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WhiteFeather Hunter

WhiteFeather was selected from over 800 applicants to be the upcoming artist-in-residence at the Museum of Witchcraft and Magic in Boscastle (Cornwall), UK, funded by a Friends of the Museum Travel Bursary, a Graduate Women WA (Western Australia) Joyce Riley Bursary, a UWA Postgraduate Student Association Fieldwork/Data Collection Award, and a UWA Graduate Research School Travel Award.

For the month of October WhiteFeather will be resident researcher at the Museum of Witchcraft and Magic in Boscastle, Cornwall, UK. During the residency, she will have exclusive access to the museum’s unique collection of historical texts, including rare primary texts (non-digitized) that she will scour for evidence of the intersections of witchcraft and science, a core concept of her thesis. She will also work with their collection of objects, including magical and medical devices, as well as historical artworks. The residency will culminate at Halloween. Daily WhiteFeather will be sharing her discoveries on a daily basis.

Palimpsest, work-in-progress

Palimpsest addresses historical accounts of witchcraft accusations and convictions, as found in the collection of rare books at the Museum of Witchcraft and Magic. These primary texts, dating from the early 1600s, are typically inaccessible to the public due to their fragile nature. Here, some of the pages from these texts are transferred to the surface of translucent silk cloth to create tactile (touchable) ghost pages. The cloth backdrop is stitched and sculpted into a dress-shaped form with chaotic and unraveling smocking (a decorative bunched-stitch style developed in England that has featured in garments since the Middle Ages). This reference to dress is to indicate that the history of witchcraft is written on the bodies of (mostly) women. The video segments, still in development, are of various performances conducted around Boscastle, showing the process of art production involved in making the work.

Materials: Photochemical transfer on silk organza, embroidery on hand-dyed silk habotai, found baby mandrake, devil’s cherries and magic mushroom stems, video projection.

Culpeper's English Physician and Complete Herbal. The 'heartichoke' was believed to be an aphrodisiac. The Museum of Witchcraft and Magic:.

'Becoming Familiar', October 2022. Shot on location in Boscastle, Cornwall, along the hedgerows overlooking the low tide. Music credits: Remixed from Spring Rain by Dural.
This video work touches on the subject of magic to be found in the hedgerows of the British countryside (a traditional haunt of witches as it provides medicinal plants), as well as offers the spirit of the fox witch the freedom to finally exist in the landscape according to her wishes. The ghost face that appears, disappears and reappears is a photograph of a Victorian taxidermy fox with the wax death mask of a witch who wished to be reincarnated as a fox after death. This taxidermy sculpture is in the permanent collection of the Museum of Witchcraft and Magic.

The history of witchcraft is written on the bodies of women. It was the embodied experiences of the wise women, the empirical knowledge of so-called witches, that was so threatening to newly-establishing institutions and authorities. No part of the witch has been more subject to religious inquisition than the nipple, still highly taboo and contentious in any sociocultural appearances of women's bodies. The "witch's teat" or extra nipple was seen as particularly diabolical, serving to nurture her association with her familiars and demons as she fed them from her body's resources, bringing about her spiritual corruption. Demonological treatises of the 15th century explained how as the Devil sucks on a witch's breast, her blood becomes 'fermented' with evil.

Audio includes Looking in My Eyes by Ann Abel (royalty-free on https://icons8.com/music/)
This video poem continues the process of familiarizing with the Boscastle Harbour landscape, through sensory exploration of native grasses along The River Valency (Dowr an Velinji in Cornish) and interactions with the wildish ponies that dwell on the steep cliffs along the Willapark and Forrabury Stitches. A spell is cast by reciting the words from the Black Pullet needlepoint talisman collection held at the Museum of Witchcraft and Magic, specifically the Miserere Deus talisman which, "Gives all talents and a profound knowledge of every art... " (from the Museum display text). The stitches fade in and out as the video ritual is performed.

