I’m an artist and photographer with a specialist interest in video and sound. I capture and edit footage to make videos and installations. During the editing process, I manipulate much of the footage by adjusting the speed and time in which the footage runs, removing and keying colours, changing image levels, layering footage and data moshing. I use specialised plug-in software and extensions to glitch my work. On occasion, I create soundtracks which are largely experimental in nature. If I have the opportunity, I construct immersive environments for people to experience my videos in by installing projectors, 5.1 surround sound and sculpture. This allows me to control the focus and attention of the audience with the aim of inducing specific feelings.
The footage primarily focuses on movement in nature, from water, trees and the sky to birds. The best word to describe my work is, ‘otherworldly.’ Often working with familiar subject matter but making it feel unfamiliar. I do not interrupt what I film, and I often avoid people and the man-made world. This allows me to construct something new. I capture my footage digitally using DSLR or Mirrorless Full Frame Cameras and a GoPro to capture footage of water. When working with sound, I mix my own made sounds with found sounds, pure hertz frequencies and planetary sounds from Nasa’s website. I then create binaural beats, sci-fi soundscapes and alien-like environments. I fabricate sculptures to add further dimension to the exhibition space, whilst simultaneously satisfying my artistic need to play with form.
When it comes to the editing process, I tend to play with my elements until something slots together; then I build from there. Using After Effects and Premiere Pro, I edit the footage and compositional arrangement in various ways. If I want sound with the moving image, I will make the video in part and then start making the soundtrack in tandem. However, I treat sound differently when creating an immersive environment. The sounds purpose is to create a soundscape and is probably the most crucial part in evoking feelings from the audience. Therefore it takes precedence over everything else, which is why it is always made first and only slightly edited during the installation process.
Over time I have noticed a pattern with my relationship to my work. In the beginning stages of a project I have an aim to portray a particular feeling, but over time that feeling leaves me, and I continue to put my new feelings into the work. This change in my emotional state is reflected in the work and means that I never create what I intent to at the beginning of a project. I feel inauthentic in trying to force what I do not feel so the work inadvertently ends up becoming a record of my feelings over time. This can be very frustrating but the recognition of this has been liberating. For instance, in the work, “Alienate” I started off the project in a very anxious manner and my intention was to evoke that very feeling from my audience, however, overtime I felt melancholic. I believe that this new feeling reflected in the work. Particularly in the edited video, “Without Moon.”
On the opposing side of nature, a heavy influence of digital technology and panopticism dominates my work. I demonstrate this in the work, “Algorithmic Puppet Show” where I started off looking at action through hands and duplicated them repeatedly until the screen was made up of many hands moving as part of a greater whole. My most recent piece, “Strings Attached” was influenced by the Covid_19 pandemic, which saw people taking a step away from nature towards technology. Relying on computational architecture entirely for all aspects of their lives. Forcing a mass migration to digitalised information. Whilst nature became a prized and timed experience that could only happen once a day for a short period. Many theorists talk about denaturalisation as a final step in capitalism. Marx and Crary being prominent amongst them. These technological steps towards simulation, virtual reality and simulation theory itself are research areas of interest. Much of my research consists of contradictory combinations like science, spirituality, technology, nature, psychology and god.
Longstanding experimental film makers that influence me include; Maya Deren, Stan Brakhage and Guy Sherwin. All of which worked in a unique way with the frame that suggested unseen dimensions, pathways and worlds. Current artists that work in moving image practice, which offer new ways of presenting video and sound include; Susan Philipsz, James Richards, Pipilotti Rist, Philippe Parreno, Vicky Smith, Stephen Cornford and Anthony McCall. Artists that I admire for attempting to mediate their inner worlds include; Louise Bourgeois, Cindy Sherman and Marina Abramovic.
Institute | Subject | Qualification | Result | Year |
---|---|---|---|---|
Institute of Group Analysis | Group Analysis | Diploma Course (Level 7) | Pass | 2024 – 2025 |
Bournemouth, Poole and Dorset ITT | Art, Design and Photography | Qualified Teacher Status | Pass | 2023 – 2024 |
University of Reading | Education (Secondary Art and Design) | Postgraduate Certificate | Distinction | 2023 – 2024 |
Institute of Group Analysis | Group Analysis | Foundation Course (Level 6) | Pass | 2022 – 2023 |
The TEFL Academy | Teaching English as a Foreign Language | Diploma Course | Merit | 2020 – 2021 |
University of Reading | Fine Art | Undergraduate BA Degree | First (Hons) | 2019 – 2020 |
University of the West of England | Art and Visual Culture | DipHE | 2:1 | 2017 – 2019 |
Reading College | Art, Design and Media | Access to HE | Distinction | 2016 – 2017 |
Thames Valley University | Life Drawing | A Level | Merit | 2009 – 2010 |
Thames Valley University | Photography | BTEC National Diploma | Merit/Merit/Pass | 2005 – 2007 |
Reading College | Photography | City and Guilds | Pass | 2001 – 2002 |
Name | Type | Venue | Location | Year |
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Asbestos Streams | Online Exhibition | University of Reading | Reading | June 2020 |
Road Works Ahead | Group Exhibition | University of Reading | Reading | Dec 2019 |
Spike Open Now Closed | Group Exhibition | Spike Island | Bristol | May 2018 |
Going Up | Group Exhibition | Spike Island | Bristol | April 2018 |
From A to B Flat | Group Exhibition | Spike Island | Bristol | April 2018 |
20 Eggs in my Pocket | Group Exhibition | Spike Island | Bristol | Feb 2018 |
Hello my name is | Group Exhibition | Spike Island | Bristol | Dec 2017 |
End | Group Exhibition | Reading College | Reading | May 2017 |
Art Therapies | Group Exhibition | Community Hall | Reading | Sep 2016 |
FMP Photography | Group Exhibition | Reading College | Reading | Sep 2007 |
Competition or Award | Place | Prize | Location | Year |
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GTP Calendar Competition | First Place | Front Page Spread | International | Oct 2009 |
The Berkshire Art Award | First Place | Waterstone Book Vouchers | Reading | May 2000 |
Title | Question | Year | Link |
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Metamorphoses of the Cell | In what way does the mass surveillance of individuals, through Amazon's Ring and Echo products, correlate with Bentham's panopticon? | Feb 2020 | |
The Reflective Practitioner | Evaluate the factors that contribute to effective learning, with a particular focus on groups and/or use of talk, in art and design. | Dec 2023 | |
Investigating Practice - Literature Review |
Can collaborative art and design projects, in secondary art and design, promote affective development and effective peer feedback? | June 2024 | |
Investigating Practice - Final Report |
Can collaborative art and design projects, in secondary art and design, promote affective development and effective peer feedback? | June 2024 | |
Investigating Practice - Supporting Material |
Can collaborative art and design projects, in secondary art and design, promote affective development and effective peer feedback? | June 2024 |