born in Dublin, Ireland, lives and works in Newcastle, UK
The Spaghetti Factory is a curatorial project (by Jenny Mc Namara + Eve Cromwell) which began as a series of exhibitions in our house in Central Newcastle. It’s now a satellite project, collaborating with existing spaces (including BALTIC 39, Middlesbrough Art Weekender, GOLDTAPPED, System Gallery) to programme workshops and exhibitions. We’re currently working with Sunderland Museum & Winter Gardens to curate three exhibitions (I, II) in 2019/2020. The Spaghetti Factory aims to support early career artists and to show a range of experimental work.
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Gallery Manager at Gallagher & Turner
2019/2020 Curatorial Fellow at Sunderland Museum and Winter Gardens for Sunderland Culture
studio holder and member of The Collective Studio 2019-2020 at NewBridge Projects
member of the 2019/2020 Programme Committee at Newbridge
read my MFA research here
I’ve started thinking about the sculptures I make as pattern machines – experimentation between surface, space and colour. I aim to create new patterns through optical illusions in space, often using reflective surfaces and lenses. I like to take the patterns made in my sculptures and bring them back into 2D through photography, print and painting.
The interpretation of 2D and 3D space is central to my practice, the way a 2D image of our 3D environment is projected onto the retina and is built back up into a 3D representation of the world by the brain. It takes just one fifth of a second to see something, compare it to everything you’ve seen before, understand it and decide if you like it. In my work, the mind of the viewer is one of the materials.
How we experience shape and colour is important to me. The mechanics of visual processing are interesting; the visual scenes we perceive are first split up by the brain into separate elements like colour, scale, orientation and contrast edges. For example, there are groups of cells in the occipital cortex at the back of the brain that only handle colour and groups that only handle motion. Once all these separate features are processed, they are put back together and understood at higher levels of processing. I think there are parallels between these neural processes and artistic processes of distilling visual information and then bringing it back together.
Understanding the way we perceive visual scenes better informs the creation of my work. I encourage audience involvement by manipulating the modular way that the eyes and brain process vision. I’m also interested in minimalism and minimalist theory, which marked a shift in art from object to experience. One of my big research questions is: considering the modular way the brain processes visual scenes, can minimalism promote a more direct and positive visual experience?
Summer 2021 – installation at Cheeseburn Sculpture, Artist Development Award
15/08/20 – 31/08/20 – North East Young Sculptor of The Year 2020, Cheeseburn Sculpture Gardens
13/03/20 – 04/04/20 – The Collective Studio, Scramble at Pineapple Black, Middlesbrough
25/01/20 – 02/02/20 – The Spaghetti Factory Presents… US at 36 Lime Street with Evelyn Cromwell
26/09/19 – 29/09/19 – Middlesbrough Art Weekender North East Open Call at Albert Road, Middlesbrough
05/09/20 – 10/09/20 – Manner of Flying, System Gallery, Newcastle
23/09/19 – 07/09/19 – MFA Degree Show, Hatton Gallery, Newcastle University
24/06/19 – 06/07/19 – NCL/LDN, exhibition with staff and students from St. Martins, Long Gallery & XL Gallery, Newcastle
04/07/19 – 11/07/19 – Spaghetti Factory guest curators for FOURPACK exhibition at System Gallery, Newcastle
18/05/19 – Spaghetti Factory takeover at GOLDTAPPED in NewBridge Projects as part of The Late Shows 2019
25/03/19 – 31/03/19 – Fine Art MFA Exhibition, Long Gallery, Newcastle University
20/02/19 – MFA Interim Show, Assembly Rooms, Newcastle
07/02/19 – 13/02/19 – UK Young Artists City Takeover, Surface Gallery, Nottingham
24/08/18 – 08/09/18 – MFA (halfway point) Degree Show, Newcastle University
