Recently, in my work I have been considering surface to surface and imprint. Trace and gesture also play a part. Themes of female strength, grace, feeling and A + B = C are at the critical heart of my research. Training for specific projects. Power and control. Exploring theoretical ideas of affect, embodiment and phenomenology.
Art process involves performance and movement in the studio and outside in different sites.
Currently in my materials, I am exploring clay and plaster casting. Clay has that capacity to expand out the view, time stretching back to when the first hands made a print upon a cave wall and forwards into the future as a material, natural and available for future generations to use. Plaster too is a traditional material. Being used in a contemporary way to make Impact Trace Objects.
Running through all the work a story about two people, Max & Scarlett.
‘Scarlett thought for a long time that his eyes were black…But for now she saw it, yet didn’t place herself quite in the position she could fully and sensually occupy.’
Box (3) lead punch bag
Box (1) terracotta clay with sillicon and Box (4) air dry clay
Films of the performative process of these pieces being made can be found on my other web site
http://alisonmcfadden.com/films/
Embodiment
Poiesis…
…as night gathers at the end of the day…
& that blue infuses the work at times
‘The nature of poetry is the founding of truth (Heidegger 1971: 75) Art too has a poetic origin…‘ (Fifty key contemporary Thinkers, Lechte, J, Routlege, 2008, p. 31)
Summer studio with imprinted clay and grey gym rings
Imprinting the clay in the Winter studio
Detail of the clay during the process of imprinting the surface using gym rings and movement drawing on dance, gymnastics and weight training.
Homage to Nauman Love Movement Dance
Performing a repetitive dance step around a hexagon filmed using a Flip camera strapped to both an arm & leg
Still from a film
Detail of the clay from Life Drawing Movement performance
My last project was using stoneware porcelain to make floor tiles, using the Gym Rings to firstly imprint the tiles with feet and hands and then to decorate with coloured slips. This work has been investigative, to see how the process pushes the materials.
The outcome from this work was recently exhibited as part of a solo show at The Garden Galley, Farnham Museum, alongside a film of the making process.
Also, I have been painting on canvases, using the Gym Rings in the process. The beginning of a series called Pairings. The first two paintings are Hot & Mesmerising. (Images of these paintings are further down the page.)
The Gym Rings in my Winter studio with purpose built structure
My research is now centering on the body and in particular, muscles. I am beginning to explore the theme of Muscle Memory. As a young girl I did gymnastics and my physical research is starting by exploring how Muscle Memory affects a relearning of gymnastics and taking that into performance as part of the process of making art works.
Muscle memory has been used synonymously with motor learning, which is a form of procedural memory that involves consolidating a specific motor task into memory through repetition. When a movement is repeated over time, a long-term muscle memory is created for that task, eventually allowing it to be performed without conscious effort. This process decreases the need for attention and creates maximum efficiency within the motor and memory systems. Examples of muscle memory are found in many everyday activities that become automatic and improve with practice, such as riding a bicycle, typing on a keyboard, typing in a PIN, playing a melody or phrase on a musical instrument, or martial arts.(2)
Researching body molding & casting, training specifically in the gym, dance studio and landscape to start working on this area. Physicality in fitness training, dance, movement and play in the studio and landscape inform my artistic practice. In my art practice I take a multidisciplinary approach and I am exploring and researching different mediums.
A selection of my work follows….
Slopes training under the A3 as part of investigating parkour with Charlie Briggs, Free Runner/parkour trainer.
Gym Rings 1 Trace 1 in the making
Gym Rings 1 Trace 1 Blue Yellow
Acrylic on primed MDF board (240cm X120cm)
High Kicks 1 ballet shoes and prints
graphite on handmade paper
High Kicks 3 installation detail
Graphite on paper roll
Graphite on paper roll & props from the installation performance
Film stills from Love Dance Movement film and experimentation
Experimenting with the Gym Rings
Experimenting with Moves for the Gym Rings Mirror work
Gym Rings 1 wall board
Acrylic on sheeting & MDF board 240cm x 120cm
Gym Rings 1 wall board yellow blue 2 gold
Acrylic on primed MDF board 240cm x 120cm
High Kicks 2 left leg 1
High Kicks 2 left leg with resistance
High Kicks 1
High Kicks 3 in The James Hockey Gallery
Film stills from Love Dance Movement film July 2014
Gym Rings Mirror
Stills from the film Run
Gym Rings 3 Floor Boards in the making
Acrylic paint on primed MDF boards x 3 175cm x 122cm
Ballet shoes
Three Leather shoes used for dancing in and for making paintings and one cast in bronze
Ronde Du Jambe a Terre, Ballet Step Pour
Fallow & Ball interior paint on primed canvas
Gym Rings 4 muslin
Life Drawing Movement session at UCA Farnham for the BA Fine Art students. Above, researching clay.
Detail of Section 5 of the plaster cast of the clay from the Life Drawing Movement session.
Pairings 1 Hot
(formerly Gym Rings 2,8,12,KHLFM)
New work, this is the first painting in the shared studio, December 2014.
Words B
If you were a word
What would it be?
