Artist: Lyn Bannister

Lyn Bannister

  

Lyn Bannister has always been interested in the complexities of the human psyche and has what may be called and unhealthy interest in the darker and more tragic side of human nature.

“I have a strong belief that things are never as simple as they at first appear. Painting portraits of individuals that I find fascinating and difficult to understand seemed a logical method of addressing these issues in my practice.”

In this series of works Lyn uses the medium of paint and the abstraction and mediation of the image as a metaphor for the layers of the personality. Lyn believes that this dismantles not only the representation of the individual but also the concept of painting itself.

 “I view my work first and foremost as marks and gestures in paint, not as statements passing judgement on any individual, only opening up the possibility of different interpretations and understandings. As paintings the works are not intended to be true likenesses of the individuals, only to trigger some recognition and emotional empathy in the viewer and as such I hope they can be at once visually appealing and challenging. “

Artist: Julia Taylor

Julia Taylor.

“…..the point is to start somewhere.”  

Hand-carved French limestone, Black Mulberry base.

The adventure of the everyday is a constant source of inspiration. The inter-connectedness of all things, through time, materiality and intention is a fascinating concept.

This piece sets out to express that concept through a combination of spirit, emotion and physicality. Using familiar tools and carving techniques, slow working by hand allows Julia  to make an attachment to the material, a connection with the making process and a space for contemplation of the idea.

Julia's work on display at Free for All

Artist: Rachael Gittins

Rachael's work on display at Free for All.

Rachael Gittins

Each of the pieces exhibited here are based on a series of electron microscope images. Rachael was struck by the surrealism of these images, and how opposed this seemed to the cold, scientific way in which they were produced.

The images appeared to be almost like their own worlds, and Rachael wanted to treat them as such; to turn them into landscapes and narratives that run parallel and separate to our own. The images have been subverted and distorted from their original scientific context, firstly by being turned into fictional short stories and then by being made out of select materials.

“These materials are intentionally fake, intended to complement the fictions they were depicting. They are also all hand-made, to remind the audience that, for the time being, they are no longer in reality, they are within the artist’s imagination.”

Rachael believes that we live in an age where this idea of “meaning” is fixated on and obsessed over, where we can no longer find a concrete one in the ways we have before; such as religion or community, and so we have to create our own. Rachael is constantly guided by her imagination, and wants to be filled with as much creativity and fantasy as possible, rather than settle for the bland or the ordinary. Paradoxically though, the processes used to create each piece are intentionally a play on this idea of monotony; they use techniques that involve some level of repetition and routine to create; either through the use of geometric nets or several different versions of the same object..

Rachael was  interested in creating something completely surreal, with little to no grounding in conventional forms or ideas, but doing so using very ordered, clinical techniques, and very traditional, everyday materials; using the ordinary to create the bizarre.

Artist: Rebecca Wild.

Rebecca's work on display at Free for All.

Rebecca Wild

Using the scanner as a microscope, the concept of abstract art is transformed into a clinical inspection of the very makeup of paint, examining the colours and textures invisible to the naked eye. The paint is transformed from medium into subject matter, creating a piece open to the viewer’s imagination of what they think they see.  The works blur the borderline between fine art and digital art, touching on both aspects whilst belonging to neither.

Artist: Inès Elsa Dalal

                                                                 

Inès Elsa Dalal

The spontaneous portraits represent the colour drenched, ambient, fun filled and fast paced nature of Ines Elsa Dalal’s digital work. The photograph exhibited is from a larger series called ‘Sweet Crawl’: an assortment of adventures shot over three years in a variety of locations across the globe. From Berlin to Birmingham, London to Istanbul.

Travel/ documentary photography are Ines’ long term ambition. Ines recently graduated Manchester School of Art and returned to Birmingham to apply for a National Lottery Heritage Grant and pursue a social-documentary-turned-living-history-project on the quintessentially English, utopian garden suburb; Moorpool Estate, Harborne.

Inès work on display at Free For All

Free for Arts Festival

Friday 30th September - Thursday 6th October 2011.

The Free For Arts Festival is a not-for-profit celebration of art and performance. 



http://freeforartsfestival.co.uk/

Free for All (Part I) features the best of this year’s Free for Art Festival’s open submissions. 

The exhibition, which is at Piccadilly Place for the second year running, displays a wide range of exciting work using an array of mediums; from photography and painting, to video installations and sculpture with vibrant performance art during the exhibition’s preview. 

Artists: 

Lyn Bannister, Ann Charlesworth, Ines Elsa Delal, Rachael Gittins, Ben Harding, Katie Hare, Mr. and Mrs. Mill, Julia Taylor, Ela Tezyka, Rebecca Wild, Estelle Woolley, Bryn Lloyd-Evans.

Curator: 

Emily Songhurst.

Preview: 

Friday 30th September 2011, 6pm – 8pm.

Opening hours: 

Saturday 1st October 2011 – Thursday 6th October 2011, 12pm – 4pm daily.