Over the course of 2014/15, my practice has strengthened in terms of direction, subject matter, conceptual concerns and medium. Whilst collage has remained a staple part of my artistic diet, I have realised that although useful in terms of sketchbooks, idea development and commissioned work, there are mediums which support my artistic dialogue with more clarity and depth. Through performance, film and installation work, I have been able to discuss emerging themes of personal relationships, emotional/psychological experiences and popular culture (media, celebrity and the every day object) in a way which allows me to further develop my style and begin producing more conclusive pieces of work as opposed to my earlier collage, sculpture, paint and video works which were mere maquettes for my developing ideas. Particularly with installations, I can bring together all these mediums and more for the work to have a stronger presence and engage with numerous topics at once - it allows my work to become multi-faceted rather than 'flat' as I'd term my paintings for example. This has led to further thoughts regarding performance, curation and documentation - as I begin to see my practice as a large, complex collage in itself, I can begin to use elements such as events I organise (SQUARES nights and SATELLITE RECEIVER: THE ART OF BEN FRANKS for example) as a way of learning, presenting and developing my work, slowly achieving the aim (much discussed amongst my contemporaries and in the institution of art as a whole) of blurring the line between LIFE and ART. Following on from these thoughts, I have a number of summer projects to maintain the momentum of my current practice:
SQUARES 1st BIRTHDAY - Evening of art/poetry/music to celebrate the first anniversary of SQUARES
(https://www.facebook.com/events/991699937521859/)
MARGARET THATCHER'S NEON FUN HOUSE - Group exhibition curated by George Stone and I
(https://www.facebook.com/events/1597552467195819/)
ROXANNE AND ELVIS LAS VEGAS - 2 collage/print works commissioned by The Shed Restaurant
AGATHA CHRISTIE EXHIBITION - 5 collages to be shown at Artizan Gallery, Torquay
(http://www.artizangallery.co.uk/)
CURRENT ECLAIRS - Further collaboration with Nine Derricott, a series of youtube 'chat show' videos
SQUARES 1st BIRTHDAY - Evening of art/poetry/music to celebrate the first anniversary of SQUARES
(https://www.facebook.com/events/991699937521859/)
MARGARET THATCHER'S NEON FUN HOUSE - Group exhibition curated by George Stone and I
(https://www.facebook.com/events/1597552467195819/)
ROXANNE AND ELVIS LAS VEGAS - 2 collage/print works commissioned by The Shed Restaurant
AGATHA CHRISTIE EXHIBITION - 5 collages to be shown at Artizan Gallery, Torquay
(http://www.artizangallery.co.uk/)
CURRENT ECLAIRS - Further collaboration with Nine Derricott, a series of youtube 'chat show' videos