FMP Analysis

Overall I feel glad of my FMP workings and final pieces.

My project efforts were split into two main exhibitions, the FMP internal show and the Jelly and Lace exhibition at Nottingham castle.

I laid out various ideas for pieces for my internal show in my early stage planning and proposal. I documented this heavily through my blog, discussing my activity as well as my reflections and realizations. 

My initial ideas were developed and refined considerately through experimentation during my studio practice. This included ceramics, screen-printing, digital art, found object assemblage, photography, textiles, mixed media sculpture, woodwork, laser cutting and electronics. I learned a lot through this last project and really pushed beyond my comfort zone in a lot of areas. This is is especially true of the fan mechanisms that I had to develop to power my inflatable sculpture. As as ever, I am deeply grateful to the technicians in the studio for sharing their skill and equipment so generously. I am also very fortunate to have an extremely talented community, a number of whom helped me figure out various technical aspects of the inflatable installation.

Halfway through my project timeline, I chose to focus on a handful of my initial ideas; namely the screen-prints of jelly that were by my castle exhibition studio work, a porcelain sculpture,  a wishbone ice sculpture and a politically motivated textile sculpture. Eventually, this work was reduced even further to just the jelly prints and the textile piece. This process of reduction was influenced by a range of factors; including how the works developed, how my relationship and resonance with them developed, how they became more resolved and also various restrictions such as budget, time and exhibition space. I am still curious about the ideas I did not fully develop and would like to return to them in time.

I conducted a huge amount of research into relevant artists and again, this is broadly evidenced throughout my recent blog posts. It was a generally incredibly helpful and inspiring process to explore what other creatives have done in the same areas and disciplines I was working in, and it underpinned the development of my work. 

All my work for these projects, as is par for my creative course, was heavily concept driven. Every choice made about both final pieces of work was considered in relation to their concept and conversation I was striving for with my audience. I am happy with my application of semiotics, especially in regard to the textile piece. My process working through this is again, clearly evidenced on my blog. One example of this working is the form of the sculpture itself. I initially decided that I would create 5 standalone wacky wavy inflatables. This decision was 2 fold because I felt that they aptly represented the role that late stage capitalism plays in toxic geopolitics and also the vacuous nature and hot air rhetoric visible in many global leaders. But when I created test pieces for this, it didn't work satisfactorily. It looked too ridiculous and distracted from the tone of gravity that I was striving for; in truth, watching the unfolding horrors in the Gaza strip motivated me to strive for a level of sophistication and impact.  After some reflection, I decided to instead create a form that represented the front architecture of the Parthenon in Greece; the historical birthplace of democracy. By turning the piece into a literal monument, it gave the sculpture, and therefore my concept, much more presence and power. And it tied in my better with my choice to employ Ton Benn's "Questions to ask the powerful" which are a tool for assessing the democratic value of a society and it's leaders. 

The absolute truth is, I poured my heart and soul into these pieces, and rose to meet many not inconsiderable technical challenges, especially with regards to the inflatable. It required an extensive and intricate developmental process with countless hours spent researching, testing, and then making the final piece. It is large in scale at 5m x 3m x 1m; it is by a wide margin the largest sculpture I have ever made. It is the only inflatable piece I have ever made. And it is the most overtly political piece I have ever made. My ambition (and masochism) really paid off because the end result is strong.

I feel like I was consistently responsive to problems that arose throughout this project. An example of this is how I modified the fan mechanisms for my inflatable sculpture to be remotely powered using 12amp batteries, and therefore no longer require any mains power access. This was initially mandated by the exhibition space itself and where the piece was to be located. But it was a more refined choice for the piece overall because it hugely expands the possibilities for it being shown both indoors and outside.

I am not satisfied with a few logistic aspects of my inflatable piece; fundamentally I need easier access to the battery packs so that they can be recharged without the faff of disturbing the closed system seal for the inflatable fabric section. This is something to work on.

The jelly print was included because it was a strong piece and I differentiated it from the castle work with a different composition and pallets choice. I had excellent feedback about this work, mostly based on how cheery it is. This was in stark contrast to my inflatable which was heavily political and I think there is merit in both.

I can say with confidence that I was a strong pary of the team that transformed our studio space into gallery space. I worked hard and in collaboration, with a successful outcome. Some tricky dynamics arose out of this experience and this was very teaching.

At the FMP exhibition, I sold my jelly print and I was offered an installation commission by a director at What's On Nottingham for Nottingham Light Night 2026. Both experiences were hugely validating and empowering. This has also made me think about next steps for that piece, namely including a lighting and or projection element.

The Jelly and Lace exhibition at the castle was a revelation for me, being my first public performance piece.

This piece was paradoxical, both referencing the subversive power of the clown archetype, and also was an attempt to spread joy and play. It yielded breathtakingly authentic connection with the general public, surprisingly so. 

A lot of the mechanisms I employed worked well. The use of a positive neutral image like jelly evoked curiosity and was accessible intergenerationally. The  spectacle of the costumes made me and my fellow clown enticing and our disposition forged strong connection.

I wish I had documented the endeavor more thoroughly, using a field mic and video so that I could make a video piece to capture it. I would like to refine this piece by making it possible for me to do it standalone as well.

I step out of my 2nd year feeling bolder in my artistic voice and more confident in my skill set and studio practice than ever before. Roll on year 3.