A desire to communicate unusual/ unexpected behavioural situations through manipulation of context and choreography. Much of my recent work has involved a mimesis of the striptease, invoking pastiche.
Additionally- I've always had a very strong desire to perform. This is perhaps as a result of attending dance classes since I was 7. The attention you get as a result of performing, is like a drug. I don't think I will ever be able to resist the temptation to express myself through dance/movement. I feel that my work in part deals with, and is fuelled by watching. Through this, I mean that I am fascinated by the perversity of watching myself watching others watching me. I feel that my work is concerned with a fantasy- that of my own, and that of others. Many previous videos have utilised a low budget domestic/ accessible quality. I feel that this technique serves to invite the viewer into a potentially familiar world with a perverse twist.
2 What do you intend your work to convey to an audience?
I have slightly different concerns for each video, but on the whole, I want to make people to think about behavioural/social/contextual restrictions, and the implications of transgressing these boundaries. However, my work is not in any way concerned with morality - my work is interesting in making observations, and playfully pairing up situations that have interesting frictions.
3 Why do you work in your chosen medium and format?
I did my BA in painting, and switched to video just before I left my BA, and the use of video in my practice continued throughout my MA. I believe that the urgency of my particular concerns are more direct through the medium of video, but that is not to say that I would not return to other mediums alongside performative/ video-making .
4 Technically speaking how do you go about constructing your work, that is the image or object itself? What devices do you employ?
The techniques I employ are very archaic. I usually film myself performing for a camera on a tripod. Sometimes I film others whilst I am filming myself, and I film them watching me perform. Other times I film them separately or just allow them to be present whilst filming is in progress- for me, it's all about creating a world where everything is set up in just the right way. If I want to affect my own performance, I will set something up in order to affect this. I'm fascinated by the fragility of human interactions, along with sincerity and role-play. Sometimes, I will leave the camera running for hours until I get what I want.
Behaviour for me is filtered through self conscious/awareness, and for this reason is interestingly complex.
5 Which period(s)/artists/specific works of art are you influenced by and how directly? How does this manifest in your work?
Trash cinema from 60's, 70's & 80's. Particularly John Waters films, and films from Andy Warhol's 'Factory'. John Water's films such as 'Desperate Living', 'Pink Flamingos', 'Female Trouble' serve to have a direct influence on the techniques and aesthetic approach to my performative video-making. Earlier films by Waters just let rip. They are absurd, very badly made and using terrible actors, but they are so bad that they are good.
I'm also an admirer of Leigh Bowery's late 70's, early 80's performance work. There is a particular image of him walking down the street that I remember seeing, where he was wearing an extremely menacing costume. It was so unsettling because you really couldn't tell if he was male or female. Androgyny is something I have been interested in in my previous videos from a few years back, and an interest in this still serves to be something I will probably revisit. To evade categorisation gives one a tremendous amount of power as a performer, and it never ceases to be of interest to me.
Other artists I have been influenced by are as follows: Annie Sprinkle, Bob Flanagan, Franko B, Marina Abromovich, Bruce Nauman, Tracey Emin, Josephine Baker, Madonna, David Lynch, Lars Von Trier, Michael Jackson.
6 What stimulates/informs your work from the world around you?
Strip clubs, Massage parlours, perverse people, mundane sexuality, Disco dancing championships, transgression.
7 What stimulates/informs your work from your own personal experience?
Strip clubs, Massage parlours, perverse people, mundane sexuality, Disco dancing championships, transgression.
8 From where do you derive your other visual source material (i.e. non art historical) and how do you implement this material within your work?
I utilise choreography & context in order to restage situations experienced whilst working in strip clubs, or I edit and manipulate footage with the intention of juxtaposing situations in order to create morally questionable clashes.
9 What are the main problems that you face in making your work?
Most of my problems are technical. I need to work on getting access to better equipment/sets, access to clubs for filming, better lighting & editing equipment. Presently there is a significant distance between what I'm actually making, and what I want to be making. I believe that technical limitations often affect my work conceptually/critically because I am not as in control as I could be over what I'm making.
10 Where do you intend to take your work from here?
I believe the current concerns I face within my work will never completely leave me/ cease to be a source of fascination. I still believe I am finding my voice within my work, and if I can work on technically improving my work-and pushing myself further as a performer, then my videos could improve.
I'm also interested in utilising other mediums, such as video stills, photographs, collages, drawings & paintings to run alongside my video/performances, or create an interesting diversion from them.