A short clip from an exciting new commission for Light Up The North festivals which will be shown at Salford Media City, Leeds, Lancaster and Barnsley this autumn/winter. Molecular Clouds is an interactive video that explores themes of climate change by rendering the greenhouse gases that are imperceptible to human senses visible and interactive. It will encourage audiences to collectively engage with it playfully and with a sense of agency. Really looking forward to seeing it projected large-scale upon buildings and in a cinema during festivals!
Making a Difference Awards
Manchester University’s Making a Difference Awards recognise the outstanding social and environmental impact their staff, students, alumni and external partners have on local communities and wider society.
I am delighted to share that my recent project ‘A Sense of Flora’ in collaboration with Manchester Museum received a commendation as an external partner for Making a Difference
Award for Interfacing!
So excited to learn that my short film ‘Interfacing’ has just won an award in USA:
Many thanks to Mikel Fair and the team. Shame I couldn’t be there, but I will celebrate with a glass of wine.
Upcoming symposiums
Looking forward to these symposiums where I will be speaking alongside other artists and scientists:
‘Materialising Methods: un-black-boxing practice-based research at the interface of art and biomedical science.’ hosted by the Discovery Research Platform for Medical Humanities at Durham University, in collaboration with The Cultural Negotiation of Science research group (Northumbria University) and Hannah Star Rogers (Medical Museion, University of Copenhagen). February 20th Book here: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/materialising-methods-tickets-1117582642769?aff=oddtdtcreator
‘Prism of Research’ hosted by The Good Science Project, Imperial College London. April 2nd 2025
Oregon Doc Film Fest
Excited to share that Interfacing has been selected for the upcoming Oregon Doc Film Festival. That’s the third USA film festival in two months, which has surprised me!
Many thanks to Mikel Fair who has posted this review of the film on YouTube:
Light Up The North
Delighted to share that I have been selected for the Illumine light art commission by Light Up The North! Over the coming months, I will be developing a new interactive work called ‘Molecular Clouds’ with technical and creative producer support from their network. It will explore themes of climate change, air pollution and human impact upon the planet. Watch this space for images of work in progress!
Raw Science Film Festival
Good news comes in pairs: ‘Interfacing’ has been selected for the Raw Science Film Festival 2024 . It was screened in New York last week and I have only just caught up with the news as I was away on holiday! Next week it will be screened during the Imagine Science film festival in New York. Great to have the work widely recognised and shared.
The mission of the Raw Science Film Festival is to humanize science and celebrate the best science storytelling in the world. The festival brings not only film and live performance arts to the ecosystem of New York but also science and technology.
Science New Wave
So thrilled to share that my film Interfacing has been selected for the Science New Wave Festival XVII opening in New York 18 October!
This year’s festival is an eclectic mix of films blending science with art, experimentation and personal expression. Labocine is the home of Science New Wave and it has been wonderful to be part of its ecosystem which is combination of platform, magazine, portal and archive.
Interfacing was made in response to cell membrane research by professor Margarita Staykova at The Biophysical Sciences Institute, Durham University. In the work, I ask scientists about unexpected outcomes of their experiments and the roles of chance and creativity in their research.
A huge thank you to creative coder Chris Ball for his wonderful work on the project; we have collaborated on some great projects over the years. And thanks to Durham University for hosting my residency.
A Sense of Flora
‘A Sense of Flora’ explores the connections between a sense of place and flora through image and text. A large relief-print installation represents the memories, stories, thoughts and feelings of a group of asylum seekers and refugees from the charity Rainbow Haven. I delivered print workshops there during June/July 2024.
The three Giclee prints were produced as digital drawings of crops which scientists are studying to address worldwide food security. These plants have benefits such as resistance to drought, flooding or disease, fast growth with high yields and the ability to grow in poor soil. Some can be harvested at any time of year, giving famers more choice alongside other seasonal foods and beneficial plants. All have multiple uses. I’ve included their local names alongside their scientific classification to acknowledge the indigenous local knowledge that supports their growth.
Clouds of microscopic pollen and plant cell imagery point to the scientific research that is currently exploring varieties of alternative food crops for the future.
A Sense of Flora
Time has flown by and I am installing work this week at Manchester Museum! Some glimpses of the final prints below, it’s been a fascinating research journey identifying three plants that are ‘crops for the future’ for the exhibition.
