If succesful I would like to use the bursary to create an ambitious solo exhibition focused on the materiality of the North East. Using materials collected or salvaged exclusively from the region, I want to create a series of sculptures and art objects that reflect the wealth, variety and animacy of our local surroundings. I will use materials such as clay, timber, stone, textiles, leather and seaweed, to create a rich array of colours and textures that when perceived together, will inspire a sense of wonder and sensual delight.
Over the past five years I have been engaged in extensive material led exploration, developing traditional and innovative craft practices needed to work creatively with these materials. I am now in a position to start bringing this substantial and varied body of research to fruition. This could be achieved by using the bursary to fund a significant amount of time in the studio, focused on creating the quantity of high standard works needed for such an exhibition. I would additionally use the time and the support provided to find venues across the North East, suitable for showing the work. This would include a location in Darlington as well as a venue outside of the region as I am interested in how a geographically specific body of work is perceived externally.
The aim of this exhibition is to display a vernacular form of creativity rooted in the material and ecological surroundings in which the work is made. I want to find out if this way of making is relevant and well received by learning from the reaction of the audience. The feedback provided alongside the opportunity for post exhibition reflection would help to further refine this line of questioning and push my artistic practice forwards.
I believe that Darlington and the North East more broadly have been neglected by cultural centres and largely left out of national creative dialogue. Despite the region’s distinguished and illustrious heritage, whether we’re talking about the earliest examples of written English, or the immense ingenuity and wealth generated during the industrial revolution, it often feels like the contributions of the region are left underappreciated. Instead of waiting for external recognition, I believe artists living and working in the area need to make use of local strengths and traditions to create a culture that is both regionally unique and internationally relevant.
In this vein I want to use the proposed exhibition to demonstrate the creative benefits of positioning yourself here in the North East. With access to a diverse range of materials and an equally rich history of making, I want to inspire local audiences to think inventively about the creative potential of the region. By then presenting the work outside of the region, I hope to showcase externally an example of what can be achieved.
Responding to the climate crisis, my practice challenges our relationship with materiality and the natural world. I aim to create sculpture and art objects that represent a rewilding of material culture whilst pointing towards a more sustainable future. To do this I work exclusively with materials sourced from the surrounding land, creating work that belongs instinctively to the ecology and history of the region in which it’s made.
To date I have worked with clay, timber, stone, textiles, leather, recovered plastics, metals and seaweed as well as others which can be seen on the ‘Material Library’ page of my website. These have all been collected by hand or salvaged from landfill. This methodology allows me to better survey and understand the environmental consequences of my practice, whilst knowing the provenance and transformation of material adds value, narrative and wonder.
My practice is equally informed by the mythology and material culture left behind by previous generations. I often use specific artefacts as reference points to investigate cultural differences in understanding our relationship to the non-human world. Historical objects and museum displays influence the aesthetic qualities of my practice as I aim to create work that looks simultaneously ancient and modern.
I recently exhibited as part of a show at the Hatton in Newcastle titled ‘Sustainable Clay’ which explored the environmental implications of working with clay. This Spring I also finished making a jade handaxe the conclusion to a research project funded by The Edwin John Easydorchik Travelling Scholarship.
I graduated with a first class degree in Fine Art (BA Hons) at Leeds College of Art in 2019. This included passing a semester at the École Supérieure d’Art et de Design Toulon Provence Méditerranée, in the south of France in 2017/18.
I have received the following professional grants and awards (please note that the Arts & Heritage, Blue Sky Ideas award is particularly relevant for this application) :
– The Edwin John Easydorchik Travelling Scholarship in 2023. This included a £4000 grant to partake in international research, exploring the geological sources of jade in the French and Italian Alps.
– Arts & Heritage, Blue Sky Ideas in 2022. This was a £500 award for a piece of creative writing designed to encourage fantastical proposals for creative interventions at some of the region’s most celebrated heritage sites. My proposal was selected for Durham Cathedral and can be found at the following web address: https://www.artsandheritage.org.uk/proposals/laurie-powell-untitled/
– Gillian Dickinson North East Young Sculptor Award (GDNEYS) in 2020. This involved a £6000 commission to create a work named ‘Library’ for Cheeseburn Sculpture Gardens. The work included a large-scale installation of 81 panels made using clay from locations across Northumberland.
– Curator’s Choice in 2020. This was an invitation to return to Leeds College of Art as an alumni to create an installation for the vitrines lining the university’s corridors.
Many of the previously mentioned awards were for projects that I had initially self-created and then supported through exterior funding and support. I have also been involved in group exhibitions that were designed, organised and produced collaboratively. Finally I worked as part of a collective ‘art choir’ which created performative art pieces and video art including an intervention at the Tetley gallery in Leeds.
The work I exhibited at the Hatton Gallery in Spring was accompanied by a video interview which can be found on the North East Museums Stories youtube page at the following address: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uOHFM0c-CNY&ab_channel=NorthEastMuseumsStories
The writing published as part the Arts & Heritage, Blue Sky Ideas can be accessed on the Arts & Heritage at: https://www.artsandheritage.org.uk/proposals/laurie-powell-untitled/
The intervention performed at the Tetley Gallery by the art collective ‘non’ of which I was a founding member was reviewed by Corridor 8 and can be found at the following address: https://corridor8.co.uk/article/david-steans-crime-world/
I took part in the ERASMUS+ scheme whilst studying Fine Art. This involved six months studying on a French Fine Art course at l’École Supérieure d’Art et de Design Toulon Provence Méditerranée in the south of France.
Email: laurie@myphone.coop
Address: 17 Grosvenor Place, Flat 3, Newcastle, Tyne and Wear, NE2 2RB, GB
Local Authority: Newcastle City Council