Biography: WhiteFeather Hunter is a multiple award-winning and internationally recognized Canadian artist and scholar. She is currently a PhD candidate in Biological Arts at the University of Western Australia, supported by a SSHRC Doctoral Fellowship, Australian Government International RTP Scholarship, UWA International Postgraduate Scholarship, and a Graduate Women of Western Australia Bursary. Before commencing her PhD, WhiteFeather was a founding member and Principal Investigator of the Speculative Life BioLab at the Milieux Institute for Arts, Culture and Technology at Concordia University from 2016-2019.

WhiteFeather's biotechnological art practice intersects technofeminism, witchcraft, micro- and cellular biology with performance, new media and craft. Recent presentations include at Ars Electronica, Art Laboratory Berlin, Academy of Applied Arts Vienna, Innovation Centre Iceland, the Royal College of Art and in numerous North American cities. WhiteFeather’s research into developing a novel menstrual serum for tissue engineering was featured by biotech giant, Merck/ Sigma-Aldrich, for International Day of Women and Girls in Science 2021 as part of their Next Great Impossible campaign. www.whitefeatherhunter.ca
Instagram: WhiteFeather.Hunter

Sculptures: Rita Parniczky

In my work I capture and expose the physical properties of everyday objects and materials while challenging the boundaries of traditional techniques. The outcomes play with the viewer’s perception attempting to reinterpret accepted appearances, concepts and meanings.

Biography: Rita Parniczky is a multidisciplinary artist. She graduated from Central Saint Martins, UAL. Her sculptural work, ‘X-Ray’ series has won awards including the Perrier-Jouët Arts Salon Prize, received grants from Arts Council and is part of the V&A permanent collection. Solo exhibitions include Whitefriars Gallery, London; Crafts Study Centre, Farnham. Parniczky is a Freeman of The Worshipful Company of Weavers, and gained the Freedom of the City of
London. www.ritaparniczky.com/
Instagram: @rita_parniczky

Viral Histories and Shapeshifters: Jo Milne, 2022

Images from @XPrposes –Artists book, 2022, Published with the aid of a grant from the Generalitat de Catalunya + The Weft of the Invisible & Shapeshifters, IN_CERT Exhibition, Can Manyé Espai d’Art I Creació, Alella (Spain, October 2021-February 2022)

Viral Histories and Shapeshifters was developed by Jo during her residency at IRB Barcelona in 2020-21 and later during the IN_CERT project, at Can Manyé (Alella). The work is an exploration of the shifting nature of viruses and the tenuous nature of molecular structures. In pieces such as Viral Histories, Jo focusses on the invisible web of myriad viral and microbial beings that accompany us and the narratives they leave in their wake.

Bio: Jo Milne is a visual artist who graduated in Fine Arts from Edinburgh University, before doing a Masters in Printmaking at the London Institute (Camberwell College of Art)and a PhD in Fine Art at the University of Barcelona. Her thesis "Invisible Structures" (2016) focussed on the methodologies used by scientists, artists and visionaries to visualize the invisible and was presented at a solo show at the Fundació Vila Casas (Barcelona).

'Smoke' and 'Fog': Iris Garrelfs, 2022

Smoke from Iris Garrelfs on Vimeo.

FOG from Iris Garrelfs on Vimeo.

Smoke and Fog are two short experimental documentaries come audiovisual poems made from historical black & white photographs documenting early to mid-20th century air pollution. Whilst Smoke focuses on the cities of Pittsburgh and St Louis (courtesy of the Smoke Control Lantern Slide Collection, University of Pittsburgh), Fog uses images of the infamous London pea-soupers (sponsored by Getty Images). Each soundtrack presents a digitally transmuted vocal response to these images, referencing the equally smokey jazz clubs of the time by fragmenting a popular jazz standard of the period, "Smoke Gets in Your Eyes" by Jerome Kern and Otto Harbach, as well as "A Foggy Day" by George and Ira Gershwin.

