Degree Show Exhibition Space Allocation

The Degree Show spaces have been allocated and I am quite pleased with my space. My work will be the first thing that is seen upon entering the Corridor on the 2nd Floor of St. George's. Meetings to discuss the spaces will take place beginning of March. I will meet Simon Granger March 8th, 2012 at 10:00 am. 

Area 13, Corridor of St. George's 2nd Floor.  

Reflection on Art of Norwich 21 Exhibition

This is my first time exhibiting in the Church of Art and actually visiting their Art Of Norwich Exhibitions. I understood it was primarily used by artists wishing to sell their work and not only exhibit. My exhibit is the only one not advertising sale, however my pamphlets about the work provide my email and website and therefore, may welcome commissions and/or sale conversation. However, this is not a major concern of mine, as I chose to exhibit for the experience and preparation of the Degree Show.

The majority of artist's work appear quite amateurish with the exception of a few, that seem quite experienced. This juxtaposition in quality begs me to wonder where my work fits in so I questioned attendants (without revealing my relationship to the exhibition) and most people were unaware of the immaturity in the work presented and found most work quite appealing. After further enquiry, some explained they found my and another artist's work the most successful and a few explained, the others' works could only work in an Art Fair type setting and not in a prestigious gallery.

For documentation purposes, I photographed my exhibit and noticed more clearly the reflections of the Church's stain-glass and regular windows. I was quite pleased with this as the concept of reflection was being literally absorbed into the exhibition, allowing the viewer to be emerged into the work, physically through the reflections. Also, the Church reflections are interesting because Sean (the subject in the work) has a deep respect for Church and reverence for his Christian faith. To this day, not being able to attend Mass is the only thing that will truly upset him. Otherwise, he is more accepting with most interruptions to routine.

The camera lens is different to the human eye, as it sees the whole picture for the viewer and allows the viewer to see the subject differently. The human eye allows us to be subjective in what we look at. When looking at the exhibition, the content of the photographs are more relevant and noticeable, whilst the camera forces us to see the reflections in the glass of the framed photographs.

Art Of Norwich 21 "The Reflection of Self and Societal Image" Exhibit, Anne-Marie Gray, 2012

Reflection on Arne Svenson's "About Face"

The work is not only for audience and art enthusiasts visual pleasure but used as a teaching tool for Children with Autism. The work helps them develop facial recognition skills. This dualism in the work is what contemporary art offers the artist, a freedom to explore practices and the ingenuity to merge them. I can appreciate this mergence as I incorporated the practice of art therapy with that of contemporary art to achieve the "Righting Misconceptions" series. In Svenson's work, the students are used as subjects and cyclically, the work is used for them as a learning tool. The work is also about reactions, our facial expressions exhibit to others and to ourselves our reaction to certain actions. This work forces me to reflect on my own. With my new work, "Reflection of the Societal and Self-Image", I wish to use my photographs as a learning tool for the audience, to allow them to reflect on how they perceive people with disabilities, or if they have a disability, how they perceive themselves and others (with or without disabilities). In addition, how people with disabilities see themselves and how society, the disabled and the non-disabled affect each other. Also, Sean's facial expressions exhibit what is going on internally. My personal reaction is different in each photograph. In one he appears to be sad, another happy, and in another curious. Each photograph displaying a different expression and hopefully, portraying to the audience how dynamic and expressive, a personality, he is and in essence what other persons with disabilities are. It would be interesting to get people with disabilities reactions to the work and perhaps I can arrange a visit to the 'Art of Norwich 21' exhibit (where my work will be on display) with participants from BUILD (Bridges Unlimited for Individuals with Learning Disabilities).

Arne Svenson About Face (2011)

Exhibition at The Warhol 

February 5 - May 13, 2012 

On Installation and Art

When creating my artwork, I realized that my messages and ideas, could only truly come across in an exhibition installation and as separate pieces, the messages would maybe be lost or interpreted differently. This is not an issue for me, only an observation that I believe important to reflect on.

