Inside/Outside

i/o INSIDE OUTSIDE

ISSUE 1 JUNE 2020

A MESSAGE FROM THE EDITOR ALICE JOHNSON Evoking a sense of joy, humour and nostalgia is central in my work. I do this through the playful use of colour, shape and form; aiming to tell a story in the pieces I make. The relationship between different materials and the translation of two to three dimensions is an integral part of my practice: the evolution of a drawing transforming into life to become something real is key, transitioning from something liminal to physical.

I am often intrigued by our relationships with objects and the versatility of coexisting materials in a ‘domestic collage’. Objects are the props of our existence in the theatrical interior scenes we inhabit. While exploring the material landscape of the domestic and how the roles of the functional and the sculptural play within this, I look at our modern and primal rituals within the private yet digitised domestic space. I intend to create work that embodies this by abstracting the familiar and functional and turning it into something sculptural.

in this issue In this issue, the overall theme of modern rituals and domestic materiality comes through, while going on an exploration where drawings come to life. How Polyfilla is the material of the moment and domestic totems are the must have of the season!

2D TO 3D

‘flatpack totem’

The 3D work needs the 2D work to support it and vice versa, there is a harmony between them, creating a theatrical discourse, where a flat image, once cut out and stood up gains personality and depth. The transition from two dimension to three is something I wanted to explore with the “material of the moment”: Polyfilla.

It’s almost a hybrid of clay and plaster to work with, smooth yet sticky and dries hard on your fingers but joyful to work with. The indexical nature of ceramics can be replicated, yet unlike clay, you can smooth Polyfilla onto a wooden board to create a three dimensional texture on a two dimensional plane, pushing the boundaries of when the flat springs up from its canvas.

rituals to totems

Yes, ceramics is one of the core material surrounding us in the domestic realm – we eat off it, we wash our hands in it, we drink our tea from it; but there is a poignancy to using materials that are a biproduct of our lives. These include materials such as newspaper, foil, cardboard, etc; and those that are for the house’s infrastructure: Polyfilla, tape, paint samples; completely every day and completely mundane. I set out to transform the mundane to the marvellous: to celebrate the everyday rituals in a time when we are so aware and at one with them. These totems set out to embody this.

Original Image Source - The Peanut Vendor, Vuokko Nurmesniemi’s home

public to private

The home, in most cases, is a place we aim to forget the outside world. Yet, today more than ever, screen time is up and the metaphorical outside is coming in through the digital “pipes”, while physically we are not allowed out. Sinks, toilets, taps – acting as portals of basic human activities to the outside world.

The performance aspect that I have referred to in my research now has new connotations, the washing of hands has a whole new meaning; the totemic nature of a toilet roll stack – will now have an entirely different connotation representing something global and outside. Are we now nostalgic for a toilet roll just being a humble toilet roll? The symbol of a time of change? Who would have thought?!

Original Image Source - Studio Giancarlo Valle

Original Image Source - HAY Magazine

With the present issues, this relationship with the domestic and the objects we live alongside will become more personal and poignant than ever. We will develop new rituals that we have never experienced before, as the home becomes more of a catalyst between the interior and exterior realms. I have created work that embodies these new domestic rituals through the tactility of sculpture - modern totems for modern rituals.

‘No Doubt’, Motivational Totem

‘What we call the beginning is often the end And to make an end is to make a beginning The end is where we start from.’

T.S.Eliot

contact Instagram - @studioalicejohnson Website - studioalicejohnson.com Email - studioalicejohnson@gmail.com