About

I am Programme Leader for BA (Hons) Fine Art and a practising Artist based in the East Midlands. I exhibit my work nationally and internationally.

Research interests

I am a practising artist who makes paintings, objects and large scale sculptural installations using various fabrics and textile techniques to question representations of violence, disaster and macho stereotypes. Ideas of filmic or cartoon violence are juxtaposed with decorative motifs and craft techniques; the sense of saturation at play in the work makes it easy to miss the horror due to the seductive nature and materiality of the artwork. I am particularly interested in the subversive potential of the decorative.

My current research is concerned with exploring the pictorial, sculptural and ‘site specific’ boundaries of art practice. The work situates itself by exploiting and employing contradiction methods, referencing both ‘high’ and ‘low’ culture and juxtaposing the pictorial with the sculptural as potential spaces of slippage, which allow for discoveries beyond confined and referenced fields of art production.

Membership of professional bodies

I am a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (2016) and I have been a member of the steering group for NAFAE (National Association for Fine Art Education) since 2008.

External Examination:

• BA Fine Art, Northumbria University (2016-2021)
• BA Fine Art & Illustration, Illustration & Graphics, Illustration & Animation, Coventry University (2011 – 2015)
• In 2016, I was invited to be an External Panel Member for the Periodic Review of BA (Hons) Fine Art Course and BA (Hons) Art & Design Course, University of Worcester

Qualifications

• BA (Hons) Fine Art (Painting), Northumbria University, Newcastle Upon Tyne (1999)
• MA Fine Art (Distinction), Goldsmiths, University of London (2000)

Experience in industry

I exhibit my work nationally and internationally. Recent exhibitions include, 'Dimensions of Publicness: 24 Gabrovo Biennial of Humour & Satire', Museum of Humour and Satire, Gabrovo, Bulgaria; ‘Gestures of Resistance’ Romantso Cultural Centre, Athens; ‘Razzle Dazzle’ Transition Gallery, London; ‘Getting The Heart Ready’ at The Royal Standard, Liverpool; ‘Standardised Versions (Rubble)’, Billboard Commission at Bloc Projects, Sheffield; ‘Now For Tomorrow II’ at Nottingham Castle Museum and Art Gallery, Nottingham; ‘Jerwood Drawing Prize’, Jerwood Gallery and ‘Stand In’ in The Small Collections Room at Nottingham Contemporary, Nottingham. I was commissioned by LOCWS International in partnership with the National Waterfront Museum, Swansea to exhibit a large-scale public artwork in Art across the City 2014.

I am particularly interested in exploring innovative curatorial and exhibition strategies. An example of this is, ‘Mrs Rick's Cupboard’, a project that presents the work of contemporary artists in exhibitions in an unconventional gallery setting, a walk-in cupboard in my current studio at Primary, Nottingham. www.mrsrickscupboard.com

Teaching responsibilities

As Programme Leader for BA (Hons) Fine Art I provide academic leadership for the programme. I am responsible for developing the course’s curriculum, organising and managing teaching delivery in liaison with the staff team. I teach across all stages of the undergraduate programme but have the specific responsibility of leading the final year of the programme as Module Leader (Resolution and Synthesis, Professional Practice) and coordinating the Degree Show exhibition.

Before joining the University of Derby in 2019 I was employed as Course Leader for BA (Hons) Fine Art at UCA Canterbury (2016-2019). Prior to that, I worked as a Senior Lecturer in Fine Art at Nottingham Trent University (2006 – 2016). I have taught on a number of interdisciplinary Fine Art courses, nationally and internationally.