Usually installation art is large, three-dimensional and interactive. My works so far do not categorize in all these fields and therefore, are not essentially installation art. However, I think the fact I am regarding the exhibition more than the individual piece is showing that the collection of work is more important to conveying my message than the individual. Perhaps the exhibition should be more important to the artist than the individual work, this way, the artist is acting as curator as s/he develops their ideas and art, making the collection more whole.

Development of thought process

Initially, I was studying my subject, Sean in a physical sense, as a person with a disability but I wanted to explore the idea more internally and in a literal sense. I began ideas of examinations of the brain. The idea was to exhibit that the brain of a Downs Syndrome was much in likeness to a generic brain. However, this idea still seemed too physical, with the comparison being on the physical aspects of the brain. I then found myself staring at the photographs I had taken of Sean in order to complete a Bust of his head. These photographs created a three dimensional image of his head and I began to position the photographs differently and saw that they could be arranged as though Sean was examining himself. 


After undergoing research and writing the Research Report, "Breaking the Mould: The Representation of Disabilities in Fine Art and in the Media", for University, my ideas evolved. In a portion of my paper, I wrote about the individual with a disability, having to constantly reflect on themselves because of ostracism and continue to evolve their social identities and self image as it is reflected to them by others and to others. The concept of preconception and misconception was a theme in my earlier works with Sean and the concept of reflection, the self-image and societal affects held expand on these themes. 


Reflection of self led me to consider the incorporation of mirrors. When creating the bust of Sean, I wanted to create a second one of a generic male for comparison, where their minds would be exposed and visible to the audience, as identical brains. This again was too literal, physical and one-dimensional in message. I thought of Sean's Bust looking into a mirror and reflecting on himself. My idea is, if the Bust's rear is facing the audience then their natural inclination may be to attempt to look into the mirror to see the Bust's face, making them part of the installation in the reflection of the mirror. This will bring the concept of society's influence on the individual into play. What the audiences' reactions to the face of the Bust are, will be reflected in the mirror and in essence their reactions to the Bust, are what effects the real person, Sean. In this piece, Sean represents himself and others with disabilities, mainly learning disabilities and the audience represents society. 

Degree Show Proposal

Degree Show Application (Main Page)

Degree Show Installation Concept 1

Degree Show Installation Concept 2

When completing the Degree Show Proposal, A Practical Guide of Installation for Exhibition by Pete Smithson, from University of Arts London aided me in the Health and Safety portion.

The Guide can be found here: 

http://ualresearchonline.arts.ac.uk/455/1/A_Practical_Guide_for_Installation_of_Art_Exhibitions.pdf

Self-Reflection and Societal Affects on Self-Image

The idea of reflection of self and societal affects on reflection, in consideration of the individual with learning disabilities. 
Those who are mentally and physically challenged, are so for uncontrollable reasons and must, as result of ostracism, continue to evolve their social identities and self image as it is reflected to them by others and to others. 


The photographs of Sean's head from different angles can be arranged as though Sean is looking at himself and at the viewer, his social identity and his self image, are being reflected on, by him. This series, "The Reflection of Self and Societal Image", the subject (Sean) appears to be examining himself, aware of his environment, his viewer and analyzing the viewer, whilst the viewer is reflecting on him. The arrangement of photographs, allow the cyclical, multifaceted relationship between self and society interaction. The key element is Sean's condition. Does Sean, having Downs Syndrome make this interaction, an even more dynamic subject? The photos are stills of a velocious,  propelled and ever-recurrent relationship that are made even more complicated when an individual exudes the quality of "otherness". 

Art-Of-Norwich 21

NEW WORK TO BE EXHIBITED IN ART-OF-NORWICH 21, 

St Margarets - Church of Art, St Margarets St., Norwich, NR2, United Kingdom

Monday 27th February-Saturday 10th March

Weekday Opening : 11am - 3pm
Sunday Opening : 11am-1pm

"Art Of Norwich 21" exhibition invite

               Part of "The Reflection of Self and Societal Image" series to be displayed at 'Art of Norwich 21'

"Position" Exhibition at Norwich University College of the Arts Student Gallery

One of the 'Righting Misconceptions' series was accepted into the Position Exhibition at Norwich University College of the Arts. This piece related to the social response of position.