Workshops at Rainbow Haven charity have been very busy and lively with over double the amount of participants. We’ve had lots of fun, learnt new things from each other and from Rachel Webster, curator of botany, about plants and also practiced English. And participants prints are beautiful!
Come along to the Exhibition Open day event to meet us:
Top Floor Gallery, Manchester Museum, on Saturday 3rd August.
Manchester Museum
So wonderful to be researching in the botanics collections as the first stage of a new ACE funded project ‘A Sense of Flora’. Have been treasuring my time there with the ever helpful and knowledgable Curator of Botany, Rachel Webster. Some pics of my sketchbook and botanical illustrations in the museum collections below. Watch this space for the first giclée prints!
Interfacing
Excited to be at editing stage of a new film for the Biophysical Science Institute, University of Durham. The imagery combines coding with scientific visualisations of cell and membranes, and the soundtrack if of scientists speaking about the roles of chance and creativity in their research. Some short clips below and watch this space for news about the final film release!
Imperial College London
Some very interesting conversations at an Imperial College forum which I spoke at recently, along with Ken Arnold and Tristram Hunt, exploring how museums and arts practice can benefit science research culture. It was followed by a workshop I developed using drawing and text to tease out some of the discussions further. It went really well and we had some wonderfully animated and lively conversations, as well as some lovely drawings!
It was all part of The Good Science Project led by Dr Stephen Webster, and evolved out of the conference ‘Day of Doubt’ last Sept – video below – where I spoke about the role of doubt in art practice and Sir Paul Nurse, CEO of Francis Crick Institute and Prof Ian Walmsley, Provost of Imperial College, discussed doubt in science practice.
Durham BSI
A wonderful and thought provoking day of research for my upcoming animated film at the Biophysical Science Institute, University of Durham! I am working with Biophysicist Margarita Staykova whose research explores cell membranes, and spent the day looking at microscopy images in the laboratories and recording scientists talking about their research.
Pattern and Chaos
Delighted to see the illustrated volume ‘Pattern and Chaos in Art, Science and Everyday Life’, which was edited by Sarah Horton and Victoria Mitchell has been published by Intellect Books! It is highly recommended and a fascinating read, get hold of a copy if you can. My contribution ‘Embodied and Coded: Drawings as Viral Systems’ reflects upon a process of coded drawings, which were used in my animation ‘in the same breath’. I examine them through the lens of viral systems which occupy a liminal spaces between the living and non-living.
King’s Engaged Research
Delighted to learn that my ‘Lost in Translation’ workshops with Language Teaching students at King’s College, London, working with Dr. Simon Coffey have been short-listed for the King’s Engaged research Awards.
Blebbing
A bleb is an irregular bulge in the plasma membrane of a cell – and ‘Blebbing’ is the work-in-progress title for a video I am currently working on for the BSI (Biophysics Institute) at University of Durham, exploring Dr Maria Staykova’s research into biological membranes.
The test clips below are inspired by the interface between engineered, biological and synthetic components and living cells with artificial scaffolds. I will be working on this over the next few months and developing a soundtrack of the research scientists speaking about their research poetically and without recourse to terminologies. It’ll be interesting to see how they do that!
Test clip: Blebbing
https://vimeo.com/877405515
Test clip: Blebbing
Day of Doubt
It was a very thought provoking and stimulating day at Imperial College, with some important critical discussions about the importance of doubt in science and society. I met some very interesting people from many different disciplines and organisations and audience numbers were big. It’s wonderful that Imperial is creating a space for this kind of discussion and exploration of ideas.
This is me introducing Sir Paul Nurse, chief executive of the Crick Institute and Prof Ian Walmsley, provost of Imperial College, and speaking about what doubt means in an arts practice. There were some interesting synergies and divergencies between artists and scientists thinking about doubt!
Day of Doubt
I am really looking forward to what will no doubt be a fascinating conference ‘Day of Doubt’ at Imperial College, London, on 27th Sept. During the day, scientists will debate contemporary research culture and the values needed for good science. It will be the Good Science Project’s first conference and all are welcome:
I will be speaking about what doubt means in an arts practice, and will be introducing some leading scientists: Sir Paul Nurse FRS, and Imperial College provost Professor Ian Walmsley.
Open Studio
An amazing day at our open day at Suite Studio Salford – a wonderful group of artists showing their work. It is wonderful to be part of such an inspiring group of artists. I’ve been part of the group for over 10 years now, and we are at an exciting moment in time and have a very dynamic group!
