Stretch was a recent exhibition that I took part in, it was set up by @stretch_stretch_ & was a call out for exhibitors who continue their practice around the constraints of having to work & live. I cant imagine many artists that aren’t doing this but it caught my attention & prompted me to look at how my practice is able to exist around my working life in retail. Along side having a job there are bills that need to be paid & time that needs to be spent de-stressing from a highly demanding customer focused job. Most, if not all of my days off I spend time trying to do something creative for my practice. Whether that is updating my website, sending prints out, applying to call outs, writing or doing research - work has to be done. After reading the call out for STRETCH I realised that making time for my practice is pretty well under control but one constraint or Stretch that I have to deal with is not having a studio. By not having such a space, making & storing work is limited for me which isn’t ideal when the work I make tends to expand into large spaces. So, in order to fit the brief of this show & make the best use of the space I do have it felt appropriate to downsize one of my previous works which consisted of 198 screen printed cardboard boxes that could expand into a sizeable work.

This large printed work was made as part of my 1st year MA assessment in tandem with an exhibition for Art Week Exeter 2017. The work was made from reclaimed boxes that were screen printed on 2 sides with the image of an architectural structural cladding unit. More here. Once folded down & packed away this work was still about 2m high & took up valuable space, SO I decided to spend a week off work in September 19 cutting the images from the boxes & recycling the rest. This vastly cut down the need for storage & allowed a new work to be made.

During my 3rd year of MA I began using a system of making that involved ratchet strapping materials into bundles. While I was downsizing my Brutal Pattern project I carried this idea on by strapping together all of the cut off cardboard. The resulting card forms began to resemble tower blocks. The pre determined dimensions of the card seem to hold similarity to architecture & particularly that of blocks of flats. These strapped stacks have become a symbol of a condensed practice & have reduced this work down from a ‘pop up’ installation to a ‘volume stack’ of printed images.

Once the cut offs had been experimented with & used to make mock ups they were taken to a local recycling centre & I was left with the cut out prints. These became the focus of the application to STRETCH.

Once I was informed that my work was selected the Stretch team arranged for the work to be delivered to Manchester for set up at PS Mirabel. I was informed that my work would be the only non wall based work which was exciting as it would add to the diversity of the show. Unfortunately I was not able to attend the exhibition but was eagerly following it on social media where it was great to discover the other work in the show & make contact with some of the artists.

I am accustomed to being responsible for how my work sits in a space, with my a recent project I relied heavily on collaboration with others in order to create a cohesive exhibition & to build in the space. This was no different. Once my work was in transit the collaboration with the Stretch team began as they interpreted my work in their vision.

The intention of my work has always been adaptability, structure, collapse & pop up, with this theme of STRETCH allowing me to look at my practice in a new way it has been possible to rehash & adapt an older work into something more fitting for my current practice.