seasoned greetings!

so you might have seen this image around and about recently. it's definitely in every supermarket in the land (and beyond) and i have it on good authority if you're on the london underground the posters are everywhere! 

i mentioned in an earlier post, #ldf'11 part one that cariboo was spotted by 'someone' during the exhibition in tent, part of the london design festival. the spotter was sarah tildesley, food stylist for none other than jamie oliver who asked to borrow them for the magazine shoot. after falling a little bit in love with them they decided to feature cariboo in the christmas show too. there is a lovely interview by georgia levy currently on the jamie magazine blog. jamie does look good in my pink neon antlers, but then i think everyone does!

jamie's christmas with bells on  

episode 1: wednesday 14th december 2011

9pm on channel 4

episode 2: tuesday 20th december 2011

9pm on channel 4

for information regarding prices and shipping of cariboo or any of my work, please contact me through my website.

wishing you a very merry christmas!

neon + vinyl

one of the highlights of the year has been my involvement in the neon + vinyl exhibition, plus art projects' alternative frieze show in october. curated by kerry ryan (neonist), declan mcmullan (artist) and jessica temple the exhibition showcased a wide range of creative talent working with media traditionally associated with street level advertising and industrial processes. it was incredible to have my work shown alongside new works by tracey emin, sarah lucas, gavin turk and franko b amongst others.

and of course the frieze week party was uber cool, with live music and an impromptu dj-ing spot by gavin turk we were dancing until the wee small hours.

photography: rory gardiner and david thompson

image 1: (left to right) stik - lovers. amanda eliasch - self portrait. sarah blood - object specific.

image 2: (l-r) peter lamb & paul hosking - although rare, they do exist. dingbot mclatchley - centre of the universe. sarah blood - object specific. gavin turk - the observing eye.

image 3: (l-r) john close - allonge. tim bromage - cheshire cat. stik - lovers. sarah blood - object specific

image 4: (l-r) 100% beefcock and the titbusters, morag myerscough - the king
image 5:  the frieze week party

image 6: kerry ryan - warning. 

#ldf '11 part two

the second exhibition at london design week was lux craft at origin. i was very excited to have been one of ten artists who work with light selected from 280 applicants to exhibit at lux craft.

the piece i created for the exhibition was an extension of light matter an installation i made earlier in the year. admittedly with hind site it may have been a little ambitions given the tight installation schedule, but i've never been one to be content with an easy life. the piece, white on white, was to be two sections of white neon, intersecting 10 suspended porcelain spheres. the two sections loosely entwining as they descend from above as if dancing. setting my goals just higher than i should usually serves me well (if you don't count the sleepless nights) but on this occasion the combination of ambitious new work, complicated hanging system, rushed install all amounted to breaking one of the sections of the piece.

these things happen. when you work with a fragile material such as glass and neon, you have to develop a pragmatic approach to breakages... and make plenty of spares. on this occasion though, i could have done with spares for my spares.

through my work i am interested in combining the seemingly fragile with the seemingly robust to question the definition of strength and permanence. it can sometimes walk a fine line between working and not. it's great when it does work, but when it doesn't you just have to learn from it and keep going. white on white was certainly a steep learning curve and i think i've just about ironed out the glitches, so that next time it's perfect.

#ldf '11 part one

to whoever, forever 2011

cariboo! 2009

duck! 2009

sharkbait wallpaper by kate usher

designed and made stand at tent_london 2011

london design festival was exciting and inspiring this year. installing new work in two different venues on the same day was certainly er...... educational! but with the help of my glamourous assistant, we managed to get everything installed in 12 hours straight and with only one hiccup.

at tent the designed and made stand looked great and everyone's products looked good on the stand. i was really pleased with my new piece for whoever, forever (top image) and kate usher's sharkbait wallpaper was the perfect background for my green neon duck! i also showed my pink neon antlers, cariboo. they featured on the design event stand at 100% design futures last year, where they were spotted by a designer at jack wills, and are now adorning a number of newly refurbished stores throughout the uk and hong kong. this year, they were spotted by someone else....... but more on that in another post.

london design festival 2011

the past few weeks (months) have been a blur of activity, take out food and not enough sleep, but i'm very exited to be launching two different bodies of work in two venues this year.

at tent london i will be exhibiting on the designed & made stand h09/h15 where i'll be showing a new wall based piece influenced by old sailor tattoos, the most recent addition to my production range, want it!

i'll also be installing a site specific neon and porcelain sculpture as part of lux craft at origin. inspired by lux: the measure of the intensity of light that hits or passes through a surface, as perceived by the human eye, the piece also draws inspiration from elements, compounds and molecular structure.

images of new work to follow shortly.... but in the mean time, come to the festival and say hello.

light fantastic

earlier this week, i installed four pieces of work for light fantastic, the new exhibition at broadfield house glass museum. other artists exhibiting are keith brocklehurst, richard wheater, sharon foley and tracey emin.

if you're in the stourbridge area between now and the 19th of february 2012, you should check it out. you won't be sorry!

light matter

light matter is the most recent commission for creative cohesion studios, in the regenerated sunnyside area of sunderland.
the sculpture was made from white argon filled tubes, handmade porcelain globes, with a single streak of red neon. it takes inspiration from the molecular structure of carbon, the element that unites all living things in the known universe.

the video documenting the installation of the piece was produced by mynamesdan and comprises of 1739 individual photographs at two frames a piece. photographs were taken during and leading up to the installation and include some making processes and a tractor, that somehow found it's way into the river tyne just outside my studio.

to see the light matter video, click here.

while light matter is a permanent installation, this week is the last chance to see banish the blues. the exhibition features my new and recent neon and mixed media works, alongside comic book art by p.r.e.s.s. and runs until saturday 26th of feb at creative cohesion.