An Engagement commission by Amelia Hawk, developed in collaboration with Creative Youth Network alumni Roux, eden, Saffron Murray-Browne and Lily Serendipity.
Searching for a space that cares is a digital commission comprising film, audio, photography and performance. Together, the works explore different objects, environments and situations that have the potential to care (or not). Introducing a multiplicity of voices and perspectives, the commission presents a series of chapters that reflect upon objects, places and practices that embody the capacity to care. From intimate acts such as resting, to the exploration of ritual and nature, each chapter offers a unique perspective on care, drawn from a series of group workshops and discussions in and around Bristol.
The commission was developed through a six month collaborative residency at Spike Island, funded by the West of England Visual Arts Alliance, and presented to audiences digitally throughout July 2024.
AMELIA HAWK
Amelia Hawk (she/her) is a visual artist based in Birmingham. Hawk creates experiences and conversation as a way to make and share artwork. She is guided by feelings and emotions, exploring what might make her angry, frustrated or empowered. Her work often addresses mental health and socio-political subjects. Hawk combines counselling tools within her practice and workshops to create a safe space for participants. Hawk holds an MA from Kunstakademiet Oslo (2015). She has exhibited her work nationally and internationally including venues such as The Festival of Northern Norway, Intercultural Museum, Oslo; Munch Museum, Oslo; Kunstnernes Hus, Oslo; Tenthaus, Oslo; Luda, St Petersburg; National Gallery, Prague. Recently she undertook ACE funded R&D to research how to integrate counselling strategies into her practice resulting in The Listening Line phoneline, Listening Objects, and other associated works including an emotional coffee van commissioned by Multistory and hosted in Warley Woods, Sandwell. www.amelia-hawk.com
ROUX
Roux (he/him) is a Bristol-based actor, performance artist, director and producer. Working across mediums of drag, theatre, circus, movement, and community-conscious organisation, he is the founder of the trans+ production company House of Boussé. Roux’s practice moves like a mushroom; a transformative, mycelial storyteller exploring sociocultural fairy tales and interactive rage raves. Nothing is safe from the piercing reimagination of Gender Criminal.
Roux (aka Gender Criminal) has performed in London, Bristol, and across the UK’s music festival circuit. He has recently featured in season four of the television series Sex Education. Roux is producing and directing his next run of TRANS/FORM, a show exploring trans+ identities through the body. Instagram @gender_criminal
EDEN
eden (they/them) is a movement artist based between Bristol and Manchester. eden’s practice is underpinned by the diverse meanings of movement (physical/ideological/political developmental/musical/communal), offering inspiration for the performances and installations they create. eden is interested in reframing how audiences interact with their movement works, alongside presenting dance outside of the traditional theatrical context. Their practice often uses improvisational movement and writing as a starting point to explore recurring themes of liminality, grief and ritual. eden was one of the performers in Young In Hong’s Five Acts, Spike Island. Currently, they are developing their movement installations The Perspective
Pieces and working with Move Manchester to develop their new dance theatre work, Queeries.
https://e-d-e-n.weebly.com
SAFFRON MURRAY BROWNE
Saffron Murray-Browne (she/her) is an artist based in Bristol. Murray-Browne uses the human form as a vehicle to communicate her thoughts on intimacy, control, and the unavoidable baggage of art history. Trained as a painter, she has recently begun exploring video as an extension of the 2D plane. Underpinning this is the artist’s interest in control, and the extent to which a work may hold power over its viewer. Frequently using herself and her partner as subject matter, Murray-Browne’s work examines wider notions of power and feeling, through the lens of her own personal relationships. Murray-Browne graduated from Fine Art at Bath School of Art in 2020 with the Peter Kinley Prize for Painting. www.saffronmurraybrowne.com Instagram @saffronmurraybrowne
LILY SERENDIPITY
Lily Serendipity (she/they) is a multidisciplinary artist living and working across the South-West of England. Using textile, sculpture, installation and performance, Serendipity explores psychoanalytic themes in relation to their attempts to navigate everyday life. Serendipity reflects on their personal life experiences and memories, as well as recurring themes of loneliness, awkwardness, obsession and metamorphosis. Their work takes direct influence from popular culture, referencing characters, films and books to communicate Serendipity’s personal narrative. Lily Serendipity received their BA in Creative Arts Practice from Bath Spa University. Instagram @lily_serendipity_
WEST OF ENGLAND VISUAL ARTS ALLIANCE (WEVAA)
WEVAA is a consortium partnership of nine organisations co-led by Spike Island and Visual Arts South West including the Brunswick Club, Bath Spa School of Art, Bristol City Council, Creative Youth Network, Culture Weston, North Somerset Council and UWE Bristol. This alliance is delivering a 3-year programme of activity with the aim of supporting visual arts progression in the region, with the collective vision for the visual arts community in Bristol and the West of England to become more progressive, sustainable and inclusive by 2024. As part of this programme, and to support young people to develop their understanding and experience of the visual arts sector, this fellowship provides the opportunity for a group of young people to develop an Engagement commission with a nationally significant artist. The co-produced work will be shown on Spike Island’s digital channels and the process of creating this work ensures the young artists receive mentoring as part of the process.