INEFF Film Festival and Symposium
It was such a pleasure to be part of this Experimental Fiction Film Festival, to speak about my process in the making of the film ‘In Pericula: At Risk’ and to meet such wonderful, interesting and diverse filmmakers. Very exciting to see my film being screened too!
Sticky Wicked
Back from Cornwall after a very fruitful and very enjoyable visit to Penryn campus, University of Exeter on the final stage of my Creative fellowship with Clare Saunders exploring Environmental Justice. But hopefully not my last visit there, as we are applying for funding to continue working together. We have just had an abstract accepted and will be co-authoring a paper in the near future.
Some images from the wall drawing ‘Sticky Wicked’ below. The map drawing is both local and global; its circular format suggests the earth but it is also based on the local area because global problems often arise as a result of not listening to local voices. I worked with pencil because carbon is central to the environmental crisis.
The image merges different types of data-maps representing the distribution of diverse species and habitats with human habitation. In doing so, itasks whose needs are met in this environment? The concepts of ‘sticky’ and ‘wicked’ refer to complex problems that are difficult to define, resistant to change and have no fixed solutions.
Wall Drawing onsite @ Penryn Campus, University of Exeter
Busy preparing for my next visit to Cornwall, as part of my Creative Fellowship at University of Exeter with Prof. Clare Saunders exploring Environmental Justice. I will be making a large wall drawing onsite in graphite, approx. 120cm in diameter. See my test drawing below, made in my Manchester studio.
Super excited to be going next week. As part of this 10 day visit, I will be presenting my work at the ESI (Environmental Sustainability Institute) conference, it’s going to be a busy!
Some pics from the ‘Wicked Patterns and Sticky Maps’ workshop from my last visit:
Drawing (Paper) Show
Delighted and gob smacked to be selected for the upcoming Drawing Paper show at The Bridewell Studios and Gallery, Liverpool. With over 1000 entries from outstanding artists am feeling very humbled to be part of a very special show!
Creative Fellowship workshops
Had a very productive and inspiring time in my first visit to Penryn campus as part of an Environmental Justice Creative Fellowship with Prof Clare Saunders. We hosted a series of zooms called ‘Diverse Voices’ between students and staff in Sri Lanka, Tanzania and the UK, which instigated some fascinating conversations in response to questions about Environmental Justice which were selected by participants. You can see some recordings, images and text about the workshops here: https://www.artsandcultureexeter.co.uk/news/diverse-voices-international-conversations-exploring-environmental-justice
Another workshop ‘Wicked Patterns and Sticky Maps’ explored questions around what constitutes deep forms of environmental justice using patterns of ideas and mapping. It was an experimental process with a small group of staff which I am still refining in preparation for a larger event this May. Some pics below.
And most excitingly, we are in discussions about a large wall artwork – a drawing – which I am planning to make on site this summer!
International workshops
Excited to be planning a series of international workshops between students at Exeter University and their peers in Tanzania and Sri Lanka. I will be hosting a series of zoom sessions between them in the next few weeks, as part of my Creative Fellowship at Penryn campus, Cornwall. We will use students original images and artworks as starting points to explore the impact of climate change, pollution, and biodiversity upon Environmental Justice issues that concern them. Looking forward to some fascinating conversations, clips of which will be posted on the Exeter Arts and Culture website here: https://www.artsandcultureexeter.co.uk/creative-fellowship/exploring-environmental-justice
Creative Fellowship
Thrilled to be selected for a Creative Fellowship with University of Exeter exploring Environmental Justice with Prof Clare Saunders. It’s going to be exciting collaborating on creative processes and projects over the next six months and looking forward to engaging with students, staff and wider communities. Watch this space for news!
Skinning
New work-in-progress for University of Durham Bioscience Institute, responding to research into cell membrane by Dr Margarita Staykova. Some stills from short test clips below – watch this space for further test clips. Very excited to be working on this!
PLACE collective
A wonderful day exploring ideas in the Lake district with PLACE collective, a community of artists engaged with issues of nature, environment and rural landscapes. I was recently invited to join the group and so happy to be part of it. PLACE is connected the UK’s Centre for National Parks and Protected Areas, and sits at the nexus of five themes:
Wildlife Conservation
Rural and Visitor Economy
Landscapes & Ecology
Human Nature Relationships
Cultural Landscapes
Exchanges
Great to be back in Dundee for the filming of pairs of researchers and people with Parkinson’s playing with ‘Exchanges’, a visual resource in the form of a card game designed to support conversations between them. We were able to use a beautiful architectural space in the botanic gardens for the filming. Some wonderful conversations were recorded, and the next phase is the editing of the film over the next few months.
