MAniFest is a dedicated arts festival that focuses on the power of creative ideas and the possibilities that arise when they are fulfilled. With no set theme across the participants, visitors can expect to find themselves engulfed in an exciting world of varying artistic outcomes with something for everyone to enjoy.
The Fine Art show at Canwood features sound art and tactile pieces, alongside photography and film-making – all in an idyllic rural arts venue.
The realisation of a year-long Masters projects from 11 emerging artists, the free show is open to the public across two weekends and features artist talks and interactive workshops from 11am on Saturday, July 23 and Sunday, July 24.
Our exhibiting students
“My practice involves performance to camera and transformation, plus elements of the fantastic and the uncanny. For my latest project in Moreton Wood, I chose to disrupt the harmony of the green space that I found there, and in the process, I became my own artwork – as both author and subject.
“My practice incorporates themes of 'Rites of Passage', Anarcho Inspiritus and Symbolism. Repurposing and reimagining found objects to explore and question concepts, value and meaning.
“With a background in narrative filmmaking, I sought to explore Moving Image beyond the traditional bounds and conventions of the medium; rejecting ideas of quality, disrupting form, and experimenting with the ‘time-image’ (Giles Deleuze’s Cinema II).
Canwood Gallery, Hereford HR1 4NF
16th - 18th - 19th - 20th - 21st - 22nd - 23rd- 24th July
“I have been experimenting with strategies of disruption, such as distorting, concealing, and glitching, to place the viewer in a position of unknowingness; depriving them of what they are expected to see. I use the glitch as a representation of resistance against the gaze and pleasure in looking; a malfunction of the objectification and sexualisation of the female body. The ‘broken’ imagery leaking onto the surrounding walls allows this fractured imagery to transcend into the realm of reality, reforming these social and cultural frameworks.
“I think there is more to art than what we can experience visually, and this is what I’ve been investigating in my creative practice. I make work that privileges scent, which engages with and is inspired by mythology, folklore and botany. I embrace the ephemeral materiality of fragrance; exploring how olfaction can evoke powerful memories, affect our emotions, and has the ability to generate visceral responses.
“I explore imaginary people as subject matter because I believe these images are accessible to a wide audience and demand an emotional response. My figures emerge during the working process which is multi-layered and sometimes destructive. If I include text I will often make it illegible because it is personal, embarrassing or banal. The text represents the bombardment of data and noise which I feel subjected to in my everyday life.
“My work involves exploring new ways of producing large scale vibrant paintings, with elements of spontaneity and serendipity, and my style sits between abstraction and realism. This is achieved by playing with exaggerated colour composition, subject distortion, and creating the illusion of depth. The paintings are produced as monoprints for wall hanging in a physical space, and they depict everyday themes such as those relating to water and nature, presented in a joyful manner.
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MA Student - Gemma Costin
“Be it a feeling, a person or a memory: I seek to preserve that which is ephemeral, an ever failing pursuit.
“A symbiotic relationship with the environment is reflected in my multidisciplinary practice, embracing the interconnection and enchantment of art, life and nature. Drawing inspiration from my surroundings, I transform imagery and found forms delighting in their ambiguity and seeking to elevate and honour the natural and domestic.
“'The Gap' is an exploration of our experience of sensory understanding and information that can be lost or even never found! We journey through life unaware of 'The Gap' in what we experience, what we understand and we often seem separated from in other people's sensory lives. My work is an attempt to bring this 'Gap' to light and to provoke an awareness of the fact that much exists that we are not familiar with.
“I create interactive work using both sound and visual components, which in combination evoke a stronger sense of meaning and engagement than either can in isolation. In this way, I draw attention to challenging contemporary issues that shape our environment, our social structure, and hence our futures.
ManiFest at Pitt Studios
Running as a sister exhibition the MA Curating students are exhibiting simultaneously at Pitt Studios.
Click Below for all the details.