Peripheral ARTeries
Olivia Punnett
Olivia Punnett (United Kingdom) an artist’s statement
“The dialectic between place and change are central concerns within my practice. I make installations and interventions that reflect this. In these spaces I arrange found and made materials and objects, whilst utilizing the sites existing architecture. Materials to date have included dust; old wood, formica, light boxes and other found materials, in aged and sun bleached colours. Light is also an important catalyst, recording dust motes in a stream of light, or the trajectory of light flowing through windows. Alongside and within the installations I use photography, projection and printmaking. “When building these installations it’s the locations sense of place, the evoked memories, real or fictional that continually inspire. “I am compelled by traces of memory that places can hold (for example the underside of a staircase no longer existing inside a cupboard); The relationship between object and function, continually changing and reforming, leaving traces that are no longer needed, small remnants of the past that create a strange poetry. I attempt to avoid the sweetness of nostalgia, through the materials and methods I use; But recognise evocative places are loaded with residues of longing, melancholy and romance and it is these yearnings my work tries in part to capture and communicate. “I graduated from Derby in 2011, having spent two years at Falmouth College of Arts before travelling and having children. Currently I have a studio in Sheffield as part of the Yorkshire Art space Starter Studio Program. Its emphasis is on Engaged Practice, which sees me happily connected to the community of Parson Cross. This place, its history, people, and present identity are currently the starting points for new work, whilst I continue to make installation, projections, and experiment with different locations and the narratives they inspire.
Dust and Light, Installation
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