Following on from the success of the collaboration between HCA and Out of Nature at the 2015 show, students from Hereford College of Arts are involved again in 2017, with both solo contributors and a group project.
H.C.Assemble A collaboration involving Fine Art and Contemporary Craft Design students from Hereford College of Arts: Frances Alexandra, Sharon Bradford, Karl Clews, Andrea Davis, Timothy Lewis and Johanna Okon Watkins. The title of their group piece is ‘The World Is Too Much With Us’.
Statement
“We have created a site-specific installation in response to the wonderful work undertaken by The Cart Shed Charity. Our assemblage of found and salvaged items references the challenges and anxieties we may experience from day to day, whilst reflecting on how nature could offer us a sense of hope; leading us out of the darkness towards a more positive perspective.”
Frances Alexandra is showing an individual piece (‘Age of Anxiety’) as well as participating in the H.C.Assemble group project. A contemporary artist working in Herefordshire, specialising in metal work and 3D design, Frances is studying for a degree in Contemporary Design Crafts at Hereford College of Arts. In her work she explores the relationships between the materials she uses and her subject matter, which focuses on the challenges of dealing with mental health issues.
“I was particularly interested in anxiety and stress and how it affects individuals and how it can be expressed in the stresses and pressures within materials and structures,” she says. “I am a maker. I want to push materials to their limits and use this to understand how people respond when pushed to their individual limits.”
Karl Clews, also part of the H.C.Assemble group, is showing his individual piece ‘Broken Forms’. Karl is a BA (Hons) Fine Art student at Hereford College of Arts. His main interest lies in conceptual sculpture.
“Often, the visual impact of my work is underpinned by a narrative. ‘Broken Forms’ is a modular installation which traces the use of a protective and decorative element of modern design back to its origins in nature. For purely aesthetic reasons, the structures here have been purposely damaged – as within a drawing; the broken line is far more compelling than the continuous one.”
Four blacksmithing students are also showing solo pieces.
Dane Stevens – BA (Hons) Artist Blacksmithing??
“This sculpture is a coalition of two interests: the subtle curves that can be found within the female form and the geometric patterns that occur naturally within plants. The processes within Blacksmithing allowed me to produce these dynamic shapes, which I was able combine in a repetitive arrangement in order to create a piece that has a changing aesthetic when viewed from different viewpoints and perspectives. This sculpture aims to look like it belongs in either a natural or manmade environment.”
Aaron Houghton – BA (Hons) Artist Blacksmithing?
Facie Serpentis (The Serpent): “This sculpture aims to embody fear, to capture the moment of a potentially dangerous encounter, it aims to invoke a reaction from anyone standing before it that relates to an over powering presence and helplessness that could also relate to the feeling of being bullied by a larger person; or being trapped in any situation that would otherwise be out of their control.”
Frederick Andrews – BA (Hons) Artist Blacksmithing?
Passage: “These arches were inspired by the way we move through and perceive spaces, taking influences from both eastern and western ideals of movement, heavily inspired by moon gates and standing stones.??I used multiple structures to create circles because a circle is often considered a whole or represented by the number 1, I want to show that a whole is created by the journey: life is not just point ‘A’, there’s a lot of point ‘B’ and ‘C’ as well, it is only when we look back with the right perspective that we can get the whole picture.”
Libbertine Vale – BA (Hons) Contemporary Design Crafts?
Overlap: “By using one of the commonest shapes in nature, the hexagon, this vertical flowerbed unveils a variety of symmetrical patterns as the viewer walks around the work, there is a point you may wish to stop and ponder. From any position, from conformity and regularity magic can erupt as natural forms appear and disappear. As the viewer may circle, so does the sun, casting ever-changing shadows on the ground. At night time, illuminated from the front, the tessellations cast shadows on the world around. Illuminated from the centre, the internal edges light up and highlight the form.”
Website: www.hca.ac.uk