Wigan artist in online exhibition for regional cultural talent

Artists from eight of the 10 boroughs in Greater Manchester who are also in the bOlder talent development program are taking part.

Each participant was asked to write an obstruction, or challenge which would have to be overcome, along with an instruction or philosophy.

These were then put into a hat and drawn out, with each artists then having to take a piece of work and transform it into something new in line with the obstruction and words they were allocated.

Jane took a painting of a textile artwork and had to create a new fabric-based piece while also obeying her instructions to ‘work from the inside’ and also ‘make it a game’.

Lockdown and the Covid-19 pandemic has presented huge challenges for the creative sector, with exhibitions being cancelled or postponed and art galleries and other cultural venues only now taking their first tentative steps to reopen.

However, this is not the first time her work will have been featured online during the health crisis as Cross Street Arts in Standish has put on several virtual exhibitions.

Jane said: “I had to work on the inside for my new piece so I made a textile piece which was inside out, with the seams on the outside and so on.

“The other part was to make it a game so I hung it these pieces in a tree and my grandsons made a game out of it by basically bashing and catching them.

“It has been interesting. I struggled at first with the project and when these obstructions were first suggested I wasn’t sure what it was all about, but once I got into it I enjoyed it.”

The exhibition opens on July 31 with a film introducing the artists and the ideas behind the show.

From Saturday August 1 until Tuesday 11 a short film will be posted every day showing how each artist has worked with the obstructions they were given, with the final remade works available to view from Fridsay August 14 to Sunday 23.

Each artist will have an allocated day to post the original work in the morning, the process during the afternoon, and, early in the evening, the final obstructed work.

The bOlder project, funded by the Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA), is a talent development programme for contemporary visual artists aged over 50.

As well as working with the regional programme Jane is hoping a solo show of her work in St Helens in September will be able to go ahead.

Ten Obstructions will take place from July 31 to September 3 on Instagram @tenobstructions