States of Mind: Made in Arts London x Free Range Exhibition, The Old Truman Brewery, London

  • Christopher Pearson
  • Lotte Dawson
  • Katie Hughes
  • Chrissy Levett

From 4th to 8th July, as part of Free Range 2019, eighteen artists represented by Made in Arts London exhibited their work together as an emerging artist showcase entitled 'States of Mind' at Unit 13, The Old Truman Brewery, Brick Lane, London. The work I exhibited comprised four sculptures from my 'Splice' series of pigmented plaster casts and two sublimation prints on polyester entitled 'Eruption in Blue' and 'Red Gesture'. In addition to the art on display, a free events programme was hosted, including a live painted window mural by Shoon Wei Teoh, 'Move. Meditate. Write.' yoga sessions with Caroline Druitt, 'Tactile Clay Meditation' workshops with Anke Buchmann, artist talks by Kemi Onabule, Rayvenn D'Clark and Lisa Pettibone, and a symposium by 'Fail Better'. As MiAL artists, Yifan He, Lizzie Reid and I curated this exhibition collaboratively while considering the thoughts, concepts and modes of display discussed below. "Traversing the fragility, uncertainty and complexity of the world around us today, it is important to pause and reconsider how our perception and experiences are influenced by our states of mind. Constantly in flux, our minds' stability, or instability, is crucial to the way we see, think and imagine, and drives every artist's creative practice. Follow eighteen emerging artists from six UAL colleges as they translate their states of mind into reality through abstraction, the unfamiliar, the surreal, the mundane and the functional. The physical and conceptual 'home' always cultivates creativity. Recognising this, the curators decided to bring the artworks back to a domestic set-up, where sound pieces are available beside armchairs, sculptures sit on coffee tables, and video works are projected onto shower curtains. Art in this homely place invites visitors to dive into the minds of the exhibiting artists as well as of themselves" - Yifan He, Lizzie Reid and Christopher Pearson, MiAL artists and co-curators of this exhibition. "Made in Arts London believes that it is vital to the artists' process to exhibit their work, develop new audiences and create a new dialogue around the artwork beyond the university environment. Therefore, a series of events was hosted during the exhibition to focus on connecting the emerging artists, having now reached a crucial point in their careers, with a growing number of creative professionals open to helping and advising this new generation" - Katie Hughes, Made in Arts London Coordinator, University of the Arts London Students' Union. To see work by all of the artists represented by Made in Arts London, visit www.madeinartslondon.com To read more about the series of casts I exhibited here, visit www.christopherpearson.co.uk/casts-splice To read more about the sublimation prints on fabric I exhibited here, visit www.christopherpearson.co.uk/collectives-at-camberwell-student-led-gallery