It can be said that art
is what remains after a
course of rejection of ideas >

-

NICOLA FARQUHAR
‘Angela ‘

‘Angela’ was somewhat the odd one out from the other portraits Nicola is presenting in her graduate show. She has a slightly different construction and appearance, says Nicola - perhaps it is because she is more realistic that the other portraits? ‘Angela’ was one of the earlier paintings in the collection being presented. The rest of them are gathered together in Nicola’s exhibition space, but she says she imagines them existing more comfortably in people’s houses individually, like a friend, family member or pet.

Section of wall taken from Nicola Farquhar’s studio

When I ask Nicola about the marks on this wall she says they weren’t really considered at all. Looking back, she says they were made wiping excess paint off her brush, or as she was testing out colours. She didn’t really think about it as she was doing it, which makes pinning down the logic in reflection tricky. This panel has been part of Nicola’s studio wall since April or May and at first, she tried not to get any paint on it. Once she started, however, there was no point in turning back. Many people have commented on her wall over the year and we agree that this segment is a bit of an artifact. I ask Nicola if she feels differently about the wall now that it has been in a show, and might consider holding on to it. She says she likes how showing the panel at Window is like having a thought that you hold onto for a little while, and then discard.



IAIN CHEESMAN
‘Armature’

In architecture, ‘armature’ describes the structural frameworks that support the sculpture being modelled. Iain named this piece shortly after affixing it to our wall. Prior to that, I have informally been calling it The Arm. It is, in Iain’s words, a “useless useful machine” made by nailing and bolting together bits of spare wood. Iain’s push-stick from his workshop at home is in there, as well as some Indonesian Rosewood from furniture he has made, a segment of kitchen panelling, and some blocks of wood he made painstakingly gluing the slats of a venetian blind together over a day. Around a month before submissions were due, Iain decided against presenting this and built a taller more refined-looking version of it which he coated in tin foil. Two days before submission, he chucked that in a tip. This one might have been hoarded for a little while and then found its way to a tip, but he tells us he is getting quite fond it now. “Now that it’s been in a show I might treat it with more respect”.



ASUMI MIZUO
'Stalin'

This image is a large photocopy of a picture in an old encyclopedia. As little as a week before submissions, this piece and a few others in the same size and medium were a strong feature in Asumi’s graduating exhibition. Upon being told by her tutor that this show was too uncommunicative for an examination process, to the point that it could have adverse affect on her course grade, Asumi changed tack. In the end, only two works form from this medium feature in her exhibition, alongside an assortment of other work that better plumb the scope of her research.



ELENA WENN
‘Stanley Gibbons Gay Venture Stamp Album’

This book was gifted to Sara (Elena’s mother) from Erica (Elena’s mother’s friend) in 1962. Neither Sara nor Elena ever stuck stamps in it. Elena says she couldn’t bear to – that even drawing in it felt like a big deal because of what a cool book it already was. She has been dipping into drawing on pages of it over the course of the year. “It half informs itself”, she says of the occasions on which her drawings are guided by the grid or the country names and pictures bordering the grid. In other cases she notes quotable things she has said, saving them for posterity in gel pens and felt tips. At one stage she planned on making a clear display case with a door to exhibit the book in. The door would allow for the book to be perused while making the viewer mindful that its handling was not to be taken lightly. This display case never got made and at the same time, Elena admits unease at the thought of people carelessly flicking through her book on open day. So despite really liking this work she didn’t want the book itself on display at the risk of ruin. Through a series of fortuitous accidents, she got around this by presenting some of the content in scanned form in her space. But still didn’t know what to do with the book as an object.