Press Release: West Dean College of Arts and Conservation announces Tamara Henderson as Artist-in-Residence
Residency at West Dean College 18 May - 12 June. A collaboration
with Cass Sculpture Foundation, supported by Arts Council
England.
West Dean College of Arts and Conservation announces Tamara
Henderson as Artist-in-Residence in collaboration with Cass
Sculpture Foundation. The project will support a new series of
ceramic work by artist Tamara Henderson. Beginning with hypnosis,
Henderson will uncover unconscious images that will inform the
making of the work, a process aligned to artistic methodologies
that are part of the legacy of West Dean.
Through hypnotherapy the artist will explore the dynamic potential
of inanimate objects, specifically furniture. Clay will be used to
explore the ergonomic qualities of furniture, using the body to
impress itself upon the clay and allow the plasticity of the
material, together with explorative cognitive processes, to dictate
the final work.
Henderson will fabricate the work at Wean Dean College to make
manifest the images that were evoked in hypnosis. She will have the
opportunity to further her research through material in The Edward
James Archive which includes correspondence and artwork by leading
twentieth century artists such as Leonora Carrington, Leonor Fini,
Rene Magritte, and Salvador Dalí.
During the residency Tamara will also conduct tutorials with
full-time Visual Arts students and deliver a public lecture about
the project. West Dean students are invited to take part in the
wood-firing at Cass, providing them with a unique professional
development opportunity.
The work will be glazed and wood-fired at CASS during the residency
period. The work will feature in Henderson's presentation at the
New Covent Garden Market as part of Art Night, July 2018 and will
be exhibited at Kunst-Werke Institute for Contemporary Art, Berlin
from 2nd November - 2nd January 2019. This project is supported by
Rodeo Gallery London and Arts Council England.
The College's Artist-in-residence programme organised by the School
of Arts provides artists with the opportunity to research, reflect
and experiment in order to develop the possibilities of their own
practice. It enriches the learning environment for the College's
full-time graduate and postgraduate Visual Arts students.
Notes to Editors
Tamara Henderson was born in 1982 in Canada. Her practice
includes a variety of mediums including sculpture, text,
installation, film and performance. She strives to uncover the
relationship between the mind, body and materials through the
subconscious. By using inanimate objects, Henderson explores the
rhythm and motions of making, engaging and transforming inanimate
objects into those of psychological texture and presence.
She has exhibited at Glasgow International and Documenta 13, and
recently staged a performance for the Serpentine Gallery's 2017
Park Nights series. Solo exhibitions include Oakville Galleries
(2017); Rodeo Gallery, London (2017); REDCAT, Los Angeles (2016);
Moderna Museet, Stockholm (2016); ICA, Philadelphia (2015); and
Andrew Kreps Gallery, New York (2014).
In 2018 Henderson has projects with Tate St Ives, Tate Modern,
London, Art Night London, Douglas White Gallery, Dublin and KW -
Institute for Contemporary Art, Berlin. Her work is also part of
Pallant House Gallery's Virginia Woolf exhibition from 26 May - 16
September.
Cass Sculpture Foundation is a British charity founded 25 years ago
with a clear mission to provide both established and emerging
artists with unique creative opportunities. Since 2016 a
partnership between West Dean College of Arts and Conservation and
CASS has been established to offer support to artists and to
celebrate contemporary art. The wood-fired CASS kiln was built in
2015 as a functioning sculpture and open resource for contemporary
artists interested in exploring ceramics. Artists who have created
new work in the CASS kiln include Florence Peake as part of the
2017 collaborative residency with West Dean.
The organisation has commissioned and exhibited over 450 works.
The CASS grounds consist of 26 acres of beautiful woodland within
the Goodwood Estate, West Sussex. The site is open to the public,
and has a constantly changing display of approximately 60
monumental outdoor sculptures. http://www.sculpture.org.uk
Rodeo, London is a contemporary art space in the heart of London
representing national and international artists including Tamara
Henderson, Banu Cennetoğlu, Iman Issa, Haris Epaminonda and
Christodoulos Panayitou. Initially based in Istanbul, the gallery
aims to present a trans-geographical programme. http://www.rodeo-gallery.com
Gallery
