Scraps of time

A few hours in the studio

My father is at the age when he seems to be either at the doctor’s or at the hospital for tests and I feel like I am running from one meeting to the next and taking him to his appointments in between.  In reality it is not as bad as that, but still, a couple of hours in the studio to create a quiet space of my own out of scraps of paper is a welcome opportunity to still the rushing about of my mind.  But I can’t help wondering how long he still has and wishing that he will have time to enjoy the new bungalow he and my mother are moving to in the next few weeks (provided all goes to plan). 

Shock or surprise

In the spirit of trying to create better titles this year I am trying to relate them to everyday experience and to eents going on at the time the work was made, because although the work is not consciously illustrative of a particular moment or event, it must somehow relate.  At the same time, I don’t want the title to tie the work down.  So, for this one, I’ve been thinking about the difference between a surprise and a shock, surprise gifts and the effort it takes to keep a planned surprise secret and not give the game away.  So maybe something like “…nearly giving the game away”

Small collage 16 Feb 2017

Title? ( cont)

Ongoing thoughts about a title for this collage… it is small so a “big, heavy” title will overwhelm it.  Maybe it is ‘just’ a study anyway.  I imagine I could use it as a sketch…

Quite often I browse poems online, any poems, any that contain a word that a piece of work suggests; now I’m also trying to think of snippets of things said around the time of completion, as a way of bringing in something of the real world to match the real materiality of the collage elements. 

So for this one, at the moment, I’m thinking “…but that’s another conversation.” 

Title? 

Clare Smith's mixed English/Chinese heritage informs her perspective on issues of identity and categorisation.  Her nomadic childhood and early adulthood have meant a somewhat ambivalent relationship to place, reinforced by the sense of ambiguity that comes from her mixed identity.  Smith works with drawing, print media, collage and moving image to investigate this ambivalence, with references to craft, the importance of labour and the handmade.  Through her choice of materials and approaches, she creates work which attempts to create a sense of unity, an interpretation of Homi Bhabha's "Third Space" - seen as a space in which different parts can come together to challenge dominant ideas of wholeness. 
Collaboration is part of Smith’s practice and she is also co-founder of Dover Arts Development (DAD) together with painter, Joanna Jones.  This involves working with many different artists, curation, organisation, event management, creating networks across East Kent and influencing the public realm in Dover. 
Clare works from a studio in Dover.  She has an MA in Fine Art from Central Saint Martins and has exhibited nationally and internationally.