BIO: Iris Garrelfs works on the cusp of music, art and technology across improvised performance, multi-channel installation and fixed media projects. With a PhD from CRiSAP (UAL), Garrelfs convenes the MMus Sonic Arts at Goldsmiths, University of London, where she also co-heads the Sound Practice Research Unit. Elsewhere she is the commissioning editor of the online journal Reflections on Process in Sound. ww.irisgarrelfs.com f/t/i @irisgarrelfs

Lucky Man, 2012, by Stacey Blythe

In a R4 interview Edward Cawdrey takes us back to when he was a young man serving in Arctic Convoy, where he witnessed the profound horror of war. He saw 100s of young men being killed. He told of pulling the trigger on the gun that sank the Scharnhorst, over 2,000 lives were lost that day. “I’m not a hero, I was lucky, I just did what I was told, “ he said. I composed an underscore on piano, and could hear a song following, with his words rising out of the story. The opening piano part was improvised live under the interview, the final song I worked on separately then recorded it as a piece in its own right. I pulled everything together in the edit as I imagined. The song was played at his funeral at the request of his family.

BIO: Composer, performer, multi instrumentalist, and storyteller Stacey Blythe has performed all over the UK and America. She is a regular composer for the Welsh National Opera's max department (new opera '9 stories high' coming soon). She performs with Ffynnon and Elfen (a new welsh folk trio at elfen-duo). She has toured and recorded as a composer and performer with many different artists (Maria Hayes), poets (including Patrick Jones), musicians (Dylan Fowler, Julie Murphy, Meredith Monk) and storytellers including Nick Hennessey - (currently touring with Adverse Camber, 'Hunting the giants daughter' with Michael Harvey and Lynne Denman). Stacey has worked with new singer songwriters; Rachel Taylor-Beales and Pamela Wyn-Shannon and has performed at the Queen Elizabeth Hall, on the Orient Express, played for Stephen Sondheim, shared the stage with Billy Bragg (who sang a song I wrote!) and Michelle Shocked. She has performed (with her students from the Royal Welsh College) for Elizabeth Taylor, Shirley Bassy and the Prince of Wales at Buckingham Palace. She lectures as a musical director and repertoire coach at the Royal Welsh Conservetoire of Music and Drama. Websites: www.staceyblythe.com www.ffynnon.org

Chimera States - Carol Laidler 2020-2022

Chimera States. The title refers to the unihemispheric slow wave sleep that migratory animals experience, where they can sleep and be alert at the same time. I have terrible problems sleeping and Chimera States touches on consciousness and perception, on voices heard and drifted through. It exists mostly in the form of words that I have been reading to people remotely and in the dark. I am planning to perform it/ read it live in a darkened space for people to fall asleep to.

I have a studio at Spike Island, Bristol. Recent and current work includes: Map of Erosion, research and development with Pat Jamieson (2021/ongoing); Chimera States, readings, performance and installation (2020/ongoing); In Free Fall, sculpture and sound installation, in collaboration with Huma Mulji, David Alesworth, Eilis Kirby, Sarah, Rhys, Centre of Gravity, Gardiner Haskins, Bristol (2020).
Website: https://www.carollaidler.com
Instagram: @carol.laidler

Crow, A Recitation. An artist's book, by Genie Poretzky-Lee. Blue Lotus Publications, 2022.
https://www.genieporetzky-lee.com

PERCEPTION an art installation.
Website: https://www.genieporetzky-lee.com
Instagram: @genieporetzkylee6442

Rosana Miracco was born in Brazil and has a BA in fine arts and art history. Her most recent exhibition was at the Espacio Gallery, London (2021).

Carlos David
The artist Carlos David lives in the suburbs of Paris and considers himself an image maker. He exhibits his work when there's no more room to move in the room.
Website: artmajeur.com/carlosdavid Instagram: #carlosdavidoo, #diablo-paz

Andrew Spira
These works attempt to capture something of the temporality of pieces of music. Perpetuating the theme of time passing, the works also resonate with chronological charts - diagrams of historical developments from the origins of civilisation to the present day.

