October-November
To say that this is a busy period in
the project would be something of an understatement. The artists
may have concluded their time spent together but they are
under enormous pressure to finish the work for the exhibition
and now is also the time for all the other strands to move
to the forefront.
I have been most preoccupied with the
catalogue, my own essay had to be completed and the editing
of the other material for the catalogue has had to be completed
as it has become available. Each of the artists has written
an essay about their experience and the organisation of the
translations from Japanese to English was, at times, quite
fraught. The timescale has been very short between the artists
delivering their essay and when the translation needed to
arrive with the designer. We have used three translators who
have each done an amazing job in catching the various styles
and relaying the content of each essay.
I spent an extremely hectic 10 days in
Japan for the photography of the Japanese work. It was a true
delight for me to be working again with Toshiharu Kawabe,
who made the wonderful photographs for the ‘Textural
Space’ catalogue.
I then returned home for the photography
of the British work, this time with Damian Chapman and Ian
Forsyt who showed an amazing sensitivity to the artists’
intentions and to the work.
(Image 1 Toshiharu Kawabe Image 2 Ian
Forsyth)
Both in Japan and Britain it was the
first opportunity I have had to see what will be in the exhibition
and it has been such an interesting time as each artist unpacked
and hung their pieces. Some work is still not finished but
we were able to see and photograph enough to confirm that
the exhibition will be really stimulating and exciting, covering
so many of the areas covered by the umbrella of ‘textile’.
I have also been very moved by the collaborative works. The
artists have been so open and brave in their attempts to find
a way of demonstrating the meeting points they have found
in their practice and their thinking. Toshiharu Kawabe, Damian
Chapman and Ian Forsyth have given huge amounts of time to
the photography and their terrific results are now with the
catalogue designer, Gerry Diebel, the designer of the ‘Textural
Space’ catalogue. Together with his colleague Pauline
Mosely, we are slowly working through all the material. We
feel it is most important that the catalogue reflect the energy
each of the artists has invested in the project and the process-based
foundation of THROUGH THE SURFACE. We have been most fortunate
to obtain paper sponsorship from Curtis Fine Papers which
has enabled Gerry and Pauline to use both design elements
and paper texture and weight to illustrate the various and
particular qualities of the project.
We have now finalised which of the artists
will showing at The James Hockey and Foyer Galleries in Farnham
and which at Hove Museum and Art Gallery as follows:
James Hockey and Foyer Galleries
Farnham:
Teruyoshi Yoshida/Claire Barber
Junichi Arai/Tim Parry Williams
Jeanette Appleton/Naoko Yoshimoto
Frances Geesin/Kaori Hosozawa
Machiko Agano/Anniken Amundsen
Hove Museum
and Art Gallery
Maxine Bristow/Kyoko Nitta
Michiko Kawarabayashi/Ealish Wilson
We have also been moving forward with
the Education Programme. The Symposium on February 6th at
The Surrey Institute has a very exciting confirmed list of
speakers (see Education page) and Kyoko Nitta and Maxine Bristow
are already booked for lecture/workshop activities at Hove
Museum where I will also be giving a ‘curator’s
view’. Other events are still being discussed. There
will also be an exhibition of work by the Artists- Residence
at the two schools in Farnham. This will take place in the
Long Kiln Room at Farnham Maltings between Monday 23rd Feb
to Friday 5th March, 2004.
Next Journal I will concentrate
on the exhibition design itself. I can’t believe we
are so close to the exhibition opening
Lesley
Millar
Project Director THROUGH THE SURFACE
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