Writing

Lynda Roberts

Lynda studied textile at the Glasgow School of art, worked in design studios in Canada before teaching art in Wirral. Through travel and an observation of landscape her multi-media, layered collages explore colour, pattern and...

Dennis Spicer

“I go out into the landscape and bring bits of it back into the studio to paint. There, they join other bits of nature on the finds table and bide their time until it...

Daniel Meakin

Daniel Meakin is a freelance artist painter and has been executing and selling work for over 30 years. After 20 years living in Barcelona, Meakin recently relocated to West Kirby in Wirral, and is now involved...

Louise Waller

Louise graduated from Liverpool Hope University in 2003 with a BA (Hons) in 3D Design and continued to develop her creative practice by taking an MA in Ceramics 2005 -7. The best place to see...

Carol Emmas

I am a Wirral-based artist who works with acrylic, oil paint, mixed-media and photography. My aim is to interpret landscapes through ephemeral emotion rather than literal representation. Photographically, I work from found materials and textures that have been...

Carole Dawber

I intuitively operate in an experimental way using different resources to allow the work to evolve organically. Usually supported within linked themes, they often overlap or emerge from previous stimuli that I have exploited along my creative...

Dan O’Dempsey

Dan O’Dempsey’s practice is broad and eclectic with interests in public engagement, collaboration, Taoism and mindfulness at its core. As a neurodivergent person with ASC, ADHD, OCD + Tourettes his practice investigates what it...

Chiz Turnross

I’ve been, messing with materials, with art stuff and other stuffs, with sound and music’s. For a long time now, looking under things, having shows, refining stuff. Cutting things up, history and mythology, the...

Danny May

Danny May graduated from Liverpool John Moores University with a BA(hons) in Fine Art in the mid-1990s. He currently lives and works in Wales. Further information can be found on Instagram Instagram: @i_dannymay Website: https://www.dannymay.co.uk/

Ben Lloyd

Ben Lloyd graduated with a BA (Hons) in Fine Art from Liverpool School of Art in 1997, after which he worked in community arts in Liverpool. In 2008 he gained a Masters in Fine...

Vicki Lucas le Bon

Vicki Lucas le Bon is a visual artist living in Liverpool whose practice includes painting and drawing, ceramics, collage and installation. The basis of much of her painting grows spontaneously from automatic, life of their...

Anna Ketskemety

Ketskemety explicitly uses the photograph as source material, raising questions about authenticity, objectivity, capture and permanence. Her paintings are sometimes subtly sculptural, freeing them from the gallery wall while making viewing even more intimate. Instagram:...

Cos Ahmet & Gary Finnegan

Cos Ahmet and Gary Finnegan have been collaborating since 2020. Both artists share an interest in the moving image. Cos is best known for his performance and video works, making enquiries into body-material interventions....

Emily Salinas

Emily Salinas is a graphic designer and is also training to be a sign painter. Her personal practice is focussed on making art that empowers people or is for social good. In the past...

Abbie Bradshaw

Instagram: @abbiebradshaw___artist Website: https://abbiebradshawart.wixsite.com/abbiebradshaw

Anna Jane Houghton

Website: @annajanehoughton

Maeve Thompson

Website: @7maeve7

Kelly Stubbs

Melody Carey Art is a project centred around a fictional autobiography written by Kelly Stubbs. Kelly didn’t have the understanding she needed to come out as a transgender woman, until relatively late in life....

Stephanie Trujillo

Stephanie Trujillo is a multidisciplinary emerging artist exploring her Peruvian-German- American heritage as an estranged person based in Liverpool through painting, collages, and spoken word. She studied fine art, art history and museum studies...

David Ballantyne

My creative practise generally involves working with paint, mixed media, and collage, however, the work for this exhibition was created as part of a series of an ongoing experiments in print making. This was...

John Elcock

John Elcock is a visual artist based in Liverpool. His work explores symbolism, birds and aspects of the divine in a multidisciplinary practice centred on painting and conceptual sculpture. He has exhibited at the...

Silvia Battista

Dr Silvia Battista is a performance artist and senior lecturer at Liverpool Hope University. Her work investigates perception and identity; with all the processes, discourses and practices that affect the way we see ourselves and...