Brains Revisited
Looking forward to speaking at upcoming symposium “Brains Revisited’ at King’s College, 15th Sept at Gordon’s Museum, London, which brings together some of the artists from the Wellcome Trust touring exhibition ‘Brains: The Mind as Matter’ from 10 years ago. My work ‘Fat Drawing’, which was shown at the Manchester Museum of Science and Industry is below. It really doesn’t feel like 10 years ago!
Fat Drawing by artist Daksha Patel on view in the Brains: The Mind as Matter.
Photographed on display in gallery
EXCHANGES
These last few months I’ve been working with Parkinson’s researchers at Dundee University developing a visual resource in the form of a card game to support conversations between people with Parkinson’s, carers, families, nurses and scientists.
It’s called ‘EXCHANGES’ and consists of a series of 25 images that reflect the physical and psychological symptoms, as well as current research. I have been working with the team to develop questions to accompany the game. It’s been a long process, and excited to be at proof stage just before printing.
We are aiming to present this at a conference next year. Some images of card below.
This card reflects a key symptom – handwriting becoming smaller is an early sign of onsetDifficulties with sleep is another symptomThis image shows the dopamine pathways in the brain, implicated in development of Parkinson’s
At Risk
Excited to be sharing a couple of clips from my new film ‘In Pericula: At Risk’.
IN PERICULA: AT RISK A performer is filmed inside a Life Science Museum wearing a hybrid costume created from prints of bones, horns, shells and corals – objects preserved and classified in the museum collections. The soundtrack is of children reciting the names of different species currently on the red list, which are all in danger of extinction. The animated film explores themes of separateness and inter-connection between human and non-human life.
Exchanges
Thrilled to have received Medical Research Council public engagement funding for a two year project ‘Exchanges’. Working with Prof Miratul Muqit, University of Dundee Parkinson’s research, we are developing a visual resource in the form of artist’s cards to support conversations between researchers and people with lived experience.
Some images of initial drawings (work in progress) below. We have tested these with researchers and people with Parkinson’s which resulted in some very powerful conversations! Next stage is to produce printed packs and an artists film of them being used.
At Risk
Just completed new film ‘In Pericula: At Risk’ which was filmed inside the Life Science Museum, King’s College, London. It features a performer wearing a hybrid costume created from prints of bones, horns, shells and corals – objects preserved and classified in the museum collections. The soundtrack is of children reciting the names of different species currently on the red list, which are all in danger of extinction. The animated film explores themes of separateness and inter-connection between human and non-human life. Really happy with it and will be applying to film festivals over the coming year..
Porcelain work in progress
Great to be back in a ceramic studio again. Am have a wonderful time decorating pots with images of seeds and plant tissue of traditional food crops from around the world that are at risk because of climate change. The work is for British Art Show satellite events in Manchester and will be shown on July 17th at Ernst. All details here: https://www.amodestshow.com/programme/i’ll-bring-you-flowers
Can’t wait for pots to be fired!
Decorating porcelain work at Clay StudioWaiting for the kiln
Test ceramics for BAS Manchester
I have been testing drawings onto a porcelain tile for my upcoming ceramic works for BAS Manchester ‘A Modest Show’ responding to global food security. The works will comprise of a series of pots based upon glass laboratory instruments decorated with imagery developed from research into scientific images: microscope and SEM visualisations of traditional global crops to create etched & painted ceramics using cobalt oxide.
King’s workshop
Here is a short clip from workshops I ran for Language PGCE students at King’s earlier this year. Responding to the aesthetic and embodied elements of language, the workshops used sound, touch, storytelling, drawing and sculpture to explore new dimensions of language. I will be jointly writing a paper about the project with Dr. Simon Coffey, senior lecturer in Modern Languages. Increasingly, my interdisciplinary practice is feeding into my workshops and teaching.
2 day workshops with language students at King’s College, London.
