I am delighted to be one of the artists to receive a bursary from a-n to support research activities in 2019. Since graduating from Plymouth College of Art BA (Hons) Fine Art in 2016 I have been making work in Plymouth and across the UK. My work is influenced by the ordinary experiences that connect us all – I find magic in the mundane, inviting people to interact and experience their familiar surroundings differently.

Last year I developed Cleaning in Progress, my largest project to date. Supported by the generous mentoring scheme ‘Plymouth Platform’, I was able to secure funding from Arts Council England and Plymouth City Council to take the performance to a new level. I employed performers to work with me and to engage with the public in an exciting and hilarious performance where we gave out domestic cleaning products and proceeded to ‘clean’ Plymouth City Centre.

This took place during Plymouth Art Weekender and enjoyed a large and appreciative audience. The light-hearted and playful performance gave way to some profound moments of mindfulness and intense ‘noticing’, where people felt able to express their thoughts, to connect with one another and their surroundings.

‘Playfulness’

Through this experience I noticed a thread within my work that I hadn’t yet fully explored, and that is the power of playfulness; playfulness in the creation of the work and also in how it draws people in and offers them a more magical and transformative experience.

My practice works best when unexpected things come up. The most interesting experiences have been encounters with ‘ordinary’ people and passers-by who have interpreted my work in a way I had never considered. As my practice has grown I’ve learned to embrace these moments and go with them.  This approach has taken me down completely unexplored avenues many times now.

The Research Trips

The a-n Artist Bursary will fund two research trips into the idea of Playfulness. The first trip will be a weekend trip to London. I’ll be starting my journey in the V&A Museum of Childhood before going on to explore some playgrounds in the area I’ll be staying.

The second trip will be to Manchester. I will be visiting an exhibition entitled ‘Play’ at AIR Gallery, Altrincham and networking with some of the artists in the show. I’ll work closely with artist Alan Baker who runs the space who has agreed to be my host, taking me to various playgrounds in the area and connecting me with other relevant artists.

In this experiment, there is no solid plan for how I will approach my exploration; all the options will remain on the table. I may respond with creative writing, drawing, performance… I may find myself unable to respond at all. Part of this experience is about learning to trust my intuition when it comes to researching these themes and about truly connecting with what I feel and just allowing what happens to happen.

Of course, I will have a photographer with me to capture these moments!

The first research trip to London will be this weekend (17th-19th May).

You can follow my journey on instagram: @elenabrake

www.elenabrake.co.uk

 


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