Patric Rogers

Patric Rogers is a multidisciplinary contemporary artist and filmmaker based on the Wirral. Frequently focusing on the hidden nature of the self, both internal and external, his recent works have explored our connection to our...

Angelo Madonna

Angelo Madonna is a multidisciplinary artist and teacher originally from Southern Italy, now based in Liverpool. He was formally trained in nautical science and mechanical engineering, followed by an education in fine art, sculpture...

Helen Lydon

Website: https://www.instagram.com/mindsreimagined/

Daniel Halsall

Daniel Halsall is a painter who creates modern minimalist figurative paintings that draw on Modern day themes on technology, vector glyphs, computer data, and living in the digital information age. Daniel is well known for...

Luke George

Luke George is an abstract painter based in Liverpool, currently studying for his MFA (Painting) at Manchester School of Art. Luke’s large-scale painted works are the product of time-intensive, cumulative mark-making, which finds anchorages...

Ali Barker

Music is a major influence on my work. I create visual representations of music and sound in colour, inspired by my experiences of the phenomenon of sound-colour synaesthesia. There are many types of synaesthesia, a phenomenon...

Elisa Sallis

Website: @leeleepants

Xanthe Tilzey

Xanthe’s practice combines painting, sculpture, and textiles to create sensual and suggestive works, attempting to articulate her fascination with complex power dynamics through feminine and comedic imagery. Website: @xtilzey

Sian Hughes

Sian is based in North Wales, where she has her studio. A key driving force is the exploration of material – currently the translucent properties of porcelain and latex – particularly when back-lit. Website: www.sianhughes.net Instagram: www.instagram.com/artsianhughescelf

Elizabeth Challinor

Elizabeth Challinor is an (occasional) artist and curator from Liverpool, whose work focuses a lot on communication, language, and highlighting the importance of process instead of final outcomes. websiteinstagram

Richard Meaghan

Richard Meaghan is a contemporary painter who has exhibited nationally and internationally. He has won prizes for his work and his paintings are in many public and private collections. Richard is also classically trained in...

Freddy Francké

Francké’s practice revolves around researching identity and heritage and using his internal experience as a guide for self-discovery. He creates works based on this research, digested through his imagination into surreal landscapes and characters,...

Max Mallender

Max Mallender is an artist based in Liverpool, UK. He is represented by the contemporary gallery Artbase in Wiesbaden, Germany, and has exhibited extensively throughout the UK, in Liverpool Manchester and London. He ran a...

Josie Jenkins

Josie Jenkins is an artist based in Liverpool, UK. She studied for her BA Hons in Fine Art (Painting) at Norwich School of Art and Design, UK, graduating in 2002 and has since exhibited...

Emma Case

Emma Case is a photographer specialising in projects that explore home, memory and place. Focusing particularly on nostalgia and the ‘everyday’, Emma is interested in working with individuals and communities, working collectively, and building...

John McDonald

Liverpool City of Music: The Buskers Back when I was a bit younger, in the late sixties, I used my family’s box brownie and took pictures of some traveller children, who were parked up on...

Andrew Small

I am primarily interested in the relationship between art and design and its functions in our shared spaces, working predominantly on site-specific projects. I have had the opportunity to collaborate with many fantastic commissioning bodies,...

Fiona Stirling

Fiona Stirling is an artist and mother. Since beginning her PhD, she has been researching into the impact of time and space on the paintings of contemporary mid-life women artists. She investigates this theme...

Adam Cain

Artist and producer, Adam Cain, works across disciplines, primarily focussed on games art, and lectures at the School of Digital Arts at Manchester Metropolitan University. Exhibitions produced by Adam Cain for Independents Biennial 2023 are...

Montse Mosquera, Too Foreign (2021)

Montse Mosquera, Too Foreign (2021) https://youtu.be/BGxEFxflKSc Subtitles: Living in another country is one of the most enriching experiences you can have.When you leave, your memory will remain fixed in that moment, unchanged, hoping that when you return...

Feiyi Wen: Wood, Water, Rock (final test submission)

See all tests for this work here, with explanations of the project's origins

Responses to ROOT-ed on Joy

Responses to ROOT-ed on Joy(Fauziya Johnson & Amber Akaunu from ROOT-ed published a series of poems on Joy for Independents Biennial 2021. Their purpose was to illicit responses and recollections of Joy in their...