Andrew Spira is an independent art historian, author, lecturer and curator. For many years, he worked at the Temple Gallery (specialists in Byzantine and Russian icons), the Victoria and Albert Museum and Christie's Education, all in London. His work focuses on the interface between practical spirituality/psychology/epistemology and the history of art and culture.

Instagram: androidspire. Website: www.andrewspira.com

Yong Min Cho

Yong Min Cho began his dance studies at the Italian dance theatre school founded by Paolo Grassi, Piccolo Teatro, in Milan. After three years of training in Milan he moved to Venice to join the Accademia Isola Danza, where he worked with the renowned American contemporary dance choreographer Carolyn Carlson. He remained in Venice for several years working independently as a dancer at the Centro Teatrale di Ricerca Venezia. Since 2005, he has been living and working in London whilst touring in Italy and South Korea. Website: http://www.ymcho.co.uk/

Rashid Maxwell

Selfie: Subject and Object by Rashid Maxwell.

Watercolour on paper, 210 x 297mm

Anna Walker

I am interested in a multimedia approach while addressing the connections and the contradictions across disciplines. (By contradictions I mean those things don't quite fit together). It is a means to link the material and immaterial body and address the space in-between—that liminal space of potentiality, discovery, transition and change inhabited by the likes of ghosts, tricksters and witches. It is a subtle attempt to question, push boundaries, poke holes and create interventions.

Website: https://www.anna-walker-research.com Instagram: @sanga32

Minami Kobayashi

Working with egg tempera creates complex colour tones by brushstrokes, allowing me to capture transitory moments and transient people, depicting figures as permeable outlines of their character. The subjects and their environment seem never to reach a stasis. This is an idea from Buddhism, Shogyo-Mujo諸行無常, means “all things must pass”.

My work seeks to invite the audience to experience gazing and rediscover the joy of patiently looking at something. In my paintings, the images reveal more with time. Feminism has increasingly worked itself into my paintings through discourse, and I hope it becomes another subtle revelation to viewers.

Minami Kobayashi (b.1989 Japan) is a Japanese artist. She makes figurative egg tempera and oil paintings which combine intimacy and mystery through their depictions of ordinary people, animals, and places that seem vaguely surreal and ever so slightly off- kilter. She has had solo exhibitions at Goldfinch (Chicago) and Baby Blue Gallery (Chicago) and has exhibited in group shows at Tokyo Metropolitan Museum, Setouchi International Triennale 2019 (Japan), Western Exhibitions (Chicago), Dongdaemun Design Plaza (South Korea) Stems gallery(Belgium),and numerous other venues. She participated in a solo residency at Kate's little angel (Los Angeles) Kobayashi's work has been featured in publications such as New City (review, February 2019), Frase Got Talent (Italy). She holds an MFA in Painting and Drawing from The School of The Art Institute of Chicago (2018) and a BFA in Painting from Tokyo University of the Arts (2016).

https://www.minamikobayashi.com/
Instagram @korominami

The Colour of Pomegranates, part 2—the digital space

The Colour of Pomegranates, part 2—the digital space, is the continuation of a discussion that began with an exhibition in 2018, when the artist Genie Poretzky-Lee emailed an image of her pink stained hands to Rosalind Wilson as she was casting a sculpture of an open pomegranate. A connection was made that extended outwards to a shared appreciation of the Soviet director, Sergei Parajanov and his film, The Colour of Pomegranates, a visual poem dedicated to the life of 18th-century Armenian poet and troubadour Sayat-Nova, (1712 –1795).

Veronique Maria

MA Art/Psych, Artist, Artists Mentor, Creativity Coach
Website: www.veroniquemaria.co.uk

Antoni Malinowski

Artist who lives and works in London
Website: www.antonimalinowski.co.uk

Genie Poretzky-Lee

'Language of the Birds,' 2018.
A series of 30 Monoprints, based on “The language of the Birds” by Attar. Woad Ink Monoprints; each, 28cms X 38cms.

