Twelve Artists At Home Residency

ResidencyArts Council EnglandNational Lottery Projects Grant

7 Jul

Written By

I’m thrilled to be one of the artists selected by Jelly, Reading, for the Twelve Artists At Home Residency. The residency is supported using public funding by the National Lottery through Arts Council England.

Formerly The Jelly Leg’d Chicken Arts Gallery (founded 1993), Jelly energetically supports artists, art education and community engagement in Reading.

Furthering work begun in lockdown, the residency supports me to develop my Perceptual Field project, working directly from the sound of birdsong in ancient woodland on Shotover Hill, Oxford, and in my own studio at home.

Ella Clocksin contemporary artist, abstract painting 'Birdsong Perceptual Field 1' in blue and monochrome — Ella Clocksin (2020) *Birdsong Perceptual Field 1*, watercolour, graphite, crayon

The project is experimental, rendering the acoustic shapes, patterns, rhythms and undulations of birdsong in paint, in real time. The timing, from July to September, means the birdsong will change with the season. Perception of the sounds is what prompts and determines the weight, speed, movement and direction of abstract notations that coalesce into paintings. Or hybrid drawing-paintings.

Ella Clocksin contemporary artist, abstract painting 'Birdsong Perceptual Field 8' in blue and monochrome — Ella Clocksin (2020) *Birdsong Perceptual Field 8*, watercolour, graphite, crayon

The Perceptual Field project investigates the boundaries and overlaps between visuality and hearing, between drawing and painting, and between neurology and poetics. It also relates my long-standing interest in illegible script and mute forms of communication that remain un-translatable, or beyond transcription into formal language.

Ella Clocksin contemporary artist, abstract painting 'Birdsong Perceptual Field 17' in blue and monochrome — Ella Clocksin (2020) *Birdsong Perceptual Field 17*, watercolour, graphite, crayon

Each artist collaborates remotely with another artist of the twelve artists during the residency . I’m delighted to be collaborating with Fiona Talkington for the duration. Fiona is a BBC broadcaster and presenter, a writer, curator and artist. Sound and communication is an obvious connection between us. Her residency project encompasses sound, objects, memory and site specific work.

You can see the complete project here.

And click here to listen to a discussion about the project