Pierce Starre, Scrutiny

Pierce Starre has been in residence with Metal Liverpool for Independents Biennial since 2020. This commission is Scrutiny, a video performance exploring personal experiences of deprivation, oppression and survival, from the perspective of a...

Sufea Mohamad Noor, Stop Asian Hate

Sufea Mohamad Noor has been researching the development of diversity and inclusion (D&I) terminologies since the beginning of her career. In 2020 Independents biennial, in collaboration with Metal Liverpool commissioned the development of research...

Jay Hampton, Weeds Wanted (citizen science data project now live)

Jay Hampton begun Independents Biennial with a recipe for foraged Dandelion Lemonade. The project has evolved into Weeds Wanted, a region wide citizen science experiment seeking submissions of photos from ariound the city, sharing the...

In Conversation: Emmer Winder / Elizabeth Challinor

Emmer Winder is an artist from St Helens now working in Manchester from the Rogue Artist Studios. With 20 years background in conceptual art, photography and teaching, she has recently begun to produce screen...

In Conversation: Fiona Stirling / Elizabeth Challinor

Fiona Stirling is an artist and mother. Since beginning her PhD, she has been researching the impact of time and space on the paintings of contemporary mid-life women artists. She investigates this theme by...

In conversation: Alan Dunn / Phaedra Hardstaff / Steve Hardstaff / The Singh Twins...

FOUR WORDS: WIRRAL is a continuation of Alan Dunn’s series that began on the Liverpool Media Wall working with Metal in 2016. This new iteration celebrates some hidden narratives around Spital, New Ferry and...

In Conversation: Grace Collins / George Gibson / Elizabeth Challinor

Grace Collins is an artist from St Helens who researches how people work together and documents collaborations to create new artworks. This interest led to them to becoming a member of School of the...

In Conversation: Jay Hampton / Elizabeth Challinor

Jay Hampton is a working-class citizen Sciartist from Liverpool with a BSc Earth & Ocean Sciences and Zoology from the University of Liverpool and MA Art in Science from LJMU. Her practice is based...

In Conversation: Kevin Crooks / Callan Waldron-Hall / Elizabeth Challinor

Kevin Crooks is a St.Helens based photographic artist and Deutsche Bank Award recipient, and also the Head of Photography at Carmel College. Kevin’s work explores the effects of how governmental policy, initiatives and programmes...

In Conversation: Montse Mosquera / Elizabeth Challinor

Montse Mosquera is a Spanish graphic designer based in Liverpool who explores multiple disciplines, and has a passion for the exploration of her self-image throughout experiences, digital interactions and the different cultures that are...

In Conversation: ROOT-ed / Elizabeth Challinor

ROOT-ed (Revolution Of Our Time) is a self-published zine and social platform, that aims to promote, support, represent and inspire creative people of colour within the North West of England. ROOT-ed has decided to...

In Conversation: Sam Venables / Elizabeth Challinor

Sam Venables is an artist whose work explores fandom, advertising and ideas around what makes something feel ‘local’ to a place. The things we choose to discard and the items we cherish form a...

In Conversation: Sorrell Kerrison / Elizabeth Challinor

Sorrell Kerrison is an artist working in many different mediums, including film, sound, and print. Sorrell is most known for her complex fauvist style hand embroidery portraiture, has had exhibitions in the UK and...

In Conversation: Stephanie Fry / Elizabeth Challinor

Stephanie Fry is a Billinge-based artist, using a variety of traditional and non-traditional techniques to create artworks focusing on themes of place, history and storytelling. Exploring the local landscape supports the development of her...

Artist Host, Conversation (Final)

Artist Host Conversation- Elizabeth Challinor Elizabeth ChallinorJo Mary WatsonHarriet BurnsMatt Retallick Elizabeth: So yeah. I wanna ask like general questions and we can just sort of chat, if everyone’s okay with that? So basically how did...

Grace Collins & George Gibson, The Book of Sand

Find out more about this project here The National Library of Argentina is the last known whereabouts of the infamous Book of Sand – a book about a book that can never be finished. Forty-five years later, artists Grace...

Jo Mary Watson, Reflection

In the following reflection I am using the words “Motherhood” and “Parenthood” to talk about the focus I have set on my work for the Independents Biennial and my practice in general. Those words,...

