art

Commissioned by Fig/Sam Skinner and funded by Arts Council England. Elder Vernacular is one of two inaugural Fig projects, which has secured a long term base at Elder Stubbs allotments in Oxford. Elder Vernacular is a research project seeking to understand the local landscape immediately surrounding the allotment and will develop an artists palette of materials grounded in the East Oxford landscape.

In progress. A participatory 3D mural for the new cafe space at The Community Works in central Oxford. Following a series of public engagement workshops, and informed by suggestions from local people about how to redesign the building in a sensitive way which made local residents feel welcome. I argued successfully to retain existing murals (pictured) which link to former use as a well-known restaurant, and facilitated a drop-in self portrait workshop. Local community members created self-portraits on wooden panels which will be mounted over the historic murals, adding a new layer of history whilst protecting the former wall surface from destruction.

In partnership with TawFitzwilliam architects, Makespace Oxford and Rawz Campbell, I designed and facilitated a series of community engagement workshops ahead of the redesign and transformation of a derelict building in central Oxford into a new public space. Participants went on a self-guided walking tour of the local area, highlighting their preferences and dislikes in urban spaces to inform the building redesign. Ideas for interior design style were generated through creative sessions generating ideas for materials, colour and pattern.

A set of speculative proposals for alternative design of the traffic filters currently on trial across the UK, which let people through whilst limiting motor through-traffic. The controversial filters, usually in the form of a wooden planter, look visually like they are "blocking" the road despite in fact opening it up for safer, more attractive walking and cycling.
These proposals aim highlight this by re-imagining the filters as sculptural gateways which welcome people in.

Student work by Euana, Federico, Kendal & Martin, Piet Zwart Institute 2020

A series of workshops for masters students in Experimental Publishing & Lens Based Media at Piet Zwart Institute, Willem de Kooning Academie Rotterdam. I designed and deliver these workshops as a guest lecturer at Piet Zwart Institute, which create space for new students to reflect on group dynamics, mental health and approaches to non-hierarchical collaboration. We explore theories of conflict and consent, informed by my work in consent education, and prototype ways of forming healthy group relations to facilitate future collaborative projects between students. Above: images of student work from exercise considering approaches to conflict resolution in visual culture. Students were invited to propose possible solutions to the controversy over whether to keep or remove a notorious statue of colonialist & racist Cecil Rhodes from a University of Oxford college.

This is a public art project I'm creating with Tandem Collective for Oxford's Christmas Light Festival, in partnership with Oxford Playhouse and Arts at the Old Fire Station. The project poses the question, "What would you put in your street, in the space currently taken up by parked cars?" ​ To take part, send a sketch of your ideas to community@oxfordplayhouse.com by 30 October. Share your ideas on social media using #oxLightFest20 or see the Light Festival website for a downloadable template image.

Absent Friends is a public installation project, bringing life-size papier mache people into public spaces in Oxford as the Coronavirus lockdown eases. The figures will be modelled on local people who cannot be there in person due to self-isolating. They will act as placeholders in cafes and other public places, occupying the seats which must be left empty to ensure social distancing.

The Cave of Collective Dreaming & Drawing was an interactive installation shown at the launch event of Makespace Oxford, a new affordable studio and meeting space in Jericho.

CowleyRoad.org is a DIY community archive project created in partnership with Charlie Harvey and Cowley Road Carnival, with funding from the Greening Lambourn Trust.

Open Source Fortune Telling offers 1-to-1 readings, giving insight and guidance on your problems. Your fortune is told using a range of made-up techniques and tools found in junk shops: childrens playing cards, Virgin Mary angel deck, a bag of household objects.