fascination in the way that people react to human condition. I was particularly drawn to the following article detailing the account of a young 20-year-old man called Umaru. Having contracted the Ebola Virus Umaru managed to recover from the virus after being admitted to the MSF's Prince of Wales Ebola Management Centre in Freetown.

 What struck me about the article was about the reaction Umaru faced after being diagnosed and even after being cured of the virus. Umaru stated that when first experiencing symptoms of the virus 'everyone was scared. I could not stay in my own home any longer.' He also stated as if it was normal practice that 'Normally people with Ebola get driven from their homes.' and that despite being cured that his 'younger brother was stopped from seeing me by his father.' The comparison between the treatment of Ebola suffers/ survivors in the UK and in Umaru's case intrigued me as to how different cultures cope with human condition and illness. I was reminded of the UK cases of William Pooley, and Pauline Cafferkey whom both contracted the virus while working in Sierra Leone, both of which were admitted into UK hospitals for treatment. 

Reading a further into the case of Pauline Cafferkey I found a profile article of her case on the BBC. The imagery featured in the article struck a chord with me, finding them intimidating and foreboding, the sense danger in the occult. This sense of place and sense of danger is something that I think I would like to try to replicate within my work, making the viewer reflect on the strange hypercondriac , fear like state that we all are so vulnerable to despite the missing presence of a visual threat. 

Still from the video diary Pauline Cafferkey kept during her time in Sierra Leone 

Highly Infectious Disease Specialist Unit Ms Cafferkey was admitted to

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-30684665

Art & Science: Research

Contemporary Art and Medical Regimes: Curating Anatomica 

Looking in to the subject of art and science I have decided to begin by looking at how other contemporary artists have approached such a topic. Curated by Cindy Stelmackowich the exhibition brings together a mixed collection of medical artefacts alongside contemporary art. This curatorial decision by Stelmackowich aimed to start "new conversations about biomedical imagery and artefacts" highlighting "the unmistakable interconnection between Western medicine, the histories of aesthetics, and the cultural representation of human anatomy."  

Lisa Nillson - Thorax
Mulberry Paper, 21.5 x 12.5 x 1.5 inches, 2011

Stelmackowich states 'in most instances, the artist exploits the
physical nature of their materials and places importance on uniquely crafted presentations that simultaneously echo and unhinge the dominant (and somewhat sterile) scientific representation of the human body." The materials and techies used by the various artists in the exhibition range from textiles to paper craft, capturing the intricate and delicate nature of the human body reflecting its inner complexity. 

Looking at the work featured in this article, I have began to become interested in the way that people view and interact with the body. I like how in this exhibition artists such as Lyn Carter and Lisa Nillson have explored the inner parts of the body, Carter with her textile organ constructions and Nillson with her carefully crafted ribbons of paper laid out to represent to MRI-cross sections. I'm interested in the way that their choice of materials has transformed a raw part of the body, of which physical form its physical form people would usually turn away from, into something approachable and interesting, emphasising their complexity through recreation. 

See original article below: 

https://impactethics.ca/2015/02/19/reading-medical-artifacts-contemporary-art-and-medical-regimes-curating-anatomica/