Elizabeth Challinor, In Conversation With IB21. Reflection (final)

In Conversation With IB21 (a title I started off with, and never actually used) is a project focusing on the artists featured in Independents Biennial, an ongoing series of informal Q&A’s that focuses on...

Harriet Burns, Reflection (Final)

Merseyside: State of Independence? – Matt Retallick

Merseyside: State of Independence?Matt Retallick This short piece is written at the end of Independents Biennial ’21. It does not aim to provide answers but should instead be read as a means for questioning and...

“The Impact of Motherhood on being an Artist” (very short) Booklist, Jo Mary Watson

“The Impact of Motherhood on being an Artist” (very short) Booklist “Feminist Art and the Maternal”Andrea Liss “Of Woman Born: Motherhood as Experience and Institution”Adrienne Rich “100 Essays I Don’t Have Time To Write”Sarah Ruhl “Dept. Of Speculation”Jenny...

Grace Collins & George Gibson, Book of Sand (Prototypes)

Find out more about this project here The National Library of Argentina is the last known whereabouts of the infamous Book of Sand – a book about a book that can never be finished. Forty-five years later, artists...

Montse Mosquera, Too Foreign (part 2)

Emmer Winder, Posters

Emmer Winder's Social Prescription Pharmacy was produced to a commission funded by St Helens Arts in Libraries in collaboration with Independents Biennial. Her advice has been open to all through newspapers, posters and public space...

Mark Simmonds, […] Font Download

Download the font files here(instructions below) Download Instructions: Mac: Download the font, and unzip the file.In the Font Book app, click the Add button in the Font Book toolbar, locate and select the font file in Downloads, then...

Emmer Winder, Social Prescription Pharmacy 2021

Find out about Emmer's full project here This post is produced by Emmer Winder, from images at the end of a year recording conversations and affirmations from audiences sharing supportive statements on mental health resilience. Social...

Mothman #4

Mothman issue for Poster Edition ROAD Studios’ Director Tony Knox will be collaborating with ROAD members and guest artists to produce the latest issue of the Mothman comic book, and to celebrate, some of the...

FOUR WORDS: WIRRAL launches today

www.fourwordswirral.com Some of Wirral’s contemporary folklore and social history can now be explored in a new community project which sees artists condense the stories of the borough into FOUR WORDS. Each of the FOUR WORDS...

Week 6 Thoughts, Elizabeth Challinor

View more work in progress, essays, and blogs from Elizabeth Challinor here View & comment on the original text here

New Podcast: Artist Hosts, Conversation #5: “Climbing walls & fireworks” (on Galleries)

View all podcasts here Harriet Burns, Elizabeth Challinor Jo Mary Watson and Matt Retallick (Independents Biennial 2021 Artist Hosts) and Patrick Kirk-Smith (IB Director) attempting to stumble around one of the most complicated issues in...

Week 6 Notes – Spaces part 2, Galleries (hand written notes and appalling automatic...

The hand written notes below are the result of limited capacity to stare at a screen this week. An attempt to automatically transcribe them has been included below, but is not helpful. Google's attempt to...

Matt Retallick: State of Independence

Brief musings on independence v collective, another prompt for discussion. In my recent walks around Liverpool, independence has been on my mind. What does it mean to be Independent, and where can we find it?...

In Conversation With GRACE and GEORGE, Harriet Burns

See more of Harriet Burns work here Download: In Conversation With GRACE and GEORGEDownload

Week 5 thoughts, Elizabeth Challinor

Read more of/about Elizabeth Challior's work here Comment & edit this article here 19/04 It’s week 5, and we’re either talking about social media (as a continuation of last week), or sticking to the timetable and talking...

Week 4/5 (base texts)

Week 4/5 bled out of week 3, and didn't have a particularly clear theme. Our podcasts focused on social media, and our writing stumbled between that and a continuation of studio discussions. Below is...

New Podcast: Artist Hosts, Conversation #4: “Caterpillar” (on ‘Studios / Social Media’)

Listen to all podcasts here Harriet Burns, Elizabeth Challinor Jo Mary Watson and Matt Retallick (Independents Biennial 2021 Artist Hosts) and Patrick Kirk-Smith (IB Director) attempting to stumble around one of the most complicated issues...

