Centred and circuitous, Cooke's seductive landscapes weave their magic, drawing the viewer in to discover the excuisite depths and layers held within the work and marvel at the detail each production offers; another experience evident with each encounter.

Referencing the term 'inscape,' Cooke explores the landscapes that she inhabits and works in a precise and controlled manner, the images held in the centre of the canvas allowing the viewer to navigate a breathing space from the vibrant and emotve images that fuse and flow, twist and weave. Hers is a visual dynamic which challenges the brain and intrigues the eye through a complex and inventive use of layered space and multiple, seductive perspectives.

Like the artist herself, there is an honesty and playfulness that is masterfully composed in each of her mixed media productions. Recent works reference Asian art and the use of calligraphic line.

-Laura Williams (Art historian.) 2010

 EXHIBITION:

Rebirth:

An exhibition of contemporary Japanese art and Japanese inspired art curated by Lorraine Cooke in collaboration with the Unearthed exhibition at the Sainsbury Centre for Visual Arts.

Art1821 presents Rebirth (Thursday 29th July – Saturday 4th September). The exhibition showcases the work of eight contemporary artists. Japanese artists Sahoko Aki, Megumi Baba, Tsunaki Kuwashima,Keika Sako and UK based artist Shaun Caton have produced works in response to ancient Jomon cultureconsidering Jomon existence, how encounters with small objects affect our perceptions of the world, connections between contemporary art and ancient art and the role of archaeology and culture in the making of identities. Veronica Grassi, Jazz Green and Barbara Leaney’s art works reference the meditative and philosophical nature of Japanese culture in the translation of aesthetics which are synonymous with contemporary Japanese arts.

Unearthed (until 29th August) brings together prehistoric ceramic figurines from the Balkans and Japan for the first time. Over 100 figurines from Albania, Macedonia, Japan, Romania and the UK are on display. These include ornate Jomon figurines (known as dogu) from the Robert & Lisa Sainsbury collection. The exhibition offers you the opportunity to get up close to those tiny, enigmatic figurines and to consider some of the mysteries of these ancient objects. There is a series of contemporary art works (including works by Shaun Caton and Tsunaki Kuwashima) which challenge us to think more widely about figurines and the expression of the human form.

REBIRTH…An ancient culture revisited, rediscovered, readdressed, revitalised and remade.

Gallery Open: Tue 10-4;30, Wed- Sat 10-5.

ART1821, Opposite Norwich Cathedral Gate, Augustine Steward House, 14 Tombland, Norwich, Norfolk, NR3 1HF. (East of England.) www.art1821.com

It's my pleasure to announce the winner of the AA2A votes 2009/10:

David Henckel won the student vote and presented at the AA2A College Briefing day held July 6th 2010 at Wellcome Institute, London.

Have a look at David's work on Dotbiz:   http://aa2a.biz/pg/profile/david

Also a lucky student from UCS, won the student prize draw.

Thanks to all those who voted!

Georgia

It's a slightly different set up, but I've started making work at home. I've got a mangle which has been in the bits in the garage for years which I've always said i'd convert into a press. Well, after putting it back together to see if all the bits were there I thought I'd give it a go. The good news is that it doesn't need anything doing to it it prints lino just fine as it is!

These are images of my first print. It's a relatively simple print of two mackerel, but it's a start.

I'll be continuing to drop in now and again to keep this site updated but from now on I'll be posting regularly at my new site www.andrew-dalton.com.

I've noticed that its time for new applications to AA2A, and if your thinking about it, I would highly recommend it to anyone.

latest blog post here! exciting

It's been a long time since I have written a blog post and I must admit to having become rather distracted from my AA2A project. In March/April I was offered 2 exhibition opportunities which involved making new work but were too good to turn down in spite of the very short timescale. One was part of the scheme 'Art in Unusual Spaces' in Leeds and uses the whole balcony level of Leeds Corn Exchnage, the other part of a group show at the Bluecoat, Liverpool. So these have sucked in all my energy and free time over the past couple of months.

