After working as a lecturer and Professor in history and theory of visual culture, I completed an M.A.Fine Arts (distinction) from University of the Arts London (2013). I also have an M.A. in History of Fine Art and French from Glasgow University, and a Ph.D. in History of Art from Essex University. I now live in London. Public lectures include events at The National Gallery London, The Hayward Gallery, The Peloponnesian Folklore Foundation Athens, The ICA London, and The Museum of Modern Art Bordeaux. My published books deal with issues of “race”, gender, sexuality and the politics of representation.
I often like to work with materials from the past, attempting to suggest through these that we can reflect on, and engage with, the present. By bringing the past into a dialogue or confrontation with the present, new meanings and understandings may emerge.
I use various media in my work, particularly sound and live performance. I also work with still and moving images, written and spoken texts, in order to construct narratives that are not linear, but suggestive, evocative and open to creative interpretation by the viewer and listener. I am interested in myth, history and the many ways in which the historical can collide and interact with the contemporary. Giving voice to, and making visible, people and events which have been ignored or marginalised is important to me, as is the creation of a political artistic practice. Starting from ideas and concepts, questions and politics, I enjoy researching historical and contemporary sources and selecting appropriate media to realise each project.
My voice is an important medium in my practice, whether speaking or singing, and I feel that the seductive quality of voices is often under-appreciated.
There are a number of writings which have informed my practice which I would like to mention here. Steven Connor’s fascinating book Dumbstruck. A Cultural History of Ventriloquism, 2000, Roland Barthes’ famous essay “The Grain of the voice”, from Image-Music-Text, 1977, and the inspiring book on political dissenters by Peter Linebaugh and Marcus Rediker The Many-Headed Hydra. Sailors, Slaves, Commoners, and the Hidden History of the Revolutionary Atlantic, 2000 all give food for thought and encouragement to create.
Yorumlar