Scrapbook, inspired by talks with others (part 1), Jo Mary Watson

See more of Jo Mary Watson's work here

woke up in the ‘am’, composed a beat – Harriet Burns

See more of Harriet Burns work here Comment & edit the document below here

Matt Retallick Research Questionnaire 12: Montse Mosquera

Name: Montse Mosquera Location: St Helens / Liverpool Website: montsemosquera.com 1. What is your relationship to Merseyside? Four years ago I moved to Liverpool for university but as a very close friend of mine lives in St Helens ...

Too Foreign, Montse Mosquera – updates (12/04/21)

Find out more about Montse Mosquera & this project here >> These are drafts I made attempting to express the way I feel and tell my experience Translation: “Mi Casa es su casa” (like that, in Spanish)...

Out of context images (continued), Grace Collins & George Gibson

Find more work by Grace Collins & George Grace Gibson here Book on to their latest workshop, 28th April, here "Still not sure what's missing in the middle, when XXXXX gets back to me I'll start...

“I think I’ve got the cover […]”, Grace Collins & George Gibson

Find more work by Grace Collins & George Grace Gibson here Book on to their latest workshop, 28th April, here "I think I've got the cover, which has this weird double book vibe - for whatever...

Matt Retallick: Social Media – a prompt for a podcast

This short post is a prompt for a podcast we are recording this week. It does not intend to answer any questions but lay down ideas towards our forthcoming discussion. I feel in our podcast...

New Podcast: Artist Hosts, Conversation #3: “Unknown Visibility” (on ‘Where are artists?’)

Harriet Burns, Elizabeth Challinor Jo Mary Watson and Matt Retallick (Independents Biennial 2021 Artist Hosts) and Patrick Kirk-Smith (IB Director) attempting to stumble around one of the most complicated issues in the art world...

Matt Retallick Research Questionnaire 11: Sorrell Kerrison

Name: Sorrell Chrystal Kerrison (SorrellCK) Location: Mossley Hill, Liverpool Website: www.sorrellkerrison.co.uk 1. What is your relationship to Merseyside? I live in Mossley Hill. I used to visit from North Wales when I was a kid. I've lived all...

State of the Studios Report

Over the last twelve months, we've been working with studios to understand the issues they have faced during the pandemic. In almost every case, those issues were heighted and highlighted by lockdown, rather than...

Matt Retallick Research Questionnaire 10: Grace Collins

Name: Grace CollinsLocation: St HelensWebsite: www.gracecollins.cargo.site 1. What is your relationship to Merseyside? I grew up in St Helens, moved away to London for uni & came back in 2020. 2. How does Merseyside impact or shape your practice? I hope my...

My Joy by Annie Kamara, ROOT-ed on Joy

More about this projects & the artists here Annie Kamara, My Joy My Joy is my joyJoy is the gift has been given to us,feeling in the same way but living in the different waysIt's the same...

All You Need is Joy by Tony O’Leary, ROOT-ed on Joy

More about this projects & the artists here Tony O'Leary, All You Need is Joy I thought this would be a great title for a songJoy all you need is joy, joy, joy all your really need!!I...

How Lucky Am I? by Fartun Abdulle, ROOT-ed on Joy

More about this projects & the artists here Fartun Abdulle, How Lucky Am I? You can tell when a new day is about to startBy how the clouds shuffleEver so slightlyInto positionWaiting for their cue to partBut...

Joy by Pauline Cummins, ROOT-ed on Joy

More about this projects & the artists here Pauline Cummins, Joy Jazz beats repeat melodically.Saxophones float rhythmicallyCaptivating hearts, soothing the sensescomforting the soul. Dancing unseen.To soundtracks that electrify,swaying, entranced.‘At one’. Friendships spanning lifetimesOffer hope and security.Finding ourselves in...

Trompe l’oeil: Still Life of Books, Sarah Gilman – part 2

More on the artist & the project here 1. Trompe l'oeil vanitas with a skull and book after Jan Davidsz. de Heem, 2020, Oil on canvas 2. Trompe l'oeil vanitas with a skull and book after...

What a find, Grace Collins & George Gibson

More on this project & the artists here "Hello, so I found this, I’m still searching for more info on it and obviously it’s not much to go off but for now it’s something. Obviously...

