The Border Crossings: Artist as Explorer project was borne out of conversations between artists Louise Atkinson (Leeds, UK) and Carlos Marin (Medellin, Colombia) to produce a cross-cultural print exhibition. The theme developed as part of a proposal for an illustrated talk and exhibition at the Impact 8 International Printmaking conference in Dundee, Scotland.
The initial proposal was for a collaborative show between a group of artists in the UK and Colombia, involving printmakers working with a range of materials and techniques. However, in order to consolidate these works as a coherent exhibition between disparate artists, we decided that it would be interesting to create a WordPress blog so that each artist could post their works in progress online and develop conversations with each other which would strengthen the overall concept of the exhibition.
The collaborative aspect would then take part through this discussion, with each artist creating their own separate works in response to this. However, the website would also act as a reflective tool, mapping the creative journey, both for the artists involved, as well as their respective audiences.
As this is an experimental project, there are no prescriptive views as to how each person should undertake their work, but it is anticipated that works will change and develop in response to the online comments and conversations. As part of the process, we also felt it was important to produce the online element as a multilingual site, allowing greater access and understanding for audiences and participants.
The finished works will be shown together at different locations in UK and Colombia.
Border Crossings: Artist as Explorer 