Paradise Works Graduate Studio Awards 2019
We are pleased to have Bridget Coderc and Maisie Pritchard joining Paradise Works this month as part of our annual graduate studio partnerships with the University of Salford Art Collection and with Manchester School of Art. Both artists will take part in Open Studios 2019 on the 12th and 13th of October.
Bridget Coderc a recent Photography graduate from The University of Salford, lives and works in Manchester. Through the medium of video and performance she explores themes of emotional experience, the body and memory. Coderc employs low-fidelity technology to develop ideas that stem from psychological theories, personal experiences and self-portraiture. These are manifest in her project ‘Static Retrospective’ which draws upon Sigmund Freud’s theory of the unconscious and her fragmented memories from childhood. Within this piece she projects a VHS dance video from the early 2000s, a recorded moment which inspired her to become a dancer, making dance a central aspect of her early life. She attempts to use the archived footage to re-learn dance, but the constant interruption and layering of the video expresses her dissatisfaction and frustration. She is unable to articulate herself through this once familiar medium and the performance represents the struggle to become consciously congruent.
Maisie Pritchard a recent Fine art graduate from The Manchester School of Art lives and works in Manchester. Throughout her work she explores the impracticalities existing within architectural design methods, and how this deters the public from using furniture within the urban environment. She addresses socio-political issues within her work such as the current housing crisis, privatisation and community. By initiating interventions concerned with social sculpture, she aims to colonise the city with bespoke furniture that is playful yet accessible. In some instances, she has approached privately-owned spaces by merging social sculpture and gardening to install unwelcome objects such as planters. The act of giving works to the public is important to Prichard, as it is a contribution to the specific environment that she is working within. Her intention is to enliven corporate spaces, reclaim what belongs to the public and defy rules of social behaviour, as she believes these spaces should be accessible to the public.