Wood Water Rock, Feiyi Wen – (test prints – development)

More about the project & the artist here Prints on Munken Paper. Tests for Wood Water Rock

Otherhood Mixtapes, Sorrell Kerrison – Development (up to 09/04/21)

More about the project, and the artist here https://youtu.be/6ANESN06bRs https://youtu.be/SS6CyU8ed78 https://youtu.be/h3k4rK3_yKk

Matt Retallick Research Questionnaire 9: Kevin Crooks

Name: Kevin Crooks Location: St. Helens Website: www.kevincrooks.co.uk 1. What is your relationship to Merseyside? I grew up in St. Helens and currently live and work here. 2. How does Merseyside impact or shape your practice? I have produced many projects here...

COVID AWARENESS, Harriet Burns

View more of Harriet Burns' work here COVID AWARENESS from Harriet on Vimeo.

‘Where are artists?’ – At ome’

Comment & edit here View & read more of Harriet Burns' work here

Week 2 Thoughts, Elizabeth Challinor

View original text here More writing by Elizabeth Challinor here I keep forgetting that weeks aren’t just Monday-Friday, and that Saturday and Sunday’s are available days to do admin on. I usually try and not do...

Community Leaders

Comment & edit here

Monday, 9_45pm.docx

Comment & edit here

Splitting Time

Comment & edit here

What about the ones who don’t actually call themselves artists?

Comment & edit here

Who are artists? Week 2 (some)R&(less)D

Comment & edit here

Social Prescription Pharmacy, Emmer Winder

St Helens Social Pharmacy is a project which invites everyone to share their personal mantra/ words/ phrases that help them through the continuing Covid19 pandemic. Everyone is invited to share their therapeutic advice in order...

Matt Retallick Research Questionnaire 8: Sarah Gilman

Name: Sarah GilmanLocation: St HelensWebsite: www.sarahgilman.co.uk 1. What is your relationship to Merseyside? I moved to St Helens from Crewe in 2005 and have studied and worked within the area since then. I feel that having...

Artsy people are weird, Harriet Burns

by Harriet Burns Follow her live work here

What’s the weirdest thing, Jo Mary Watson

by Jo Mary Watson & E.

Care Wildly, Jo Mary Watson

by Jo Mary Watson & E.

Matt Retallick Research Questionnaire 7: Luke Skiffington

Name: Luke Skiffington Location: Liverpool Website: www.lukeskiffington.com Instagram: @luke_skiffington 1. What is your relationship to Merseyside? We only moved here in summer 2019, so I’m still a tourist! I have some extended family from the area, so I have many memories of...

Matt Retallick Research Questionnaire 6: Elizabeth Challinor

Name: Elizabeth Challinor Location: Liverpool 1. What is your relationship to Merseyside? I was born in Liverpool, and have lived/worked here my whole life. I wanted to move away to uni, but only went to UCLAN (Preston)...

Artists Union England – Survey of Income Levels and Work Models for artists (with...

Following a year where artists and freelancers have been left behind in the frantic grabbing of emergency funds from the organisations that make up the visual arts sector, Artists' Union England are working with...

E.s favourite artist because he provided frames for her: Mark Simmonds

by Jo Mary Watson & E.

New Podcast: Artist Hosts, Conversation #1: “Complexity” (on Artists’ Pay)

Time is Money

I’m slightly treading water here. Self-preservation I think. How content1 are artists with being content2? 1 happy, fulfilled, satisfied2 subject matter, material I can only imagine I’ll re-write this each week, looking at each of the themes,...

A Brief (and inaccurate) History of Selling Art

It’s pretty impossible to talk about paying artists without referencing the art market – locally, nationally, internationally. And given that my job this week is to write about paying artists, I’ll try my best...

F*** you pay me

by Harriet Burns

Reference for Artists’ Pay – the focus of week 1’s writing for Independents Biennial...

Week 1: Artists’ Pay (introduction)

Week 1 thoughts, Elizabeth Challinor

by Elizabeth Challinor

What Happened This Morning

by Jo Mary Watson Wanted to do something productive and shareable for @indybiennial today. Even though this is not what I initially planned, nothing would fit better in regards to my Motherhood focus.My day began with a...

