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.
