Paula Fenwick
The presence of things interests me. I cherish the detritus of every-day life with its moments of pathos or beauty – how ordinary objects can be overlooked but might be imbued with personal significance and every day memories.
I am curious about how to repair, celebrate and articulate memories through drawing, assemblages and display. These are the small incidents of a life, marked in the present. Through re-visiting these objects and physical manipulation, they can be viewed, questioned and re-interpreted.
The personal resonance of an object and its physical qualities become important when I make a decision to include it in my art. Its former function, history and common place associations are all considered in gauging its ‘usability’. The aesthetic qualities of scale, form, patina with age and handling, shape and material are similarly reflected upon in considering how the object might be altered, how it carries the correct associations, and how it ‘stabilises’ the fragile connections with past stories.
My drawings often respond to my small sculptural assemblages. Using collage elements, scans of objects and free drawing, it is a way to push ideas further and more organically. I always use drawing to work around the limitations of the objects and materials but then feed the ideas back into new works.
Display is an important aspect of my work: not only the presentation of art works in a gallery or similar public setting, but also the decisions on how to live with my collections. In the studio, objects from my various collections are all out on display. The items present themselves as potential starting points for art work. There is a process of ‘listening’, of recognising the different voices emerging from a collection, and finding the right time for an object to become integrated or transformed into an art work.
Profile
Paula trained as a painter, completing a Fine Art degree (at Coventry) before making a living as a mural artist in the Midlands, followed by community arts work in London for a number of years. She has been a studio holder at Cross Street Arts in Wigan for the last five years.
Over the past several years she has returned to making her own art and extending the range of materials she uses. Much of what she makes – through assemblage, drawing, textiles and photography – explores themes of collections, curiosities and childhood memories.
Education
1983-86 Fine Art (BA Hons), Coventry University (Lanchester Polytechnic)
1981-83 Wigan College of Art
Selected exhibition
2020 Manchester Open, HOME, Manchester
2019 ‘Botanicals’, Fronteer Gallery, Sheffield
2019 ‘The Fire Within’, Galleries, Wigan
2019 ‘Micro’, Air Gallery, Altrincham
2018 ‘XX Marks the Spot’, Falcon Mill Gallery, Bolton
2018 ‘Air Open’, Air Gallery, Altrincham
2018 Lancashire Open, Chapel Gallery, Ormskirk
2018 ‘Size Matters’, World of Glass, St. Helens
2018 ‘Drawing Open’, Second Floor Gallery, London
2018 ‘Museums at Night’, Museum of Wigan Life
2018 ‘Intoline’, Isherwood Gallery, Wigan
2018 ‘Home’, King Street Studios Gallery, Lancaster
2017 ‘Intimate’, Isherwood Gallery, Wigan
2017 ‘Satanic Panic’, Old Courts, Wigan
2017 ‘Nasty Women’, Stour Space, London
2017 ‘Nasty Women’, Cross Street Gallery
2017 Cross Street Arts at the Atkinson, Southport
2017 ‘Small Worlds’, PS Mirabel, Salford
2017 ‘Placement v Process’, Old Courts, Wigan
2016 ‘Migrate’, Cross Street Gallery
2015 A6 Dialogue, Bankley Studios Gallery, Manchester
2015 ‘Testing Space’, Pyramid, Warrington
2015 West Lancashire Open, Chapel Gallery, Ormskirk
2015 ‘Knitted Curiosities’, Hazelhurst Studios, Runcorn
2014 ?‘A6 3’, 3rd Floor Studios, Rogue Studios, Manchester
2014 ‘All About Drawing’, Cross Street Gallery
2014 ‘Unexpected Treasures’, Bridewell Studios, Liverpool
2014 Warrington Contemporary Open Exhibition
2014 PS Mirabel, Manchester
2014 West Lancashire Open, Chapel Gallery, Ormskirk
2012 Emporium of Curiosities, Cross Street Gallery
2012 Open exhibition, Turnpike Gallery, Leigh
Recent community, curating and collaborative projects
2018 Curator, ‘Negotiate’, Cross Street Gallery, Standish
2017 Co-curator, ‘Intimate’, Isherwood Gallery, Wigan
2015 Lead artist, ‘Community Stars’ stage design, Wigan and Leigh Housing
2015 Assistant artist, Marus Bridge Primary School, Wigan
2014 Lead artist, Artsweek, RL Hughes Primary School, Ashton
2014 Lead artist, mural project, St Thomas Primary School, Leigh
2014 Lead artist, ‘Our Art Neighbourhood’, Leigh