Louise Newell

As part of the degree show, I have focused on creating pieces in the form of clay objects and drawings to explore the topic of Home. The pieces were formed from the experience of growing up in the family farmhouse (in a somewhat isolated area) in Darenth, Kent. My family have lived and worked here as the tenant farmers since the early 1900’s and due to my grandfather’s retirement, we are now required to move out.

My ideas for the pieces and layout have allowed me an opportunity to reflect on my time here and the connectional imagery I relate the experience with. Previously creating work within the collaboration between text and image, my practice over the last term has developed to creating story-based/decorative objects to explore the concept of preserving memory and observation in a rural environment.

Drawing inspiration from the wildlife, textural found objects and my own childhood, I have also been inspired by multiple female contemporary artists and writers. My interest last term in media around personal female experiences has brought me to create work in response to this. Main artists that I have used in my further research are Kiki Smith, Annette Messenger and Manal Kara. The work of Louise Bourgeois has also been a consistent inspiration to me and my practice.