Matt Retallick Research Questionnaire 5: Emmer Winder

Name: Emmer Winder Location: Manchester Organisation: Just me! But business trades as NumberSix Website: www.emmerwinder.co.uk What is your relationship to Merseyside? This is quite a sensitive question without it meaning to be! I think I strangely felt embarrassed of Merseyside...

Matt Retallick: Going for a walk – an introduction to a method

As we mark the year anniversary of the first lockdown, I’m going for a walk. For a significant portion of the last twelve months, walking was pretty much all we could do. For me...

In Conversation With… (Introduction)

Matt Retallick Research Questionnaire 4: Alan Dunn

Name: Alan Dunn Location: Wirral Organisation: FOUR WORDS/cantaudio/Alternator Studio & Project Space (Birkenhead) Website: www.alandunn67.co.uk #alandunn67 1. What is your relationship to Merseyside? I was born in Glasgow but moved to Liverpool in 1995 with artist Brigitte Jurack for work reasons. I grew up...

Matt Retallick Research Questionnaire 3: Jo Mary Watson

Name: Jo Mary Watson Location: Liverpool 1. What is your relationship to Merseyside? Liverpool is my partner’s homeport, and our daughter’s birthplace. 2. How does Merseyside impact or shape your practice? I am originally from Hamburg, which is on the same...

Matt Retallick Research Questionnaire 2: Harriet Burns

Name: Harriet Burns Location: Allerton (South Liverpool) 1. What is your relationship to Merseyside? My mum was born here. I wasn’t. I have lived here since I was about 2. I live here now. I would say I was...

Harriet Burns: Dear Diary (read & comment)

Matt Retallick Research Questionnaire 1: Patrick Kirk-Smith

Name: Patrick Kirk-Smith Location: Huyton Organisation: Art in Liverpool Website: www.artinliverpool.com 1. What is your relationship to Merseyside? I was born here, I grew up here, I have lived in on both sides of the North / South wealth divide, and in...

Dad’s Project (ongoing)

My current portrait project looks at the small (but growing) number of families where fathers have chosen to be the main childcarer. While attitudes are shifting towards acceptance of dads taking a greater role...

Chorlton Lockdown Portraits (Lockdown 3), Exhibition

The Chorlton Lockdown Portrait project started soon after the UK entered it’s first nationwide lockdown. Everything stopped overnight, and what we had always taken for granted suddenly become something to consider and plan. Despite...

Chorlton Lockdown Portraits (Lockdown 2), Exhibition

The Chorlton Lockdown Portrait project started soon after the UK entered it’s first nationwide lockdown. Everything stopped overnight, and what we had always taken for granted suddenly become something to consider and plan. Despite...

Chorlton Lockdown Portraits (Lockdown 1), Exhibition

The Chorlton Lockdown Portrait project started soon after the UK entered it’s first nationwide lockdown. Everything stopped overnight, and what we had always taken for granted suddenly become something to consider and plan. Despite...

Trompe l’oeil (films)

For images from this project, see HERE https://youtu.be/DUGTcsxlQ_Q https://youtu.be/Lo_ctHHbBOw https://youtu.be/OHFlhMCtps8

Motherhood – image #1

Out of context images

Grace Collins & George Gibson, 2021

Dear Diary 01/03/2021

01/03/2021 ‘Live Essays’ across different platforms: audience, artists, producers etc. will have access to, to create a series of new writings to educate ourselves (as a sector), taking away ‘roles’ and ‘positions’... Narratives with the festival,...

Jay Hampton: Weeds Wanted An investigation into rewilding in Liverpool (starting footage)

Jay Hampton: Bio & Background

I am a working-class citizen SciArtist from Liverpool with a BSc Earth & Ocean Sciences and Zoology from the University of Liverpool and MA Art in Science from LJMU. My practice is based around citizen science...

Stephanie Fry, Threads of History (Film)

https://youtu.be/DHXe9r76Ejw BACK TO MAIN PROJECT PAGE

Sufea Mohamad Noor, poster #1

BACK TO MAIN PROJECT PAGE

Feiyi Wen, Wood Water Rock (background)

The second chapter of the work: Wood, Water, Rock is a continuing exploration of interpretations of landscapes from different cultural perspectives with an emphasis on the discussion around metaphor, symbols and juxtaposition of specific...

