Ella Penn - Alopecia tableau - Art of Caring

Ella Penn - Alopecia tableau, Freya: Me My hair and I

Submissions for this year's Art of Caring have started to arrive in our inbox and we've been both excited and emotionally piqued by the artworks (and haikus) that people would like to exhibit. If you're reading this and would also like to exhibit then visit our SUBMIT page, you've got until the 3rd April to do so and it's totally Free. So just do it.

When we get a few spare minutes from sifting through the entries it inspires us to reflect on the artworks and the power that they possess. Today I've been particularly caught by a series of photographs by Ella Penn, who has been exhibiting with us since the Rarities magnet exhibition on Hasting's Pier in 2011. Although her work is primarily photography based she has a keen eye for the conceptual. In 2015 she took part in the wonderful Art Language Location festival in Cambridge where she exhibited her work 52 Card Pick Up with Liam Whitfield. Over a 6 year period they collected a full pack of cards after finding them individually discarded in public places.

The Art of Caring has always been close to the heart of Ella as she was a carer for her dad for 10 years. This year she has submitted a powerful triptych dedicated to her friend Freya, who is raising awareness of Alopecia.

Ella Penn - Alopecia tableau, Freya: Me My hair and I

"The photos are of Freya Barnes who I've known all my life. Both Freya and her sister Roxy have battled with Alopecia as they were growing up and this knocked their self confidence, as a woman hair is seen as one of the key factors in femininity. The NHS gave Freya wigs and referred her to hair loss shampoos. All of which are designed to cover up or try and restore the growth of her hair. 

I suggested this photo project to Freya as photo therapy and hopefully to give her confidence in herself without her wig. When I showed Freya the images after the shoot she was really pleased and decided to share an image on the Alopecia Facebook page to inspire other women."

Ella Penn, 2017

Alopecia UK Facebook page

Ella Penn - Alopecia tableau, Freya: Me My hair and I

It goes without saying that we were inspired here too, by both Freya and Ella. We thank them both for contributing to the exhibition. If you would like to see these artworks and many more like them then visit us at St George's Hospital on the 3rd-12th May 2017. A selection of AOC work will also be exhibited at St Pancras Hospital from 20th July to 19th October 2017.

AL.

Art Language Location - Contemporary Cambridge

It's that time of year again where Cambridge is turned into a cryptic crossword of criss-crossing Art across the city centre. Art Language Location is a festival we really believe in at CollectConnect, where the Art populates public places and inquisitive creative bloodhounds are rewarded with thought provoking urban vignettes. It is the brainchild of artist Robert Good who we have had the pleasure of featuring on Freedbook, Fab Fridge 2014 and most recently the excellent 'On The Map' exhibition.

Now in its fourth year, Art Language Location (ALL) , 2015 is proud to welcome work by nearly 70 of the brightest emerging and established artists from across the UK and beyond who use text in their work. ALL is a contemporary visual and performance arts event taking place over two and a half weeks in October 2015 in Cambridge, featuring prestigious, innovative and experimental contemporary art. Join us at Anglia Ruskin University campus and around Cambridge in October for this year’s festival, which is bringing exciting new work to Cambridge.

Each artist  has found an appropriate venue for their work: the resulting intervention creates a conversation between artist, artwork and location. This extended exhibition aims to show a series of visually exciting and unexpected encounters in which our everyday interactions with text can be explored and challenged.

Highlights include Supertext, an exhibition of Art and Text around the campus at Anglia Ruskin University (ARU). With over 20 works to find, you are invited to track down adorable shaggy dogs (and stories) by Tom Hackett, a multilingual Winnie-the-Pooh (plus aprons) by Laima Vanaga and an argument between Daniel Djamo and his mother.

And we'd love to see you at ShowTime! on October 17th, also at ARU, for a full day of participation and performance. Take part in an interactive audio drawing by 2015 Jerwood Prize Winner Alison Carlier, listen to a new choral work by Ian Wolter and have your nails done as never before. Sample local street food by Food Park, and round off the day with live music and bar.

With a programme of supporting events and artworks around town, encounter art on your daily travels as our ALL artists uncover more unusual locations across Cambridge. This year, find stone carving in a burial ground and social commentary at a bus stop as well as a new dictionary at the Central Library and dazzling drawing at the Sedgwick Museum. Don't miss hand-stitched financial reports by Rhiannon Williams at the Alison Richard Building and venture further afield to see a video projection by Sally Stenton

There is a Launch Party on 15 October at The Junction, Cambridge, which will be opened by Molly Jackson of the South Bank.

ALL is going from strength to strength, building a reputation for Cambridge  as a place to visit for contemporary art - ALL2015 is the fourth annual event, which began with Text&Context in October 2012. We want to bring new and experimental art to Cambridge and contribute to what is becoming a growing and exciting contemporary arts scene. Join us in October and see for yourself. See you there! Check out our website www.artlanguagelocation.org for full details.

Sara Lerota - Table dwelling

Sara Lerota - Table as a place of infinite imagination

Welcome to the Dwell exhibition and book. For a whole month we will be taking each artist's page and transforming it into a 3 dimensional dwelling. Each one of these small sculptures will be exhibited in public on the London streets.

Sara Lerota

The concept behind today's dwelling is undoubtedly one of my favourites. For who wasn't once a child whose rampant imagination needed only the meagerest of props to visit other worlds. Sara Lerota's net titled 'Table as a place of infinite imagination' gives us this opportunity, however old we are. In fact the whole dwell book is a exercise in regression, it's been a while since I got out my coloured pencils, scissors and Pritt Stick on a wet weekend afternoon.

Sara Lerota is one of our most enthusiastic and longest serving artists here at CollectConnect. Despite committing herself to a regular job in recent months she always tries our unusual ideas and is willing to extend herself. In fact her table idea didn't come easy and it took some time for us to persuade her to publish it in the book.

Dean Reddick photographing
Sara Lerota's
Table dwelling

Sara is a well respected member of the Bosnia and Herzegovina art scene and came to international prominence for her detailed pencil art. She first exhibited with us back in 2011 during the Lightbite exhibition on the streets of Nottingham. Since then she has reached the hand of friendship to other artists around the world as well as many of our CollectConnect crew. Most recently we've seen her take on an administrative/curatorial role at the excellent Art:Language:Location festival in Cambridge, UK.

Dead Man's Hole

Our Table as a place of infinite imagination is placed underneath the fairytale Tower Bridge on a rainy day in London. It sits alongside the legendary Dead Man's Hole which is named because of the tidal currents of the adjacent River Thames where bodies ended up due to accident, suicide or convenient disposal. The corpses tended to congregate along this part of the riverbank, then fished out and stored in the mortuary before being removed for burial.

Don't forget to have a look at the next Collect Connect project, 'The Art of Caring' exhibition at The Rose Theatre in Kingston-upon-Thames. The theme is Caring/Care and it is FREE to enter.

To buy the Dwell Book for £6 then follow this LINK