I live in a hologram with you

Preparations have been underway for my exhibition... which I put up on Monday at Free Space Gallery in Kentish Town. I think it looks neat. You should come check it out. The private view is next Wednesday (11th) 6:30-9pm, drinkies for all. the show explores ideas of 'safe spaces', talismans and the power of human fantasy in relation to emotional well-being.

There are some finished pieces, and also some works in progress which I will finish during one of the three workshop I am hosting at Free Space over the coming weeks. Check their website and sign up :)

I've also put up my process folder/sketchbook thing, as I think it's interesting always to see how people work, but especially so for this project, because therapeutic aspects of creativity are often more about the process than the result.

Here is a bit of what I've written about it - the rest you can see and read if you come have a glass of wine with me on Wednesday evening at the opening! Or, it's open weekdays 9am-6pm (till 8pm Weds & Thurs).

For the sake of this project, the following definitions are focal points.

Shed: A person’s self-contained space: a safe space.

Talismans: personal spiritual guidance device

Tattoo: Permanent marks imprinted upon a person’s being

Other self-contained safe spaces besides sheds include tents, tree houses, bedrooms and dens of all sorts. The thing these all have in common is that they invite fantasy, dream and adventure. They alleviate real-world issues and offer a space for solace, serenity and imagination.

Due to the nature of my residency here, having close links with the Kentish Town Health Centre and particularly the art therapy and well-being services, I wanted to conduct an appropriate project.

I like to think of art as armour: deflecting wounds and creating a space within that is that person’s hidey-hole.

It is also well known that art is a mode of self-expression, particularly in the form of clothing and self-decoration.

And so it came about that I invented a fantasy character who runs an imaginary tattoo parlour from a shed.

This here piece that I am wearing has become known as the Spirit Shroud and will be part of the workshops.

I took a break in studio time to have a solitary wander through misty Halloween parkland.

And here we have it - or some of it.