The installation in the gallery looks stunning and the beyond what I had expected it to do. By opening up the 10 meter roll of paper you can see all the tiny marks I have made on it over this last year with islands of pigment and trails of holes, minuscule marks and all over pattern. It looks quite painterly, someone had remarked a bit like a Rothko painting, and I never could have planned what has appeared before me, consciously, knowingly.
It is hard to photograph what the naked eye can see to something through the digital lens and yesterday a professional photograph came to visit me at the gallery to take photographs for my portfolio - results to follow in due course.
I go into the gallery a couple of times a week to carry on piercing the paper and I intend to finish the work right to the very end of the roll during the time of the exhibition. I want to provide creative transparency with what I do for the viewer, by making in public. It is performative, staged, yet real, a visual conversation about what is an artist's studio and what is a gallery; what is private and what can be public, and what I do as one representative of the art world.
I am fascinated by the response of the viewer. Some people are unsure whether they can come into the space or not, and if I am there I deliberately make eye contact and smile, inviting them in silently, and then carry on working. Some come in, some don't; Some ask questions (sometimes loads) and some don't speak at all.
The film I have made with Stephen Hurrel supports the paper work in the room providing context, stimulation and thought to what I do and who I am. It runs with a mixture of sound, visual imagery and silence, and not all at the same time. A couple of people were caught fiddling with the projector because they thought the film wasn't playing properly. I found this quite amusing. My art is quite new for some of the audience.
A gentlemen came in yesterday and said how my work was helping him to think about his work. Not an artist, he was realising as he contemplated my work, the importance of process in his job and not the end result. We are too often a results orientated culture. Later on he came to find me again and said 'I feel relaxed now'. It is a pleasure knowing that I have helped somebody with something in their own world through my art. I question the role of the artist in society and I got one answer yesterday.
I am re - engaging with the work now it is in the gallery space and had quite an intense day with the photographer photographing me. I worked and he clicked away. He could tell when I was getting tired as the rhythmic sound of my piercing faltered. I am looking forward to Stephen, the film maker, coming back and studying this further. Not only have we made a film to show during the exhibition, Stephen is creating another film that documents the whole process from start to finish, a recording of the whole project. We are at the third stage of this piece - the gallery.
I am trying not to indulge in too much other artwork at the moment, wanting to concentrate on this show as my priority. Rebecca Gordon, who has written an essay to accompany the show, has described my practice perfectly and helped me to understand with more clarity what I do. There are some new threads forming, creative thoughts on what I should do next and I look forward to taking further what she has written.
The show is still young and it will interesting to see how the next few weeks develop, with more responses from the viewer, the completion of the film and the continuation and finishing of the artwork within the gallery space. A lot could still happen.
Photographer: Shannon Tofts