SURE

Research and Practice The main focus of my research is arts in health. This stemmed from my practice as a participatory artist where I have specialised in working with people facing life-limiting illness and also people with mental ill health. Another area of interest for me is in personal experiences of public spaces. I have explored this by staging artistic interventions in space through actions such as yarn bombing and performance. I am also part of WALK (Walking, Art, Landskip and Knowledge) research group that focuses on art walking and the experiences of walking through and engaging with the environment we live in. My research is often explored as action research and often culminates in practical outputs such as exhibitions or collaborative art works. Current projects include WALK project ‘Tales of the Tyne’ and an exhibition at Gateshead library in October 2018. As well as my interest in and practice as a participatory artist I also have an active studio practice. I use everyday objects and activities to create paintings, prints, videos, photographs and collages. My work is playful and unashamedly decorative. My Christian faith is central to this practice. Without making overtly religious paintings it is often a factor in my work. My studio practice has also been influenced by my participatory practice where I encourage people to find their own creativity in a therapeutic art setting. Teaching skills such as silk painting and felting in a participatory setting has led me to be very interested in perceptions of 'craft' and contemporary art and the intersections between them.