Website: https://genieporetzky-lee.com instagram @genieporetzkylee6442

Stephen Carter

Stephen Carter is an artist who lives and works in London.
Website: www.stephencarterpaintings.co.uk instagram @stephencarterpaintings

Moich Abrahams

Eternity has worn a human face,
Contracted to a little human span,
Lo, the immortal has become a man,
A self-imprisoned thing in time and space.
Harindranath Chatopadhyaya

For this project space, I chose to offer a 'portrait' of my friend Michael, who I have known for more than three decades. He rarely communicates, avoiding close contact, though I have become an exception. He likes to talk about art. He told me that His father was an artist, as was He, in His youth, and had met Picasso. Michael recently turned 87, and I thought it would be nice to make a book about Him. So, I began asking Him more probing questions about His life. For example, His father actually was a flamboyant, rather successful, society portrait painter, who drove Michael around, as a child, in Knightsbridge, in a bright yellow, open top Rolls Royce; and His stepmother was a famous actress, and so on.

In His late 20's, Michael may have experienced a 'Spiritual Crisis'. It seems that sometime around that period, Michael began to adopt His current 'life style', to all intents and purposes, that of a 'street person', resting in 'simply being', like an urban saddhu. I began to see Michael in a different light, as being a sort of quasi-sage. For example, when I asked, what does His finger pointing upwards mean, Michael replied "Union with G-d". Asked about His view on "spiritual crisis', He answered, " It's just a game" How does the game go? "Self-study", He replied, just like Ramana Sri Maharashi might have said. What helped to overcome Spiritual Crisis? "Self - remembering". "Self-study is Self-remembering", He said. What is the best practice for following The Way? "Stop the expression of negative emotions". He often quotes Ouspensky, "Stop this turning of thoughts". Similar to Jesus, "Why take Ye thoughts for raiment" and so on.

Moich Abrahams is an artist who lives and works in London.
website: www.moichabrahams.co.uk

Daniel Davidsson

Void #1 2019 Spanish Alabaster / Black 3.0 (H) 305 mm (W) 140 mm (D) 120 mm

Void #2 2019 Welsh Slate / Black 3.0 (H) 340 mm (W) 450 mm (D) 80 mm

Asymmetric Worlds #5 2019 Spanish Alabaster / Black 3.0 (H) 300 mm (W) 150 mm (D) 150 mm

Rupture #1 2018 Lava / Aluminium (H) 370 mm (W) 100 mm (D) 70 mm

Being As Multiple 2019 Spanish Alabaster (H) 295 mm (W) 145 mm (D) 130 mm

Rupture #2 2018 Lava / Aluminium (H) 440 mm (W) 110 mm (D) 80 mm

Daniel Davidsson is a sculptor who lives and works in London.
website: danieldavidsson.com | instagram: @danieldavidssonsculpture

Rosalind Wilson

Image 1: 2 x AA Material: Rusted battery and lichen covered twig Size: (l)7cm x (w)5cm x (h)2cm Date: 2020

Image 2: Just Enough Material: Seed pods and terracotta pot Size: (w)6.5cm x (h)5cm x (d)2.5cm Date: 2020

Image 3: Terracotta Mints Material: Mint green plastic bag and rich terracotta coloured flat leaves Size: (w)23cm x (h)12cm x (d)22cm Date: 2020

Image 4: Lichen Roll Materials: Yellow felt and lichen covered bark Size: (l)15cm x (h)5.5cm x (w)7.5cm Date: 2020

Image 4: From Kerala Materials: Postcard Size: (h)8cm x (d)5xcm x (l)15cm Date: 2020

Image 4: Blue Fist Material: Blue Felt and Brick Size: (h)12cm x (l)13cm x (d)7cm Date: 2020

Rosalind Wilson is a mixed media artist and educator based in London. She is interested in everyday occurrences and how we value them. What is deemed worthy of attention and what is dismissed? What ideas are imposed in public and private space and what is overlooked? As part of her practice she documents her encounters with the collected ephemera she uses in her work. Working with and from collected found matter she explores arbitrary notions of value, where attention is drawn or distracted and the invisible limitations that govern public space. website: rosalindwilson.com instagram: @rosalindfreyaclaire

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