When I entered onto the MA Fine Art Digital programme back in 2022, I had no prior formal art training and was anxious to say the least. I considered myself a multi-disciplinary artist, and to a large degree, I still am. My initial post certainly set the tone for what was to come..

Despite any reservations, I was excited by the prospect of deepening my knowledge and understanding, through taking any opportunity that arose and being very much open to new ideas, new mediums and allowing myself the freedom to explore freely and openly.

I knew from the start, that my art practice was very much informed by my background in social sciences, and my desire to raise awareness of class divisions and overall societal discrimination. Whilst considering these issues, I continued to read widely, but with more of an emphasis on artivism and political consciousness through the medium of art.

“I immediately felt drawn to the analogue photography and performance pieces, but also the 3Dimensional work; sculptures, carvings and textiles. What if I could combine my upcoming Musical Icons exhibition, which is much more representational of mental health among artists, with the more abstract work that represents chaos within our lives on a micro level?

The idea of this felt somewhat daunting, but equally exciting and directed me to thinking about the playful aspects to Bloch and particularly Bachelard’s work within the Poetics of Reverie.” October 24, 2022 – A Risk Set in Stone

Looking back over my MA, there has definitely been a common theme of using photography in my practice, as well as sound and film to consistantly record my progress and processes – this has been invaluable.

It was the Warrington trip in November 2022 that I feel really catapulted my journey as an artist. Seeing the demolition site as a representation of the demise of history and heritage, as “incredibly brutalist, but equally beautiful, memories that would come crashing down, along with the building, the community and heritage that had attachments to it. I also found myself interested in it’s components, the materials.” November 5, 2022 – A Different Perspective

I attended several exhibitions, here in the UK as well as abroad, at which point the MA was starting to enable me to see work in a different way, and ask questions I hadn’t considered before, which was truly enlightening. The Slave Trade exhibition for example, was a valuable trip that expanded on my knowledge but also forced me to think more about the connections between the past and our present political and social issues. It was around this point, I became fascinated by materials and started to explore the use of concrete.

“Since being drawn to the demolition site in Warrington, I had been keen to explore the parallels with our fragmented society,” (November 11, 2022 – Exploring Raw Materials) and began working on creating concrete sculptures using lego moulds. This was a completely new medium to me, but one I thoroughly enjoyed. I still have the little concrete blocks and boxes on my windowsill and when I look at them, they remind me of the journey I have undertaken so far, and the important issues I am trying to tackle.

I then started to explore other materials, particularly natural materials and the contrast with man-made materials such as concrete. I explored needle felting using Herdwick wool I purchased from Grasmere on one of my hikes, and used the opportunity to create functional items that I submitted to Not Just a Shop at Christmas. (December 2, 2022 – Functional Fibres). On reflection, I really feel like this was a turning point of starting to see the connection between my art practice and the outdoors, although I didn’t know it yet..

As the new year approached, I became evermore fascinated by materials, and took every opportunity I could to take photos and films. I had started to see things around me in a different way – apartment blocks would conjure thoughts of Minerva Reynolds, Little Boxes, gas pipes would make me think of lifespans. This was the point I started to consider a body of work, based on these photographic recordings, called Hear Me Raw. I very much wanted this to be community based and allow people to share their stories. The Gregson community arts centre, seemed like an apt place to start, so I was fortunate enough to hold an exhibition there of my work. (January 8, 2023 – RUINS [through a 35mm lens]).

As the interim show approached, I was certain I wanted to continue the use of raw materials, make a concrete pyramid and reflecting this with a wool pyramid. “I loved the idea of the wool pyramid floating above the concrete; reflecting one another in opposing ways.” I then set up a home studio to photograph and film the installation, before creating a film to be shown in Trinity Buoy Wharf. Whilst this was decided out of practicality and logistics, it made me realise the different ways I can use my artwork to exhibit – allowing for different places and spaces, by utilising image, audio and film as well as the physical body of work itself. (March 8, 2023 – Interim Show Prep & Shoot).