19/05/18 – 02/06/18 – North East Young Sculptor of The Year 2018, Cheeseburn Sculpture
09/03/18 – 24/03/18 – W/O at Vane, Newcastle
21/02/18 – DEEP, The Mining Institute, Newcastle
17/11/17 – Nasty Women North East, Thought Foundation, Birtley
23/09/17 – 05/11/17 – FRESH, The British Ceramics Biennale, Stoke
29/06/17 – 08/07/17 – New Designers, The Business Design Centre, London
09/06/17 – 15/06/17 – Glass & Ceramics Degree Show, The National Glass Centre, Sunderland
03/06/16 – Immersion, The Grove House, Claremont, California, USA
November 2020 – January 2021 – Red + Green = Yellow, an experimental exhibition and series of events about visual response at The NewBridge Project Gallery, Gateshead
October 2019 – June 2020 – HOT NEW IT A series of three exhibitions in a new contemporary art space at Sunderland Museum and Winter Gardens with a focus on contemporary art talent in Sunderland
September 26th – 29th DARKMATTER at Middlesbrough Art Weekender in The Auxiliary, Spaghetti Factory collaboration exhibition with 3 other art collectives: WET Productions, Empty Shop, Durham & BLUR, Sunderland
July 4th – 11th 2019 Spaghetti Factory guest curators, FOURPACK, System Gallery, Newcastle
The Spaghetti Factory Presents:
20/04/18 Harry Pickup
29/06/18 Rebecca Eelbeck
04/08/18 Daniel Dale
13/10/18 Ed Lawrenson
24/11/18 Meghan Darby
16/02/19 Lily Senner
30/03/19 Mag Jittaksa
22/06/19 Jack Connor Kemp
2020 – Artist Development Award, Cheeseburn Sculpture
2020 – Shortlisted for North East Young Sculptor of The Year
2019 – Hatton Gallery Prize
2019 – Eaton Fund for Artists
2019 – Iland Research & Travel Scholarship
2019 – Bartlett Research & Travel Scholarship
2017 – Mike Davies Innovation Scholarship
2017 – Forshaw Bursary
2017 – Shortlisted for North East Young Sculptor of The Year
September 17th 2020 – Pasta making workshop at The NewBridge Project for The Collective Studio
May 18th 2019 – Spaghetti Factory takeover and pasta workshop at GOLDTAPPED in NewBridge Projects as part of The Late Shows 2019
April 17th 2019 – Pasta making workshop at BALTIC 39 as part of the Ways of Learning Exhibition
2019 – 2020 – The Collective Studio, The NewBridge Project
2017 – 2019 – Fine Art MA at Newcastle University
2014 – 2017 – Glass and Ceramics BA at University of Sunderland in The National Glass Centre
Spring 2016 – Semester at Pitzer College in California
2013 – 2014 – Portfolio Preparation at Coláiste Dhúlaigh, Dublin
16/03/21 – Artist talk for The University of Sunderland
02/03/21 – Artist Talk – BA Fine Art, Newcastle College
17/11/20 – Recorded artists interview with David Butler for Newcastle University BA Fine Art students
17/01/20 – Member of Panel at More Than Meanwhile Spaces II with Vee Pollock, Rebecca Huggan, Alan Welby and Sam Pearce
06/09/19 – Artist Talk – Hatton Gallery
04/03/19 – Artist Talk – Explore Group, Ampersand Inventions, Newcastle
17/02/19 – Artist Talk – BA Fine Art, Newcastle College
29/11/17 – Artist Talk – BA Fine Art, Newcastle College
January 2021 – NARC Feature THE SPAGHETTI FACTORY – GRAFFITI MAP OF THE NORTH-EAST March 2020 – University of Sunderland press feature – University Exhibit is Hot Right Now March 2020 – NARC Feature FOCUS: THE SPAGHETTI FACTORY March 2020 – Interview with Jessica Bennet for Young Artists in Conversation December 2019 – Visual Artists’ News Sheet, pg 24, review of Middlesbrough Art Weekender March 2018 – Ochre Press Arts Journal, Issue 2, Sculpt August 2017 – studio residency at AlmadiART Silicate Centre, Budapest, Hungary February 2017 – Studio Placement with Patricia Mato-Mora at The Joan Miro Foundation September 2015 – Arts Facilitator at The Electric Picnic October 2015 – British Ceramics Biennale Invigilator August 2015 – Ceramics Instructor at Hardwick Festival Summer 2015 – Intern at North Tyneside Art Studio March – June 2014 – Gallery Sales Assistant at The Kevin Sharkey Gallery & Studios Summer 2013 and 2014 – Ceramics, Glass and Fabric Arts Teacher at Camp Medolark July 2011 – September 2012 – Ceramics Instructor at Artworks Cafe