The gap____between art & life : an exegesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree Master of Fine Arts at Massey University Wellington, Aotearoa New Zealand

Abstract

Every day I am an educator, a motivator, a collaborator, a co-author, a partner, a playmate and a director and an artist. The passage of time is marked by calendars and timetables. I make work whilst I teach; intuitively, playfully manipulating materials that are at hand using simple processes and technology. It’s like an experiment, setup within a framework with the results often left to chance. Working on a “kitchen table,” I engage in conversations within my locale. I provide a narrative of my experiences and daily interactions with the cohabitants of my space, combining intimacy and playfulness with social commentary. I want to create an ongoing dialogue between the handmade and the ready made, to make a translation for the viewer, not to reveal all possibilities, but to understand the lived experience of my space by comprehending and describing its genesis. Work is made and remade by playing with and manipulating materials immediately at hand. I translate and transform discarded material by categorising, grouping, arranging and layering? One project leads to another, things are reinvented and reused through a process of bricolage. There is always material left behind - a residue. It’s debris, it depicts debris; it’s a work, it depicts making a work. I want to work in the gap in between life and art.