Feiyi Wen, Under The Yuzu Tree (background)

I am looking into the idea on how we understand concepts of emotions such as pathos through a cross-cultural context. Using the Greek notion of pathos, I investigate other corresponding non-western aesthetic concepts, such...

Dandelion Lemonade, Jay Hampton

Dandelion Lemonade Only 3% of UK wildflower meadows are left. Embrace the weeds. Let your garden overgrow. A weed is a flower in the wrong place. Bloom where you are planted. Pick dandelion flowers in an...

Sam Venables, Bio

Interests include but not limited to: Fandom, display mechanisms, signwriting, mass production, shopfitting/ shopfitters, roadside attractions, abandoned places, homemade substitutes, multi-packs, wear dated carpets, unofficial museums, localised advertising, custom transportation, cherished number plates, trophies and...

Photographs from Bonanza, Sam Venables

The following images are taken from a film by Sam Venables, commissioned by Independents Biennial in partnership with Open Eye Gallery. You can see the full film in the Digital Window Gallery at Open...

Film stills from Bonanza, Sam Venables

The following images are stills from a film by Sam Venables, commissioned by Independents Biennial in partnership with Open Eye Gallery. You can see the full film in the Digital Window Gallery at Open...

Pierce Starre, Banquet Invitation

Pierce Starre has no authority to command the Lord Chamberlain to send this invitation so instead personally invites Anyone to the performance titled "Empty"; a digitally presented Council Estate Banquet, in honour of their...

Too Foreign, part #1

TOO FOREIGN Living in another country can be one of the most stimulating and enriching experiences someone can have. They will never be the same again, nor will they see things the same way again....

Stephanie Fry, Bunker

Fiona Stirling, Sketchbook #1

In studying the impact of time and space on her painting practice Fiona Stirling made up two terms ‘painting ad hoc’ and ‘inbetweener painting’. These terms describe the process of painting in between other...

Avoid HaHa, Provocation #1: Ready when you are …

Ready when you are … For Independents Biennial 2021 Avoid HaHa collective is presenting a series of free laboratories where artists and performers can try out new work together, with a supportive live/ online audience,...

Mark Simmonds, update #1

Page from newsprint gallery: BACK TO MAIN PAGE

ROOT-ed on Joy, pt.1

ROOT-ed has decided to dedicate their page to Joy. In these particular circumstances, it's important to look at the positive aspect in life and try to highlight what brings us Joy. ROOT-ed has commissioned...

Human Libraries — Soft Sanctuary Online, Bella Milroy

This recipe is part of Soft Sanctuary Online — a programme of live events, written essays, recipes, film and podcasts. Featuring exclusively disabled artists, Soft Sanctuary explores the ceremonies of everyday life and celebrates moments...

Page 40,514

BACK TO PROJECT PAGE

Sarah Gilman, Reading List

When these paintings are eventually able to be displayed in a library setting, books on the subject of still-life painting (particularly 17th century still-life) will hopefully be displayed near to the paintings for the...

Sarah Gilman, Trompe l’oeil after Gijsbrechts

This project consists of a series of four oil paintings on canvas. It is an investigation into reproduction and appropriation in painting, looking primarily at 17th century vanitas still-life paintings with a focus on...

Kevin Crooks Instagram Takeover, February 2021 @indybiennial

@indybiennial is hosting artist takeovers, in the lead up to, and during the festival programme, 20th March - 6th June Kevin Crooks opened this programme in February. Follow him at @kevincrooks, and see some highlights...

(View) Kevin Crooks, Thatto Heath Project

Details HERE Head back to the main project page for updates & events HERE

(Previews) FOUR WORDS: WIRRAL

FOUR WORDS: WIRRAL will be launched in full Tuesday 4th May HERE FOUR WORDS: WIRRAL is a continuation of Alan Dunn’s series that began on the Liverpool Media Wall working with Metal in 2016. This new iteration...

ABOUT: Emmer Winder, Social Pharmacy

St Helens Social Pharmacy is a project which invites everyone to share their personal mantra/ words/ phrases that help them through the continuing Covid19 pandemic. It is hoped that these statements will heal those that read them, causing a therapeutic, shared sense of community.