My more recent body of work has made me reconsider the use of concrete to create a plinth for soil samples, something Jonathan and I discussed in my tutorial. This is certainly something I would like to explore as this body of work evolves, for future exhibitions.

After taking a year out, it was my second year where my art practice seemed to develop more cohesively. The discussions around Grotto inspired me to use the opportunity to explore cyanotypes. This was a medium in photography and printmaking I hadn’t used before, but I felt very drawn to the process and the very tangible experience. After successfully creating a double exposure cyanotype print for Grotto, which was also featured by Not Just A Shop, I remained curious about this medium and how I could use it in my art practice.

Initially, I feel it was a general exploration, but soon became a large part of my practice for the remainder of the year. As I researched and learned more about the different chemical uses and toning techniques, as well as the use of my outdoor photography, the more I started to see the connections between this medium and my love of the mountains.

In sociology previously, I was very interested in the Romantic period and the work of Wordsworth, Taylor-Coleridge and Blake. I have always been fascinated by the Lake District and its connection with the Arts and Politics. To be able to use cyanotypes to represent my journey, literally and metaphorically seemed like the ideal partnership.

I continued to experiment with different processes, as well as research and developed my learning through constant experimentation and research into the use of various chemicals for processing and developing. These have been frustrating times, but also very enlightening and interesting results. As this progressed, I began to critically reflect and ask different questions about my art practice, where I was going with it, what is was about and why I was doing it. Whilst it was useful to delve deeper into my practice with this line of enquiry, I felt much clearer about the journey I found myself on.

I was able to see correlations with my work and synthesise my process. This, I feel helped me on both a professional and personal level. From this, I became very clear about what I hoped to achieve with my final show, but also thinking ahead and alternative ways to use materials as representation, whilst remaining focused. My time was divided between continued exploration, preparation for the final show but also thinking ahead with a constructive plan for future practice, having already secured a month long solo exhibition of my cyanotype work in Lancaster in October.

My plan at this stage is to develop my teaching career in Art, whilst also continuing to practice my art, further developing my current body of work and looking at other spaces and opportunities to exhibit my work. In recent weeks I have been fortunate enough to secure a teaching placement at a local secondary school, and have a firm offer at Cumbria University to pursue my PGCE with QTS from September. I am very much looking forward to undertaking my teacher training after what feels like a very long time working in education already. I would however, like to experience teaching art within FE as well as secondary.

It is important to me that I continue my practice whilst teaching, and I certainly feel that I now have much more confidence in pursuing this independently. I feel strongly that my first year laid the foundations of my overall art practice through copious amounts of playfulness and exploration, whilst my second year became a systematic enhancement and successful progression, drawing from my prior work. My second year definitely felt like everything came together and I was able to see the connections with my work and overall social purpose, whereas the first year felt somewhat fragmented and unclear.

What I am also keen to do following the final show, is to create a paper to coincide with my body of work which I can potentially submit to journals along with images of my work. My initial thoughts would be developing my body of work around cyanotypes, whilst also researching the impact of social divides. This unit has also left me with many questions I would like to follow up with further independent research, such as, the correlation between individual aspirations and exposure to the outdoors. We know there are many benefits to being out in nature, but very little research has been carried out on how this exposure affects our values, self-beliefs, esteem and aspirations.

Of course, I would also love to explore other toning techniques and materials, such as using tree bark, developing and exhibiting more of my work out in nature. I would like the exhibition I have scheduled in Autumn to be much more organic and less structured in terms of its display – similarly to the way I anticipate my final show to look. The space in Lancaster has logistical limitations but preparation for my interim show, Grotto and the final show has been invaluable in providing the necessary skills to plan my own exhibition space, which I am very thankful for.

In conclusion, as I come to the end of my MA, I am left to navigate the remainder of my artistic journey alone, yet with a key set of tools that leave me feeling wholesome, with a greater sense of purpose, excited to continue my journey of discovery and exploration.