WEEK #6
AISHA CHRISTISON & JONATHAN MICHAEL RAY
Aisha Christison and Jonathan Michael Ray both participated in White Crypt exhibitions in 2017: Christison in the summer group exhibition Night and Ray in the two-person show Beneath and Between with Richard Müller.
All artworks are available to purchase. Should you wish to make an enquiry please email maddie@whitecrypt.com or anais@whitecrypt.com
AISHA CHRISTISON
Aisha Christison uses painting to convey a sense of our inner visual experience; she also tries to capture the spillover of imagery from our screen-addicted lives. Creating saccharine environments that feel like a moment frozen in time, she seeks to nudge the viewer into an uncanny sense of familiarity.
Christison’s recent focus has been on bringing together images from the natural and manmade worlds, including wind turbines, ammonites, plants, bodies of water and disembodied heads, that all sit within a grid-like structure. Christison thinks of these grid squares as pixels, connecting her paintings with the building blocks of the heavily screen-orientated visual experience of our daily lives.
Reflecting on her paintings that are viewable here, and which have come out of this period of lockdown, Christison explains:
These paintings work with motifs I've been sitting on for a while. There is the cat offering its tail inspired by ‘The Cat: a tale of feminine redemption’ by Marie Louise Von Franz - a Jungian analysis of a Romanian fairytale. I was taken with this sad image of the cat whose tail - that represents the animal or wild instinctual nature - and head must be severed by a prince in order for her to return to her original state of a human princess.
The second image features a disembodied head staring into the caverns of an ammonite. It seemed fitting to be working on this painting during lockdown when we were forced to close ourselves off from the outer world and in doing so, our inner lives were able to come to the fore. I recorded some intense dreams over this period. There has been a feeling of being wrenched back into the real world as the restrictions are being lifted. Despite worrying about family in the UK, the lockdown has meant I could have some much longed for time in the studio. I have been fortunate to be supported by my social security here in Belgium so this period really felt like time for catching up rather than productivity. Catching up on rest, on my work, on my health and time to catch up on research
Aisha Christison (b.1989, Margate, UK) Lives and works in Brussels.
Education: Chelsea College of Art and Design (2009-2012)
Upcoming exhibitions: Duo exhibition with Margarita Maximova, Damian and the Love Guru, Brussels, Belgium (2020); Solo exhibition, White Crypt, London (2020); Group show curated by Ned Armstrong and Elinor Stanley, Mcbeans Orchid Nursery, Lewes, UK (2020).
Past exhibitions: ‘Two of Hearts’ group show curated by Jacopo Pagin, SB34, Brussels, Belgium (2020); ‘Disir’, Group show curated by Jeanette Gunnarsson, T. M. Lighting gallery, London, UK (2019); ‘All in green went my love riding’, group show curated by Jean Feline, Adam Glibbery and Elinor Stanley, Giardino Dello Zuccaro, Venice, Italy (2019); 37th Art Brussels, group show with Damien and the Love Guru, Brussels, Belgium (2019); ‘Waterworlds and Liquid Fun’, group show curated by Francesca Blomfield and Aisha Christison, Chalton Gallery, London, UK (2019); ‘Giotto’s Room’, duo exhibition with Bea Bonafini curated by Lucy Von Goetz, Von Goetz Art, London, UK (2018); ‘If you can’t stand the heat’, group show curated by Lindsey Mendick, Paloma Proudfoot and Ruth Pilston, Roaming Projects, London (2018); ‘Night’, group show, White Crypt, London (2017); Group show, Set Project Space, London, UK (2017), ‘The Classical’, group show curated by Kristian Day, Transition Gallery, London, UK (2016); ‘Silleteros’, group show, Kinman Gallery, London (2016); ‘My Own Private Idaho’, group show curated by Rafał Zajk, Chalton Gallery, London, UK (2016); ‘Américano Maison’, solo show, Barbican Arts Group Trust, London (2016).
Residencies: The Florence Trust, Highbury, London (2015-2016)
JONATHAN MICHAEL RAY
Comprising of video, photography, sculpture, print and drawing, Jonathan Michael Ray’s practice is deeply connected to his surroundings, and examines the multilayered histories and fictions of the artefacts and places he encounters. He is interested in taking us beyond our expectations of looking: breaking down the processes by which we see, embracing the imagination, and making connections between the plethora of worlds around us.
