Daksha Patel

REPORT:

  Residency space and resources Thoughout the residency, Artcore put in place all the resources needed to create work. All art materials were supplied and any technical assistance needed was given. They were proactive and responsive to artists’ changing needs. The studio spaces were large, full of light and very comfortable. They were peaceful spaces for quiet reflection in a busy schedule.     My Practice I was surprised by the work I made, it was definitely a new direction for me in that it was quite a personal and autobiographical response. The paper sculptures were directly informed by being in Baroda and my experience of India both past and present. I feel that there is potential to take some of the ideas forward back in the UK. I would also welcome a chance to continue dialogue with artists in India and will explore possible opportunities for them to visit UK. Residency Exhibition The exhibition at the end of the

Where are you based? Manchester How did your artwork start out? The human body has been an important theme in my practice from the very beginning. My undergraduate work focused upon skin: I used macro-photography to take highly magnified images of its surface, which resembled landscapes. I was also making direct imprints of skin using soft-ground etchings. Overtime, particularly after my MA, I became interested in how technologies look at, represent and measure the human body. How do you get ideas for each piece of art? My work is often research-led and responds to specific aspects of scientific enquiry such as data about air pollution, geographic mapping systems or medical imaging. I regularly undertake residencies in scientific institutions, and my conversations with scientists, as well as images from their research are often the starting point for ideas. How do you go about transforming an idea like that into a physical piece? Drawing is a primary method for thinking through ideas and of realizing them. It is a very direct and immediate way to explore ideas. I use methods and processes that respond in some way to my subject matter. For instance, I have used clay - a material that is unstable and slowly drops off the paper surface as it dries - to draw landscapes that are undergoing desertification. Or animal fat to draw