He(art) Is Everywhere, 2021
Location: Great Suffolk Street
Full address: 158 Great Suffolk St, London SE1 1PE & 199 Southwark Bridge Road, London SE1 0ED
Photo Credit: Mikey Lee, Better Bankside
Photo Credit: Mikey Lee, Better Bankside
May 2021 was the launch of Beyond Boundaries, a project by Tate and Better Bankside where five artists were commissioned to create a public artwork. Tate Collective and Better Bankside commissioned me and four other artists to create a piece of public art, responding to a brief which questioned how people would experience the city after Lockdown, how that will impact work/life balance and encouraging people to see art in new ways. My fellow artists were Zeinab Saleh, Megan Visser, Koby Martin and Blkmoodyboi.
Sharon Walters is the amazing artist I was paired up with, a match made in heaven and exactly who I needed to meet at this very moment in my life. To guide me through the important life lessons this project had to offer me, be in my corner and encourage me to trust my creative instincts. We didnt even really talk too much about the design process during our one on one mentoring sessions, it was more about building my confidence again and understanding that artists adapt and make art through pain and disability.
To fully understand the journey and process of designing this work I need to explain the emotional rollercoaster I have taken the past few years, through disability, unable to work since graduating and unable to see any future for that reason. I used to be so intimidated by technology, whether that was sewing machines or using photoshop and illustrator, but because of my hand cramp I finally caved and got an ipad and started to practice. In that time I have perfected my needs of drawing on procreate, making ideas come to life and even pushing them through this new medium, solidifying my personal style. It kind of blows my mind that I created this whole piece of work on my ipad and then the fabricators were able to transfer it perfectly into a real life space. Im so used to making intimate embroidery art in my bedroom, my home all cozy and sharing online to connect with people across the world. This commission will be seen by countless people, from their cars, bikes, buggies, bus, by foot and from the comfort of peoples homes surrounding the area, in my home city.
In 2018 I co-curated a major public art project as part of Tate Collective to highlight women who have impacted London, in the past 100 years since some women could vote. At one point I had to make the decision between being an artist on the project or continuing to curate this project, and my team mates at Tate said my voice/perspective was needed as a curator and there is so much I could learn in the role. It was a different kind of pride knowing I had a part to play in many people of colours first public commission, surrounding themes of equality and history, but my heart hurt knowing I was unable to make art freely how I wanted to.
Now I see that everything happens in the perfect timing, I had to grow and develop and keep working hard through disability, doing the best I could, in order to be ready for this project. Not even just creatively but also emotionally because boyyyy tears were shed throughout this one, and I dont think I would have been able to handle the pressure back in 2018. This is the third commission I have been able to accept since graduating, and after many rejections from other places, I got an email from Tate and was invited to create a mural to welcome people back into the streets of London after Lockdowns. Again, everything is about timing.
This is what my mentor Sharon has showed me in so many ways, through her life experience and sharing wisdom with me. She reminded me to believe in myself. I needed someone to tell me to trust myself, to remind me that im a creative powerhouse, that my sensitivity and vulnerability is something to be treasured in a world that is so harsh. I needed someone to tell me there was hope and to never give up on my art, from the point of view of having health and mobility problems and adapting to new possibilities of making.
My first step was to highlight certain words/themes that stood out on the brief, which aligned most with my own beliefs and approach to art. Connection, discover, work/life balance etc. London history is a passion of mine so I knew I would be using this as a basis for the whole work, and I was paired up with a local who is passionate about art and history as well. Austin from Terry’s Cafe was the person who requested the wall opposite his business to get a makeover, and he was valuable with giving me local history and insight. Below I have detailed the history connected to Great Suffolk Street specifically and SE1 more widely.
-Keep in Touch phone/Share and connect phone are my modern interpretation/reference to the Cable and Wireless PLC 1869 which was based opposite where the Vodaphone building currently stands.
-A Red Umbrella is the global symbol for sex workers and so I wanted a way to represent the local areas history of prostitution as well as candles to memorialise them.
-The crossbones reference The Crossbones Graveyard where many unnamed prostitutes and paupers which is now a memorial garden.
-I created the Winchester Music Hall poster by tracing different elements of an original advertisement from 1880 which I found online on the british library archive and reworked onto a new poster.
-Tommy Johnson was the last Pearly King of Bankside, Austin told me about him and his love of DJing so I combined his interests in this classic pearly jacket, combining this working class tradition and music
-Happy House and Disco-ball celebrate the underground music that evolved from the warehouses of Southwark. This included Siouxsie Sioux, who’s iconic eye make up I have paired with the words Look Around.
-A candle and rose is a memorial to Ronnie Price, who was a local man who tragically passed away after going into hospital for a curable illness.
-A Charles Dickens tribute is subtly placed on top Of the Past, Present, Future Books in the form of an ink pot with his initials and a quill. He lived for a short time on Lant Street, and his father was in the nearby debtors prison which would later inspire parts of Little Dorrit.
-I have combined my Hanecdote skull with the famous Shakespeare scene from Hamlet to reference the history of the Globe Theatre next to Tate Modern.
-A bottle of London Brewed Beer is a nod to the breweries of Southwark, old and new.
-The Have Fun in SE1 full english breakfast is inspired by the connection to Austin at Terry’s Cafe. His dad owned the cafe since 1982, and you can tell Austin proudly carries on that legacy with his Cafe and Deli. The insight he gave me into the local area was invaluable. He said the surrounding areas have been redeveloped and this part of Great Suffolk Street had been forgotten about, so I really wanted to highlight some of the things which make this London road special.
Here are some of the first pics I took from the first site meeting with Tate, Better Bankside, Austin from Terry’s Cafe, me and the building owners. After the meeting I stuck around and got to know Austin. I was quite overwhelmed when I actually saw the walls because my embroideries are so small and intricate and I almost couldnt fathom my art being blown up to such a scale.
After the words, I started creating motifs to match up with them. Some of these motifs have been used throughout my artistic career, while others where specifically made for this project, informed by the history of the area and the brief which had been set out. This was a point I really struggled as I wasnt sure how to bring all the individual motifs together, but the idea of work/life balance remained in my mind and that is eventually how I was able make it all work. Then I was faced with two challenging walls and wondered how I would work my design concept to actually fit the space. The mentors told me to trust my instincts and listen to the wall.
Once I took a step back and really took in the wall space, I saw that the largest area was on the Southwark Street side, and so it made sense for that to be the centre. This is where I put my hand holding balancing scales which shows a laptop (Work) and a suitcase (Life) evenly balanced, with explosions of energy and colour bursting from both. I wanted the brighter more vibrant side to explode from the Life section, but added interest to the Work side with ribbons and measuring tape to reflect the local history or textiles near by. Then it was a matter of placing the motifs on this composition, some of the motifs relate to each other (Winchester Musical Hall poster and the microphone) and others are positioned harmoniously around to emphasise the importance of a healthy work/life balance. The bright side had to match the colour palette which was provided by Conway, so I went for my iconic bright red/yellow/orange gradient and I love the way it spills into the street inviting people to wander over.