Having relocated to Cornwall in 2018, this dramatic environment - with its rugged coastline, sacred histories and immense beauty paired with darkness and mystery - offers an artist already sensitive to his surroundings a particularly special opportunity to delve further into what may be situated beyond our visual field.
Reflecting on life in recent months, Michael Ray muses:
A week before Lockdown was announced I was up in London, installing my work for a group exhibition at bo.lee gallery in Peckham. Just like for so many artists, the exhibition became one of many to be unseen and abandoned over the coming the months, and we hot-tailed it back to Penzance.
Those first few weeks at home included a heavy-hearted mix of worry, planning and adjustments. And yet, in many ways our life in Cornwall remained unchanged—we had already slowed down our pace and reduced social circles since moving from London two years ago. Plus, with my wife, Hannah, in the third trimester of pregnancy and so close to giving birth, we had the added anticipation of parenthood.
I decided to stop going to the studio at CAST in Helston, and transported some essential equipment to our attic room and created a makeshift studio at home. Hannah has been working remotely and from home since our move to Cornwall, and we quickly normalised into a lockdown routine.
During this time, I’ve been focused on a new practice in creating works from antique stained glass window fragments. The process of making each window—named a ‘Belle Salade’ as they are made up of reclaimed glass pieces—requires the sourcing and careful selection of pieces, cutting glass, fitting with lead cane, and soldering. It’s incredibly therapeutic and enjoyable, and can easily gobble up the hours.
As lockdown has continued and Hannah reaches the end of her pregnancy and we both look ahead to a time of parental leave, I’ve been more relaxed about my practice, embarking only on smaller projects which might take a few days or less, and methods that I can be ready to drop in a moment and jump into action whenever I’m needed. I am grateful for the time we’ve had together and to focus on this side of my work, and am quietly optimistic about the future.
***
website
@jonathanmichaelray
Jonathan Michael Ray (b.1984, High Wycombe, England) Lives and works in Cornwall, UK.
Education: MFA Fine Art Media, Slade School of Art, University College London (2014-2016); BA Hons Fine Art, Nottingham Trent University (2004-2007); Foundation Diploma in Art & Design, Bucks Chilterns University College (2003-2004).
Exhibitions: ‘InRoads’, Galleria Ramo, Como, Italy (2020); ‘3.1’, bo.lee gallery, London, UK (2020); ‘Unbounded’, Eden Project, Bodelva, UK (2019); ‘Bury Me With It’, Newlyn Art Gallery, Newlyn, UK (2019); ‘The Cave and the Sky’, Thirdbase, Lisbon, Portugal (2019); ‘Moor Way Bones’, Porthmeor Studios, St Ives, UK (2019); ‘New Media Art’, CICA Museum, Seoul, South Korea (2019); ‘There is nothing whatever do not look like what it was since I can remember, Porthmeor Studios, St Ives, UK (2018); ‘Surfaces, Loosen Art’, Rome, Italy (2018); ‘It sounds like it weighs a ton’, Garden Walk, London, UK (V); ‘Material Light’, Kochi Biennial, India (2017); ‘Beneath and Between’, White Crypt Gallery, London, UK (2017); ‘Clifford Chance Postgraduate Printmaking Exhibition’, Clifford Chance, London, UK (2016); ‘Floating Worlds’, Safehouse1, London, UK (V); ‘A Cave With A View’, Charlton Gallery, London, UK (2016); ‘Making Do’, Slade School of Fine Art UCL, UK (2016); ‘Imagine’, Londonewcastle Arts Program, London, UK (V); ‘Le Studio Show’, Galerie Bifurski, Montréal, Canada (2013); ‘Topographie’, Galerie Les Territoires, Montréal, Canada (2012); ‘Summit generation d’idees’, MASSIVart, Palais Des Congres, Montréal, Canada (2011); ‘Soyons realistes, croyons en l’impossible’, Galerie Les Territoires, Montréal, Canada (2011)/
Artist Residencies and Awards: Hogchester Arts Residency Programme, Charmouth, UK (2019); Thirdbase Studio Residency, Lisbon, Portugal (2019); Porthmeor Studios Graduate Award supported by European Regional Development Fund via Cultivator Cornwall, UK (2018-19); Hong Kong Baptist University Artist in Residence, HKBU AVA Kaitak, Hong Kong (2016); Slade Summer School Artist in Residence, Slade School of Fine Art UCL, UK (2016)