OPEN CALL: 2021

  • OPEN CALL EXHIBITION 2021, She Curates x WILDER Gallery x Clovermill Artist Residency

    OPEN CALL EXHIBITION 2021

    She Curates x WILDER Gallery x Clovermill Artist Residency

    She Curates, Clovermill Artist Residency and Wilder Gallery were delighted to present an eight-artist exhibition, featuring selected artists from their collaborative international Open Call.

  • TELL ME, WHAT 3 WORDS WOULD YOU USE TO DESCRIBE YOUR ARTWORK?

     

    Selby: Soft, Comforting, longing 

    Zayne: Yearning, being, mourning.

    Lee: Immature, naive, fake 

     

    PLEASE TELL ME ABOUT YOUR JOURNEY TO BECOME THE ARTIST YOU ARE NOW? HOW HAVE THE LAST FEW YEARS IMPACTED YOUR PRACTICE (OR NOT!)

     

    Selby:

    I’ve always known it’s what I wanted to do from a young age, it’s the only thing I really enjoyed. Textiles came into my practice in 2018 whilst on my final year at CSM, My mums a textiles artist so it’s something which has always been prominent in my childhood and life. The last few years have been very mixed with highs and lows, it’s hard getting the balance in life right and figuring out all aspects of being an artist. As difficult as the past two years have been, the lockdowns were actually very helpful for my practice, I think it gave me breathing time and allowed me to slow down and think more about my work and what it means to me.

     

    Zayne:

    I remember being five and spending hours on the living room floor trying to figure out how to draw a five point star. Once I started I couldn’t stop - literally! 

     

    I love thinking back to when I was a child. I was that child who was told off in school for drawing in my notebooks and exam papers, for drawing instead of listening in class, for drawing all over my arms and legs, and my friends’ arms and legs. It makes me happy to know that I never lost sight of that very primal instinct to draw, to express. 

     

    The last few years have definitely shifted my perspective - I viscerally feel the natural world influence my work so much more, after being deprived from it by isolations and lockdowns. I find that nature writes a lot of poetry and has much to share, and I attempt to translate that into my works. 

     

    Lee:

    I took up painting through lockdown boredom, so been literally a year and a half painting, I'm not an artist really, just trying something out I guess, let's see

     

     
    WHAT INSPIRED EACH OF YOU TO ENTER THE OPEN CALL?

     

    Selby: 

    I’ve always been really inspired by your page and how you’ve showcased female artists new and old. As an emerging female artist, it’s really encouraging seeing other great artists on my feed. I’ve also always enjoyed looking at the Instagram page of the Clovermill art residency, it just looks like the most idyllic place to explore  and learn about your practice further. I’ve not done a residency before so I thought I’d apply as I’m curious to see how my work would turn out if I had the opportunity to go! I also thought it was also such a great open call to be able to work with yourself, Michelle, and Jennifer. It’s nice getting to work with others in groups shows and make new connections within a sometimes quite isolating job. 

     

    Lee:

    Jennifer smith is one of my biggest inspirations, as simple as that.

     

     

  • The dynamic showcase was grounded in the collective’s commitment to openness, accessibility, engagement and a true championing of artists. The collaborative project sought to invite a diverse range of artists from around the world to present a selection of works at Wilder Gallery. Two exhibiting artists have been offered the opportunity to take up residence at Clovermill in 2022.

     

    A broad variety of themes ran throughout the curation, from Slater and Hassell’s bold exploration and centring of the female body, the humour of Cameron’s works, and the otherworldliness, mythic and distortion of Qahtani, Chen and Wu’s practice. 

     

    From over 200 applications, this Open Call exhibition demonstrated a snapshot of the exciting talent contemporary working today, crossing mediums, themes and continents. The selection celebrated the range and depth of the collaboration’s collective interests.​

  • Artist Collective Interview

    2021
  • Who or what are your biggest influences, and how do you find them? How do these come out in your work?

     

    Selby:

    Leonora Carrington is a big influence; her literature really inspires me and invites me to think about life and my practice in a more curious way. I’m really inspired by old traditional kiln rugs too; I type it into Ebay and there are some cool ones. I love texture so I can spend hours looking at them online. I also like looking at kitsch pottery on Ebay also. I really like objects and how they make me feel, so Ebay is a great place to snoop around to see some weird things. I think Ebay is probably one of my most used apps! 

     

    For artists I’m really inspired by painters mostly, I’m just in awe of thick paint and bright colours. Some painters I really like currently are, Tal R, Bonnard, Kossof, Hector Hyppolite, Ernst Ludwig Kirchner, Chagall, Dubuffet, Rose Wylie, De Kooning, Faith Ringold, the list goes on and on. I’m interested in lots of different styles of art, I think this is important not only for my own interest but my practice also. I find it inspiring, and I love looking at lots of different types of art and objects. I mostly find artists via Instagram, or I’ve really been enjoying Pinterest recently, as you can make different folders and you can just have all your inspiration in one place and then it also recommends you more similar artists. I really recommend it!

     

    Zayne:

    My influences spread out far and wide. Planet earth - the way nature wears a different hat in every country. The microcosm and macrocosm. Movies I’ve watched, books I’ve read. Conversations I’ve had. The relationships in my life, past and present. My experiences - both the good and the bad, the ones I write down and the ones I wish to forget, coming together in a sort of euphoric sadness, or bittersweet nostalgia.

     

    Lee:

    My life.

  • Tell us a bit about your work in the exhibition? 
  • Selby: All my work starts from writing which I hint with using snippets for the titles of each piece. I...

    Selby:

    All my work starts from writing which I hint with using snippets for the titles of each piece. I do like to keep the writings and context of the pieces slightly private. I keep the writing side to my practice as process as I’m very shy about my writing and I don’t feel like it’s always relevant for people to see. 

     

    Most of my work is inspired by the domestic space or ideas of home and my piece ‘Layed heavy wrapped in limbs’ was highlighting this inadequacy I felt at the time. I felt like it was difficult being in my body and the bed almost became thisanthropomorphic constant hug for me. I’m really inspired by furniture and objects and how they can make you feel, it’s especially interesting with beds and how you feel in one can change so drastically, it’s a place to cry, a place to relax, a place of joy, and when you can’t sleep it can be a place of frustration. I like how it’s probably the only piece of furniture which has seen you in all ways. This bed piece inspired the series of work I’m currently in the process of so that’s exciting too! 

  • Zayne: The works showing at Wilder Gallery were made during the summer of 2021, where I spent six months in...

    Zayne:

    The works showing at Wilder Gallery were made during the summer of 2021, where I spent six months in a self imposed residency of sorts in the english countryside. I needed to get away and just submerge myself completely in my practice. It really pushed me - to be mostly alone, surrounded by nature. I felt more comfortable exploring the vulnerable, spongy areas of my psyche - dealing with the concepts of touch, humanity, mortality, grief, and our connection to nature and one another. These works are some of the cathartic results of that experience. 

  • Lee: The work in the exhibition is a kids ride in Kaufland Berlin, I just painted it.

    Lee:

    The work in the exhibition is a kids ride in Kaufland Berlin, I just painted it.