AA2A has played a huge contribution in terms of the fact that for both exhibitions I produced large scale poster works using Adobe Illustrator which I have had access to and begun learning because of the scheme and facilities at Huddersfield. The research into text art/design/fonts that I have been doing for AA2A really contributed to the Corn Exchange work particularly (see album). However I have not been able to continue the 3D work I started in the workshop at Huddersfield because I just have not have time. I am hoping to be able to continue working on that for a little while if the Uni allow us to access the facilities for a bit longer but need to collect my thoughts again about where it's going.

For now I'm going to post a new album with some images of the 2 recent projects and over the weekend try and get my head back into AA2A.

I'm alittle bit late with the last blog post as i finished last friday, but its been a busy week and only just around to it today. As part of the AA2A we had to deliver a framed work for display at the Darlington Campus of Teeside Uni, and I thought that 'Bird Boy' would be the most appropriate work to represent the AA2A experience for me. Since xmas its been a very productive period for me and I feel that my work has moved on a long way since beginning the course in October.

I've been particularly keen on the figurative images that I've made and I feel they are a real advance in my work. The strangest development has been the emergence of the Bestiary images which emerged form the bird form that suggested itself when I was completing 'Bird Boy'. I've never had any desire to make animal images but these pieces just seem to have come in a rush and have left me with a lot to think about for the future.

My regret is that I didn't get to merge the animal and figurative images, but maybe this is what I take from the experience and develop in future. I had a lot of positive responses to the work and I'm currently looking for opportunities to exhibit in the near future. I've also got to think about making work now that I don't have access to the fantastic press and facilities at the Uni.

I'd like to thank Phil Gatenby and the staff at teeside Uni for offering us such an open-ended opportunity and hope that I keep in touch with my fellow AA2Aers - particularly Jean who was my workshop buddy and a real star. I didn't get to make conatct with the other AA2A artists and it was pity that we did see as much of them.

I'd completely recommend the experience to any artist looking for an opportunity to revitalise their work, but you have to commit to embracing the experience if you are to take something meaningful from it.

Thanks AA2A.

What a year, what an experience, a fantastic opportunity to use the 3D workshops for 6 months and to pick the brains of the fantastic workshop technicians.  Although I had specific proposals I wanted to develop at the start of this residency, my main aim was to experiment and learn about different materials, their qualities and applications, and of course to learn some mould making techniques.

Hi AA2A Artists,

Some of you may have been wondering whether you'll be able to continue using this site after you've finished your scheme. The plan is that you can continue to use Dotbiz, but only the new year's artists' mugshots, blogs and image albums will appear on the home page. That way, both you, your college and AA2A nationally will continue to have a record of your AA2A project and see what you're doing in the future if you continue to use the site. We also hope it'll help artists to keep in touch with each other, post AA2A.

Whilst we are hoping to be able to keep it open for you in this way - if we are not able to we will always give you at least a months notice before making changes either to your access or material on the site.

If for any reason you don't wish to continue to using the site please let us know so we can remove you from the site.

There have been some great blogs reflecting on the scheme this week (thanks to Andrew Dalton and Helen Dearnley)  Don't forget that your blogs and images albums from this site provide a fantastic record of your work on the scheme and can be printed off/or saved as a pdf and could be added to your promotional folder, or used in support of future applications for research/study/residencies...etc.    Also if you haven't used the site much/at all yet - I'd like to reassure you that it's not too late! Last year we had a brilliant series of catch up blogs produced in retrospect - and they were still valuable to the artists/students/colleges.

Lastly we're always keen to know your progress, so whether you let us know by using the exhibitions listings on this site and/or send us an email so we can update the AA2A.org exhibition list; please also make sure you update the links on your dotbiz profile - particularly if you have your own website or blog regularly on another site. 

Any questions feel free to send me a message through this site or email georgia@aa2a.biz

Best wishes,

Georgia