I’ll use the £10,000 bursary to research, develop and present a new body of work that will represent a significant step forward for my practice in terms of scale and ambition. It will provide me with the time, space and support to realise a project that has been gestating for several years but has been held back through a lack of funds and the pressures of sustaining a living as a freelance artist.
This work will be focussed on my interest in endangered languages. I am fascinated by how the current global decline in linguistic diversity contributes to the disappearance of our collective cultural heritage and our knowledge of our surrounding environment. The question that sits at the heart of this project is: what do we lose from our identity when we lose the way that speak? The work I make will sit at the borders between the fields of expanded painting, poetry, artist books and installation, incorporating Braille as a way of exploring unreadability, accessibility and its ability to evoke a tactile response through both touch and visual stimuli. I will experiment with ways in which I can engage the public as both part of my research process and in the presentation of the work through participatory performance. The final work will be a multi-sensory, immersive installation that investigates our relationship with language and the hidden ways in which it shapes our lives.
The funding will cover the costs of UK travel to visit archives and consult with linguists with expertise in this area. Further research will focus on community engagement in Darlington through workshops, interventions and conversations with a diverse range of local people (including artists). It will also cover the costs of my time, materials, fabrication and installation of the work in Darlington.
Winning the Dover Prize would enable me to experiment and push my practice into exciting new areas at a critical point in my career. Working at this scale is the next step for me and it will open me up to working at a level that matches my ambitions for my work.
I will produce a significant body of new creative work that will be premiered in Darlington, before going on to tour this work nationally and internationally. This will contribute to raising the profile of Darlington as an important incubator for new and ambitious contemporary art.
I am passionate about making work that is relevant and communicates to everyone, regardless of their background, knowledge and level of experience of the arts. I have witnessed many times the transformative power of the arts on the lives of others and the way in which it can make a real difference to the wellbeing and aspirations of people and communities. Consequently, I am open, and keen, to engage with the wider community of Darlington throughout the process of developing, creating and presenting my work.
By premiering this new work in Darlington, I will both contribute to the creative offer and raise the profile of creative arts in the local area. I will spend time engaging with artists, communities and the arts scene in Darlington, bringing my energy and enthusiasm and advocating for the role that the creative arts can play in the lives of people in the area.
At the heart of my practice is an intrinsic enquiry into language: its intricacies and its material possibilities. I am interested in what cannot be said and what is lost in translation in the context of our changing world. My fragile, emotive and multi- sensory works are informed by research into the history of language, dialects, Braille, etymology, technology, climate science and poetics. Through an inherently interdisciplinary approach, I blend diverse techniques from a range of artistic disciplines to conjure feelings of love, disappearance, (dis)connection, time, place and memory. I find inspiration in the histories, materiality, music, look and feel of words, voices and landscapes. I am fascinated by the ways in which the unseen, multi-sensory qualities of language can be used as a material for the translation of our human and nonhuman identities into art. Much of my recent work has explored the borders between the fields of expanded painting, poetry and artist books, incorporating Braille as a way of exploring unreadability, accessibility and its ability to evoke a tactile response through both touch and visual stimuli. Recent exhibitions include: Palimpsest Projects, One Paved Court Gallery, Richmond, London (2024); Baltic Open, Baltic Centre for Contemporary Art, Gateshead (2024); A Blanket of Stars, Fronteer Gallery, Sheffield (2024); John Moores Painting Prize, Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool (2023); In Our Hands, Town House Museum and Art Gallery, Dunbar (2023); Material Presence, Fitzrovia Gallery, London (2022); PAINT!, Fronteer Gallery, Sheffield (2022) & The Poetics of the Audience, Online / Austria (2021).
No, although I have completed a painting course with TURPS Art School in London, which is commonly considered equivalent to a postgraduate qualification in visual arts.
Yes. I am the recipient of:
– Multiple grants from Arts Council England, including a DYCP grant (2019), and 3 x project grants (2010, 2014, 2017).
– 2 Macdowell Fellowships in the US (2014 & 2017).
– Multiple awards for my writing, including a Northern Writers Award (2010) and a Jerwood / Arvon Menteeship (2010).
– Multiple awards for my moving image works, including Best Poetry Film @ Newlyn International Film Festival (2019) & Up and Coming Talent Award & Canterbury Anifest, 2013)
– Multiple development grants from organisations including a-n, Oppenheimer-John Downes Memorial Trust and The Eaton Fund.
I earn my living through freelance projects and these are often self-initiated and produced, providing opportunities for myself and a significant number of other artists / creative professionals. For ten years (2009 – 2019) I was also involved in running the artist studio co-operative at 36 Lime Street, Newcastle.
Yes, I have received commissions from Baltic Centre for Contemporary Art, Newcastle City Council, Durham Book Festival, Northumberland County Council, New Writing North, Festival of the North East, The Hatton Gallery, Durham City Arts, Newcastle Centre for the Literary Arts and several schools in the North East.
Yes, my works are held in the following public collections: University for the Creative Arts, Surrey, UK; Oxford University Bodleian Rare Books and Manuscripts Collection, UK; MacDowell Library, USA; British Library Contemporary British Collection, UK; University of Kent Special Collections, UK; BALTIC Centre for Contemporary Art Artist Book Collection, UK; Sheffield International Artist Book Prize Collection, UK; Artist Book Collective Collection, UK; Wiener Library Collection, UK.
Yes, my artwork has been reviewed / featured in several art journals, magazines and newspapers, both in print and online. Places where my work has received coverage include: The Guardian; Living North; a-n artist books column; The Journal; Culture Mag; Artist Book Yearbook; The Blue Notebook; Inscription Journal; Parenthesis – The Journal of the Fine Press Book Association; and Earthlines, among many others.
Yes, I have held residencies with: Lancaster Arts (2024); Centre for Literature, Burg Hülshoff (2019); Baltic Centre for Contemporary Art (2017 & 2011); The New Schoolhouse Gallery (2014); Ilkley Literature Festival (2013); The Arctic Circle (2013); Gateshead Mobile Library Service (2013); Cove Park (2010 & 2012) & The Hatton Gallery (2011).
Email: stevie@stevieronnie.com
Address: Holmlea, Waynriggs Close, Humshaugh, Hexham, Northumberland, NE46 4AB, GB
Local Authority: Northumberland
