Alan Baker is interested in the relationships between humans and animals, exploring the idea of the animal as practitioner and how different species transform space in our everyday urban environments. In his recent work he explores the term ‘Vermin culture’; a term given to various species of animal which are considered a ‘pest’. This inspired him to produce a number of sculptures made from various found objects that I placed in a deranged manner, giving the illusion of an unstable structure that could trap or snare an animal. He has used traditional drawing techniques with a contemporary aesthetic to document these temporary structural forms.

Biography

Alan Baker completed a MA in Fine Art at Manchester Metropolitan University in 2013 and a BA Hons degree in Contemporary Art from the University of Huddersfield.

Lesley Halliwell is perhaps best known for her enormous, industrious Spirograph drawings made using a simple plastic toy from her own childhood, biro pens and paper. The Alice-in-Wonderland scale transforms the Spirograph motif from something familiar into works with a contemporary sensibility while their playfulness belies the obsessive and focused application needed for their execution. In recent drawings the single cell-like forms morph, fuse and split creating kaleidoscopic structures. This in turn has led to a new series of works, which investigate in a more conscious and systematic manner, pattern and the underlying principles of mathematics and geometry. Lesley is interested in how we understand the active interchange between the outer face of an artwork and its inward facing components; be these a design, a trace or a generating framework.

Biography

Lesley Halliwell originally trained as a painter (BA(Hons) Nottingham Trent University, 1989) and has gone on to gain an MA in Twentieth Century Art History (Goldsmith’s College,1995) and an MA in Fine Art (Manchester Metropolitan University, 2001). Lesley is Director of Suite Studio Group, Salford and a regular Visiting Lecturer at the University of Chester (2002 - to date). She is currently undertaking a practice-based PhD (NWCDTP Award holder) at MIRIAD, Manchester Metropolitan University.

Recent exhibitions include Carbon Meets Silicon, Oriel Sycharth Gallery (2015), (detail), H-Space, Bangkok & Transition Gallery, London (2014); Beauty is the First Test, Pumphouse Gallery, London (touring 2012-14); The Drawing Project, Castlefield Gallery, Manchester (2014); The Infinity Show, NN Northampton (2013). She has been selected for the Jerwood Drawing Prize (2010), New Contemporaries (2002) and nominated for Beck’s Futures (2003). She recently co-curated the group show Slippage: The Unstable Nature of Difference at CASC Gallery, University of Chester (2015).

Becky Peach explores the fundamental reasons why people have long appreciated art. Examining what biologically and psychologically makes us enjoy the world of aesthetics as well as what healing qualities art has to offer. She seeks to encourage emotive responses in how an art object is appreciated from moving the viewer from a passive to an active participant in artistic encounters. Examining child’s play, from imagined role-play to the use of toys to aid development, Becky explores how as adults we can still benefit from engaging in play. Becky aims to generate sensory experiences that enable the participant to discover and explore. Through creating objects and fabricating conditions she is interested in how personal and collective consciousness is revealed through artistic processes.

Biography:

Becky graduated from Liverpool Hope University in 2012 with a BA (Hons) in Fine Art. She is based at The Royal Standard, a Print Studio Assistant at the Bluecoat Print Studios and Blue Room Assistant at The Bluecoat; assisting adults with learning difficulties to develop creative and social skills.