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Join us for this introduction to artist Laura Wilson’s forthcoming Platform residency. Laura will be joined by Alison Proctor (Siobhan Davies Studios, London) and Martha Brown (Forge Bakehouse, Sheffield). They will discuss the themes of the residency, including Laura’s interest in the physicality of dough as a live material, its relationship to the human body and how this can be expressed through dance/movement.
Laura’s residency (15 March – 9 April 2016) will bring together professional dancers and bread bakers. The two groups will share skills and embark on the development of a series of performances, investigating the crossover between movement and the tactile, malleable quality of dough. The project will explore the traditions and historical development of both crafts, while Laura works towards making an extended video work and final performance.
Speaker Biographies
Laura Wilson (b. 1983, Belfast, based in London) works across a wide range of mediums producing sculpture, installation, drawing, video and performance. Selected exhibitions include: Black Top, Whitstable Biennale 2014, Whitstable, UK (2014); Pattern for a Dark Lantern, for Café Curio at Camden Arts Centre, London, UK (2013); Brick Project at Turner Contemporary, Margate, UK (2013), OUTPOST, Norwich, UK (2012) and W139, Amsterdam, The Netherlands (2012); Tweespoor: Kunstparcours, De Warande, Turnhout, Belgium (2012); Portrait of Space, Clonlea Studios, Dublin, Ireland (2011); Header Stretcher Soldier Sailor Shiner Rowlock, Vitrine Gallery, London, UK (2011); Horse of a Different Colour, Siobhan Davies Studios, London, UK (2010). She was awarded a Winston Churchill Memorial Travel Fellowship (2011) to research bricks in China, Peru, The Netherlands and Belgium. In March 2016 Laura is presenting Brick Project at RIBA, London.
Martha Brown is the Founder and Head Baker at Forge Bakehouse, which opened November 2012 and moved to its premises and current location on Abbeydale Road in December 2014.
Martha is a native Sheffielder with a passion for baking. For her, bread baking combines science with creativity and is not too dissimilar to how bread has been traditionally made for thousands of years. She writes:
‘The environment of the bake house is full of sounds, smells, tastes and textures that engross you in the process. Dough is tactile. It’s fun to play around with and responsive to the hand’s movements and forces exerted on it. You are working with a living breathing mass of dough until it is baked. It’s so effected by the seasons, temperature and ingredients that you need a real understanding to work with those changes to ensure you are still making a consistent product.’
Alison Proctor is the Programme & Producing Manager at Siobhan Davies Dance, responsible for the arts programme at the company’s London studios and overseeing the production and touring of its performative work. She worked closely with Laura Wilson on her 2010 exhibition at Siobhan Davies Studios in London. Alison originally trained in dance and visual art, graduating from Roehampton University, London with a combined BA (Hons) degree. Following an injury, Alison retrained in lighting design. She was awarded a bursary for lighting design in dance by the Arts Council, worked with companies such as Rambert and Merce Cunningham, and joined the renowned lighting designer David Hersey. Alison now splits her time between her own ceramics practice and working for Siobhan Davies Dance.