A Modest Show
Pleased to be selected for ‘A Modest Show’, a collateral program to the British Art Show 9, with Suite Studio Artists Lisa Remmers and Fiona Donald. Our event – a pop up meal – will be held in July, and I will be making some porcelain pots, inspired by and referencing global food security and the impact of deforestation and climate change upon food crops.
Excited about going back to Clay Studio to make the work with support from Stephen Graham, particularly because it allows me to build upon my Horniman Museum commission ‘Pani’ (see image below). A Modest Show is Funded and supported by Arts Council England and GMCA
Light Festival
Just seen this video posted by Artichoke, a lovely reminder of the wonderful Lumiere Light Festival in Durham last November!
The Fossilised Sea, Lumiere light Festival, Durham
Taiwan Paper Art Biennial
Wonderful to see the biennial exhibition, such beautiful works that it would have been amazing to see in real life. Exhibition runs until Feb 2022 in case you are in Taiwan! My costume Symbiotic Morphology features in the video.
Symbiotic Morphology
Screenshot from a virtual tour of Paper Fibre Art International Biennial, Taipei with ‘Symbiotic Morphology’ Exhibition runs until April 2022. Watch this space for a link to the upcoming film about the exhibition
International Paper Fibre Art Biennial, National Taiwan Craft Research and Development Institute, Taipei
Lumiere Durham
Very long queues to see ‘The Fossilised Sea’, shame about the barriers which look ugly, but surprised and delighted that so many people were willing to wait up to 20 mins to see the work!
Waterside Arts
‘in the same breath’ selected for the SCREENLIGHT programme at Waterside Arts in Sale, it will be showing upon the big screen in the foyer from Nov 20th – Jan 2022
‘The Fossilised Sea’
‘The Fossilised Sea’ is my Lumiere light festival artwork, opening on Nov 18th in Durham. It’s been fantastic working with Artichoke to make this happen, and as always my ideas have evolved over time from 3 still images revolving in succession inside the Counts House to a 3 min animation that combines my drawings of fossils with edited sections of Lidar scans from University of Durham. A clip and still image below.. so looking forward to seeing it in situ!
still from ‘A Fossilised Sea’
Lumiere
Working on my recent commission for Lumiere projects: a light festival in Durham. I am collaborating with the University of Durham Earth Scientists on this, and will be using some of their Lidar scans of local geological formations as part of the work. I will also be making drawings of beautiful coral fossils found in the local limestone, because – can you believe it – the geology of Durham was once a tropical sea! So happy to have this wonderful folly as the place where the work will be shown in November.
entangled
Excited to be working on a new commission for Lancaster University responding to their research on environmental modelling.
Liverpool Biennial
My Liverpool Biennial, a-n (Artists Newsletter) and OpenCulture bursary project at Yorkshire Sculpture Park, hosted by the wonder Invisible Flock is now completed. A huge thank you to Klavs Kurpnieks at Invisible Flock for his support with the technical equipment, they couldn’t have been made without him! The films of my experiments with Lidar mapping and Photogrammetry are now on the LB website and can be accessed here: https://www.biennial.com/blog/2021/06/24/lb-x-an-artist-bursaries-_2 Some clips below:
‘wateriness 1’ night projection‘wateriness 2’ Lidar footage clip
New animation
My new animation ‘in the same breath’ has been launched. It was commissioned for the ‘I’m Only Human’ project in spring 2020 and responds to the context of the pandemic. You can see it here:
Still from ‘in the same breath’Still from ‘in the same breath’
On line workshops
Over the last month or so, I have been running online workshops for King’s College, London and Imperial College, London. They’ve been really interesting, I’ve learnt new skills and enjoyed speaking to students and researchers.
Here is a recent one
Good news!
in these challenging times… Wonderful to hear that University of Dundee is buying 18 prints from my ‘Misprints’ series for their permanent collection! Busy packing them ready for delivery next week.
Animation clip
Here is a short clip from my ‘in the same breath’ animation, created by using a combination of hand drawing and creative coding by Chris Ball.
‘in the same breath’ animation clip
Animation drawings
It’s been a busy month but I am almost there with the animation and its looking great! Here are a few of the drawings from ‘in the same breath’, watch this space for news about release which will be in October.
Animation commission
Excited to be working on a new commission for Animate Projects, exploring what it means to be human in the context of Covid-19.
