MA Fine Art, University of Brighton
In the Making
In the Making is a MA Fine Art, University of Brighton duo exhibition by Anthony Griffin and Jasmyn Fraser.
Anthony Griffin’s and Jasmyn Fraser’s work both investigate the processes and people involved in making things. Their collection of paintings, sculptures and sketchbooks aim to reconfigure the way we think about makers. The two artists’ work harmoniously explores the themes of social lives of making; the overarching themes of celebration of the manual worker and the transmission of generational knowledge blend together to demonstrate how, and why, we make.
Anthony Griffin’s work looks at celebrating the manual worker in an ever-digitised world through a series dedicated to repetitive actions of those at work and sculptures made from workers objects. His astute recognition of the motions and gestures of manual workers create an emotive dialogue around the physicality of who makes the things that surround us in our daily lives. His work is situated around themes of ritual and transformation that occur in pensive moments from his working life. He describes his inspiration as “It started of an image in my head of my work partner… he was just stirring a big 10 litre tub of paint … this was such an ancient imagery and we’ve been doing this for so long in different scenarios, mixing different things together, it’s an image that’s not left me”. He therefore encourages the audience to pause and consider such moments.
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Jasmyn Fraser’s work gives an anthropological insight into the way knowledge of making is passed on generationally. Her small-scale sculptures embody the tacit knowledge of generations gone by, whilst her fieldwork and notations point towards the gender roles that encompass such traditions and rituals. When talking about her work, Fraser says “My work is very anthropological, I’m using family history to look at the way gender roles are present within our own lives. It’s not a faraway concept, rather it’s rooted in the anecdotal stories we have of those in our lives. Who we choose to share making with is very important, who learns what, and from who, are central questions to my practice”.
Both artists draw on their personal experiences to create a visual autobiography. Anthony Griffin’s experience as a decorator directly informs the way he visualises practices of making by using practical objects from his time as a manual labourer. Jasmyn Fraser’s undergraduate degree in Anthropology is a key motivation for the way she visualises the networks of social interactions of making within the home. The interplay of private and public, male and female, and bold and delicate, create an exhibition which invites the audience to consider the meaning and value of the maker.
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