Handsome
Attractive
Hot
Yes, all of those yet
they miss that you are
caring
attentive (mostly)
occasionally indifferent
blank
evasive
shy?
Strong
Fit
Happy
Warm
Knowledgeable
Informative
Helpful
Genuine, (although also a bit
mischievous and full of bull occasionally)
Mine
I wish!…..
Desirous
Admirable
Confident
Changeable
distant, at times
close, sometimes
formulaic, a bit
professional
a twinkle in the eye
available? (no!)
a fantasy (yes!)
but a worthwhile one
so which word
climbs to the top
confident
hot
confident
hot
confident
hot
yeah, let’s stick with
Hot.
Pairings 1 Hot, being made in the studio
Acrylic paint on primed stretched linen 180cm x 150cm
Mirror Me
Like a Moscow metro map
Words but little understanding
Routes but lost in the looking
Which colour takes me on?
Seeking love to rely on…
God’s love, true love, heart-felt
And deep
Lost because it is there
The mirror is responding but
Very unclear
Buddha says, polish harder
Tear drops fall on hot cheeks and
Kiss desert lips
Heart hurts and stomach churns
Two painkillers numb down
Wait…………………………life comes in…
As surely as the river meets the ocean.
Blue Fitness Dance Story
Mesmerising
Acrylic paint on primed stretched linen 150cm x 120cm (Jan 2015)
Words A
If I were a word
What would it be?
Useful, that’s funny
I meant useless!
Guardian angel took over
Think positive
That’s better
If I were a word
What would it be
Silent
Becoming (in two senses?)
Mesmerising was once
awarded to me by
someone with impact
How I wish that
was heartfelt
Artist dancer gymnast painter sculptor
Artist playing with being a
dancer gymnast painter sculptor
If I were a word
What would it be?
Arriving
Landing
flying
jumping
elegant, awarded once by someone it meant
alot from
caring
poet
in fact one word
preparing
entrancing
becoming
mesmerising
I like those
I’ll stick with those
But one word?
Mesmerising,
I wish!
Now that is worth striving for.
Working on Gym Rings Floor Tiles 1
https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100008813043616
The link above takes you to my Face Book time line where there is two short films of working on Gym Rings floor Tiles 1
Slopes training
Detail of Playful Connections
Stoneware Porcelain Floor Tiles (1 of 12) using gym Rings in the making process.
Life Drawing Movement plaster casts in the Fitness Stories exhibition at The Garden Gallery, Farnham Museum
At the End of the Day
At the end of the day
As the inner world of desire and fantasy meets
The external space and reality
The exchange and connections made
As the surfaces meld
At the meeting point
It reveals the cracks
Gaps
And places where it all hangs together
What is and what isn’t is shown
Material Metaphors
Movement driven with feeling
Through time
Dreams dormant
Subject altered
Dancing with clay feet
And golden wings
How the legs stretch
Alice style
And the heart cracks and races
A roller coaster tumble
On the rings
The circus
Takes a bow
Yellow Red Blues
Purple Amber Lilac
And soon a touch of Gold
Making clay molds for Becoming Visible Invisible plaster frieze for the I’kletic Gallery for Dis ruptive group exhibition July 2015
My other websites can be found at these web addresses
and my Face book address is
https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100008813043616
Quote 1 & 2 wikipedia (full reference details is on Reflective Writing page)
alijmcfadden 
Very Interesting work. Great way of expressing movement. Would like to see these performed.
Hi Morwenna,
Thank you for your encouraging comment. It is possible that you could see some of the work performed or something similar, using clay, in the James Hockey Gallery, at UCA Farnham, sometime in the New Year. I will keep you posted.
Best,
Alison
Alison having having seen your work at the Summer Exhibition at Farnham UCA, and now just checking out your website, I would just like to say that I love the visual complexity of your paintings and the way the your pieces rhythmically occupy the canvas. The controlled freedom and sense of movement that is displayed in your paintings, along with the range of paint textures that you have achieved is really interesting.
I am really looking forward to seeing more of your work and how it progresses.
Sandra Peyton – Ealing London
Your work is very strong Alison. With the mirror piece did you have any shots taken as your were moving towards the wall? Fabulous to have all that space to work in.
Louise, thank you for your lovely comment. Yes there are some shots of me moving towards the mirror. I will put one in the post page ‘Studio Practice’ so you can see one or two. Scroll down to 11th Aug 2014 entry.
The space was fabulous. I need somewhere to put my Gym Rings now!
Very impressive. I liked the photos with you using the gymnastic equipment. Who was the photographer? your website is on my favourites bar. Will Keep in touch.
Thank you.
Jasper Sandford-McFadden took many of the photographs on the Gym Rings. A very talented young photographer.
AJ
Thanks for your lovely comments Bryan. The Motionhouse Dance Company are fantastic, thanks for the reference. Website http://www.motionhouse.co.uk/
Best,
Alison
Some wonderful pictures here Alison. The movement with the rings looks really interesting. Motionhouse dance group uses swings and ropes in some choreography.
Inspirational…
Bryan