My ideas have evolved by thinking about how we’ve become more acutely aware of our bodies during lockdown. It’s become a dangerous place. Everyday things like food, exercise or touch have become big things to negotiate. We’re more emotionally vulnerable – crying unexpectedly, feeling intensely lonely, bored or stressed. Everything is magnified and experienced through body sensations.
The animation will focus upon the internal body, with a bodily soundtrack of heartbeats, breathing, swallowing etc. It will merge analogue drawings inspired by bio-medical imagery with creative coding to animate the drawings in response to the soundtrack data. The coding and data seem particularly relevant for this project because the pandemic is made sense of through data and by using algorithms to model and predict future outbreaks. I’ll be working with creative coder Chris Ball, and the working title for the animation is: ‘In the Same Breath’ Here’s a first drawing
King’s video
A short video by filmmaker Gemma Riggs of my residency at King’s College. Watch this space for more videos about student workshops, and a final performance at King’s of a hybrid human figure constructed using prints and drawings from Life Science and Anatomy collections.
momentum
Active [Drawing] Matter video selected for screening at Coachworks
Brian Cox Prize
Delighted to learn that we have won the University of Dundee Brian Cox Prize for Public Engagement with Research for the ‘Misprints’ project!!
I will be showing a recent video ‘Active [Drawing] Matter’ in the accompanying exhibition ‘Drawn to Investigate’ and presenting my ‘Misprints’ project during the conference. Really looking forward to hearing from a very exciting and dynamic group of artists who will be presenting on the day.
King’s lab
Just back from a few days at King’s College, London, setting up my space in the labs for my residency this academic year. Had a wonderful time in the Life Science museum making prints and in the anatomy labs setting up my space with help from Frank the technician. I will be adding new images as the work progresses next year..
My display cabinet in the labs with Takuhon prints. Nov 2019My corner in the lab
Textile Biennial
Last few days of British Textile Biennial at Queen St Mill (closes 2 Nov). Some installation pics by Richard Tymon below.
MISPRINTS @ DCA
Just back from the opening of ‘Misprints’, an interactive event at DCA (Dundee Contemporary Arts). It was the outcome of my residency at Life Science, University of Dundee, with Prof Miratul Muqit who is researching Parkinson’s Disease. Scientists participated in the event by ‘performing’ their research using my artwork as a stimulus for dialogue with visitors. Their conversations revolved around ‘what I see in this … ’ and ‘what do you see in this … ?’. The prints were produced from ‘mutations’ in my original drawings. After speaking with scientists, visitors placed their chosen print within an installation.
I will be presenting the project during the Drawing Conversations 3 Drawing Talking to the Sciences at The Ruskin, Lancaster University, on 17th January 2020.
Thanks to all the scientists who took part, to photographer Erika Stevenson (www.erikascamera.co.uk ), and to DCA Print for their support. The project was supported by the Wellcome Institutional Strategic Support Fund awarded to the University of Dundee.
British Textile Biennial
It’s the final stage of making new work for the upcoming British Textile Biennial, at Queen St Mill, Burley, which opens on October 3rd. I am drawing with coloured threads upon cotton fabric, which has been printed with images of female workers in textile/garment factories across China, Thailand, India and Bali (see below). And looking forward to installing another new work – gold thread woven intricately around a very large loom which was previously used for producing gold braid. Watch out for installation pics in upcoming weeks!
Embroidery in progress for British Textile Biennial, Queen St Mill.Embroidery in progress for British Textile Biennial, Queen St Mill.gold thread installation upon a ribbon loom which was once used to produce gold braids
Kings College Residency
Looking forward very much to my upcoming artist residency at Kings College, London. Watch this space for more news!
Festival of Making
One day to go before the festival! Here are some tasters of the work, hope you can make it to the festival on 15th and 16th June in Blackburn, it will be packed full of free events, talks, exhibitions and more! Link to a video: https://youtu.be/YQBDhTPi-aE and images below
Dundee workshops
Just returned from Dundee, running arts workshops with Parkinson’s patients at the wonderful Maggies centre. I was also making some test prints at DCA print. Looking forward very much to my return visit in mid June when I will be spending 2 weeks at DCA Print making the final work.
Photographs below by Erika Stevenson, courtesy of University of Dundee
Myself and Dr. Muqit at Maggies centre, Dundee
Workshop for people with Parkinson’s, DundeeWorkshop for people with Parkinson’s, Dundee
Blackburn
Work is progressing nicely in Blackburn, few weeks to go before installation week!
