Y A N K E E L O N D O N S T U D I O
Musings from a Yankee artist abroad in London...
Sad Irons
No. 4, Sad Iron series, 14cm x 9cm. Ceramic and paper, 2023-24.
Nobody tells you about the paperwork in an artist's life. Applications, writing proposals, studio admin, and even taxes. Let's not even talk about staying on top of social media...
The Sad Irons series evolved from a call for residency proposals for Kettle's Yard in Cambridge, as part of the UAL Decolonising Arts Institute call for artists of color to challenge colonial legacies. From researching a site and developing a proposal, to becoming emotionally invested and enthusiastic about creating a body of work tied to the history of a space, it is truly disappointing when a proposal isn't accepted.
I decided to engage with exploring the forms of sadirons anyway.
Kettle's Yard, a museum tied to Cambridge University, is beloved for its tranquil and quiet spaces, assembled with art and objects collected by curator Jim Ede (1895-1990). The museum itself is comprised of four attached formerly abandoned workers' cottages whose party walls were opened up, and later coupled with a modern addition to host traveling exhibitions, performances and talks. Despite the cottages’ transformation, a central core of their history remains: two of the (eight?) original fireplaces. I was drawn to the remaining fireplaces because they are likely the most unchanged element of the original spaces, anchoring the domestic activity within the households– heating, cooking, cleaning, bathing. To the left of the ground level fireplace, I observed a low, brass shelf, now empty. Culturally unfamiliar with Victorian and Georgian era fireplace accessories, I discovered that this “trivet” typically held a kettle or an iron. My proposal was to create a series of ceramic and mixed media works to repopulate the now empty spaces that would have formed the central hub of women's lives in the original workers' cottages. Quiet objects of necessity that have a life of their own.
The Sad Irons series evolved from a call for residency proposals for Kettle's Yard in Cambridge, as part of the UAL Decolonising Arts Institute call for artists of color to challenge colonial legacies. From researching a site and developing a proposal, to becoming emotionally invested and enthusiastic about creating a body of work tied to the history of a space, it is truly disappointing when a proposal isn't accepted.
I decided to engage with exploring the forms of sadirons anyway.
Kettle's Yard, a museum tied to Cambridge University, is beloved for its tranquil and quiet spaces, assembled with art and objects collected by curator Jim Ede (1895-1990). The museum itself is comprised of four attached formerly abandoned workers' cottages whose party walls were opened up, and later coupled with a modern addition to host traveling exhibitions, performances and talks. Despite the cottages’ transformation, a central core of their history remains: two of the (eight?) original fireplaces. I was drawn to the remaining fireplaces because they are likely the most unchanged element of the original spaces, anchoring the domestic activity within the households– heating, cooking, cleaning, bathing. To the left of the ground level fireplace, I observed a low, brass shelf, now empty. Culturally unfamiliar with Victorian and Georgian era fireplace accessories, I discovered that this “trivet” typically held a kettle or an iron. My proposal was to create a series of ceramic and mixed media works to repopulate the now empty spaces that would have formed the central hub of women's lives in the original workers' cottages. Quiet objects of necessity that have a life of their own.