Blue Tarp, oil on paper, 38x29cm, 2020
Green Tarp, oil on paper, 38x29cm, 2020

Two weave paintings, Blue Tarp and Green Tarp, were included in Without Borders, an international touring group exhibition. The first iteration of this exhibition took place at the Elysium Gallery, Swansea.

Painted works to form part of the exhibition were invited from artist shortlisted for BEEP 2020 (Biennial of Painting 2020). As an artist who had been included in this major UK show, I created these new paintings for the Without Borders project.

Without Borders, Elysium Gallery, Swansea, Wales, July 17, 2021– August 28, 2021
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Exhibition Text

Without Borders is an evolving digital project and physical exhibition that brings together 22 communities and nearly 300 artists from around the world.

Without Borders seeks to remove barriers, create alliances, and connect with neighbours. It aims to bring creative people together, to collaborate in an international touring exhibition of works on paper – a collection of artists pages.

At the end of the Elysium exhibition, the pages will be bound together to make a book and taken to another venue to be taken apart, displayed, and then reassembled before moving again to its next location.

The exhibition will travel to Japan, Norway, USA, Venice, Canada, and back to Wales. The project will also be globally accessible via an e-catalogue.

At the end of the tour, the artworks will permanently be bound together to create one unique artist book, to be housed in a special collection’s library which will be announced at a later date.

Curated by Jonathan Powell, Elysium gallery Director and Heather Parnell, co-editor of 1SSUE artist books. The project salutes the diversity of creativity, showcasing the work of all participating artists democratically, in a format that is portable and accessible. The ‘Artists Book’ serves as the vessel and sets the parameters into the exploration of the notion of Borders.

The term Border describes literal or invisible lines: edges that separate and divide, that contain and limit. Without Borders is particularly evocative and redolent in these current times. Ever-quickening, reactive politics results in some borders hardening, whilst others dissolve. The divide between rich and poor appears to be widening. Physical, geographical, and social borders, together with the fragile, permeable border between life and death have also been highlighted by the recent pandemic.