Active [Drawing] Matter
Just back from University of Bristol developing new work with the Applied Maths dept. The work comprises of a circular blackboard with speakers attached to its underside. When sounds of starling murmurations are played at a specific frequency, the blackboard vibrates causing the chalks placed upon it to move in active matter formations. The artwork is inspired by the concept of Active Matter and mathematicians’ use of blackboards as a collaborative thinking space. Active Matter systems are composed of patterns of collective motion typically demonstrated by large numbers of active agents. They can be microscopic, such as cell division and the movement of micro particles, or macroscopic such as flocks of starlings or shoals of fish.
AMAZING time in Baroda with Artcore! Some images and a video below:
Kaipo Che!
I am looking forward very much to my upcoming ‘Kaiypo Che’ residency in Vadodara, India, which is part of Artcore’s program during January 2019. We will be four UK-based artists and six India-based artists working together, plus some researchers. It will be a stimulating and exciting process!
Dundee lab drawings
First drawings produced after my week-long residency in the labs at Dundee University Life Science. Looking forward to my next visit in spring when I will be in the print rooms at DCA taking drawings into etching processes.
Upcoming research residency Dundee
Looking forward very much to my upcoming residency with Dr Miratul Muqit at University of Dundee who is researching Parkinson’s Disease. We have successfully gained funding for an extended project that involves a residency in the labs and in the DCA print room, workshops with patients and a final exhibition in 2019. Watch this space!
Biorhythmic Drawing @ Watermans
Upcoming solo show comprising of a new series of etchings, an interactive bio-sensor installation and a large scale wall drawing at Watermans Art Centre, London. Please see details below:
Gallery Tour and exhibition launch: Wednesday 13th June, 6.30-8.30pm
ACA BEYOND residency
A wonderful few days up in Northumberland for the BEYOND (star gazing) residency at Allenheads Contemporary Arts. Here are some images from my time in their lovely gallery space, playing with ideas connecting to mapping, light projections, drawing with light, seeing and not seeing.
Art/science drawing workshops
Some images from a recent drawing research project I delivered working with medical students and patients exploring the theme of skin. They took place at Salford Royal Hospital and Manchester Museum. Fantastic conversations, stimulating ideas and wonderful drawings!
V&A Noise+Signal event
A very busy and hugely enjoyable day at the V&A, here are some images:
V&A event 24th March
Excited to be taking ‘Noise+Signal’ to Victoria & Albert Museum’s ‘Digital Design Drop In’ event on Saturday March 24th. We will be in the sculpture gallery 1-4pm: come along to this participatory drawing event that responds to your own bio-sensor data. Here are some images from the Manchester Science Festival event to give you a glimpse of what to expect!
Very happy to reveal that I have just passed my viva examination (with minor corrections), project title:
THE CONCEPT OF NOISE IN MEDICAL VISUALISATIONS PERCEIVED THROUGH A CONTEMPORARY DRAWING PRACTICE
Images from my exhibition below
AA2A
Great day in the print room at Chester University testing out different etching processes. Here are some first samples:
ING Drawing bursary
Great evening at Mall galleries – very pleased to be a part of it!
A Grand Exposition
Wonderful show @cornbrookcrt the Noise+Signal drawing event was extremely popular with visitors! Live signals from biosensors worn by participants were projected on the screen upon which they traced their very own unique bio-drawing – see the images below:
FAFF animation festival
Fantastic programme of animations showing Sat 7th Oct @ FAFF festival, London:
A couple of images from my current work ‘Pani’ at the Horniman Museum, London. They are of people searching out the drawings hidden in the large print, which merges satellite imagery, embroidery and drawings of flora and fauna. They are not easy to find!
Suite@Horsefall
Delighted to be part of the Suite Studios exhibition ‘Suite@Horsefall’, part of Manifest Arts celebration of contemporary art in the North West.
‘Pani’ opening night
Just back from London, wonderful evening at Horniman, late night opening with lots of events across the museum including opening of Pani exhibition.
Work is progressing nicely, here are some test images of part of the installation ‘Pani’, a hybrid map, that combines satellite imagery, drawing and embroidery.
LifeSpace Gallery Dundee
Delighted to be exhibiting at LifeSpace, a science and art research gallery in Dundee. The solo show is comprised of drawings, prints and new animation.
Exhibition dates: 11 January – 1 April 2017
http://lifespace.dundee.ac.uk/exhibitions
Dundee LifeSpace gallery 2017
Dundee LifeSpace Gallery, 2017
Dundee LifeSpace Gallery, 2017
Dundee LifeSpace Gallery, 2017
New Animation
Just completed a new animation called ‘All of a sudden, something popped’ in response to art/science award at University of Manchester. It will be on Vimeo in May 2017 after being submitted to animation/film festivals, but meanwhile here are some stills.
Horniman Museum
New commission for the Horniman Museum, London! Watch this space for images in the New Year.
Art Gemini Prize
Selected for Art Gemini Prize 2016, exhibition at Asia House Gallery, London opens 22 Sept
Drawings chosen as best of May/June 2016 entry for ICAC (International Confederation of Art Critics) prize and featured in American Arts news: http://americanartnews.org/june-icac-art-contest
Women Artists: From 1861 to 2015
My drawings from the permanent collections at Touchstones Rochdale to feature in new show of work by women artists.
I have been invited to present at the Silent Signal symposium, at the University of Derby on 26th February. There is a wonderful line up of speakers; looking forward very much to a stimulating and thought provoking day! For further details about how to attend, please see link below:
New drawing ‘Lost in K Space’ in upcoming group show ‘Paper, Table, Wall and After’ at the National Taiwan University of Arts, Taipei (Nov-Dec 2015).
National Brain Appeal
Very pleased to see that the artwork donated to the National Brain Appeal 2015 has sold! The exhibition @OXO, London, invited artists to respond visually to a journey that they have experienced: whether emotional, psychological, real or imagined – using a simple envelope as their starting point. The aim of the exhibition was to raise awareness of neurological conditions through artistic questioning as patients at The National Hospital embark on their own personal journeys. All sales donated to fund advances in neurology and neurosurgery:
Solo show of new drawings and prints ‘Noisy Bodies’ opens on 1 October 2015 at the historic John Rylands Library, Deansgate, Manchester. The exhibition is the outcome of an art and science collaboration residency funded by the University of Manchester.
The John Rylands Library, Historic Reading Room, 150 Deansgate, Manchester M3 3EH
Exhibition:
1 October – 20 December 2015
Artist/Scientist talk:
29th October 6pm – 7.30pm
AND festival
Wonderful two days taking part in the ‘Night of the Living Deadwood’ workshop (http://www.andfestival.org.uk/events/night-of-the-living-deadwood/) led by Dr Rod Dillon and Dr Jackie Parry from Lancaster University at Grizedale forest. Watch this space for projects evolving out of the event in future!
Animation funding
Awarded Arts Science funding from University of Manchester to produce new animation responding to experiences of stroke. The animation will be screened in November 2016 at The Whitworth gallery, Manchester as part of a symposium. Still images of drawings below:
New Commission for MOSI
Working on new commission for MOSI (Museum of Science and Industry, Manchester) for ‘Cravings’ exhibition opening October 20th
Public Collections
Three drawings (Memoria series) purchased by Touchstones Rochdale!
Art/Science Residency
Awarded funding for an Art & Science collaborative project at University of Manchester beginning in January 2015 working with Professor Rebecca Elliott and Dr Alexandra Morgan. Daksha will undertake residencies in brain and lung imaging and experiment with drawing methods that respond to concepts of noise and signal in biomedical imaging. The project explores how science and art construct knowledge, and the relationship between biomedical images and perceptions about the human body. The residency will culminate in an exhibition ‘Noisy Bodies’ at the John Ryland’s Library, Deansgate in October 2015. It will be supported by talks during Manchester Science Festival, and workshops in local schools combining arts and science components.
Guardian weekend
Bodytopos exhibition featured in the Weekend Guardian December 2014
New show at Touchstones gallery, Rochdale Preview Friday 12th December 6-8pm Touchstones Rochdale The Esplanade Rochdale Lancs OL16 1AQ Exhibition continues 13 December 2014 – 7 March 2015
Triennial City Book Launch
Featuring artwork and text by Daksha Patel Cornerhouse, 23 July 6-8pm. All Welcome! http://www.cornerhouse.org/bookstore/product/triennial-city-localising-asian-art-asia-triennial-manchester-2011
‘Diffusion’ drawing featured in Drawing Paper 5, a newspaper based publication concerned solely with drawing, curated, designed and published in Liverpool UK by Mike Carney and Jon Barraclough.
