Game Face Artists
Adam Robinson
Adam Robinson is showing three pieces; Solitaire, Diversion and Title Deeds
“My work reflects my passion for colour and the processes of collecting and arranging. Found and sometimes forgotten materials with their own history are my source of inspiration. I aim to transform these objects to exist in a more contemporary and ordered context, with a clean and vibrant aesthetic. My pieces are intended to be visually engaging, and have an aspect of playfulness and contemplation of the history behind the materials, history of the time period they were produced in, and the individual story of each object. I also enjoy the emotional response that colour and repetition can bring, and the notion that once the materials are rearranged and framed they become preserved in an altogether different way.”
Alex Hovet
Alex Hovet is showing one piece; Counter-Charge
“My work reflects my passion for colour and the processes of collecting and arranging. Found and sometimes forgotten materials with their own history are my source of inspiration. I aim to transform these objects to exist in a more contemporary and ordered context, with a clean and vibrant aesthetic. My pieces are intended to be visually engaging, and have an aspect of playfulness and contemplation of the history behind the materials, history of the time period they were produced in, and the individual story of each object. I also enjoy the emotional response that colour and repetition can bring, and the notion that once the materials are rearranged and framed they become preserved in an altogether different way.”
Alicia Gradon
Alicia Gradon is showing one piece; Haille
Alicia Gradon’s work is based upon a fictional world of her own creation, Perpetuia. She says of this world : “Perpetuia is a place where my thoughts can exist beyond the boundaries of my imagination, a world that I have slowly built up from childhood that combines a mixture of truth and fiction both visually and in narrative.” In the way that imaginary games allow children to explore the physical and emotional complexity of their world within a safe space, Gradon’s works similarly allow the viewer to perceive contemporary society and the artists perspective at a safe distance and remove.
Anne Parfitt
Anne Parfitt is showing one piece; Three Blind Mice
Anne Parfitt is a visual artist whose play with materials and found objects brings together extremes in order to find meaning. In conjoining a collection of materials, objects and modelled forms in sculptural collage, she attempts to find the meeting points of contradictions and opposites. Three Blind Mice is satirical, exposing and poking fun at Western cultural values regarding gender and age which are represented by the figurative stereotypes found on objects children play with such as dolls and Action Men, and through which they are socialised into adult role expectations.
Carl Moore
Carl Moore is showing one piece; The Penguin who wanted to be a Peacock
This piece is taken from the ‘Animals Pretending to be Other Animals’ series of works; a body of work that was inspired from playing MMORPG's (Massively multiplayer online role-playing games) over several years, creating online avatars and personas. “I make work that sits on that fine line between comedy and tragedy with a pinch of the absurd. Works include animals pretending to be other animals, who use found objects with a splash or two of paint. Animals in the act of comedic suicide and robots that dream to have a normal life.”
Cassie McQuater
Cassie McQuater is showing six pieces; Strange Visions: Thetis (Sailor Moon, R-Type, Gradius III), Strange Visions: Chun Li (Sim City, Aladdin), Strange Visions: Chizuru (KOF, R-Type, Mario), Strange Visions: Shiki (Samurai Shodown 64, Star Wars, Castlevania), Strange Visions: Nina and Martha (Strip Fighter 2), Strange Visions: Brides of Dracula, Carol Stanzack
Cassie McQuater is a new media and video game artist living and working in Ventura, California and currently exploring VR, 3D, and browser-based experimental narratives. Strange Visions is part of a series based largely on the female characters from classic arcade fighting games. The characters are resituated in different environments, made from collaged video game sprites from various console and PC games. These “video games without a player” are viewed in real time through an internet browser and loop infinitely. The enemy Thetis from Sailor Moon, several enemies from the games R-Type and Gradius III are pictured in this vision.
Charlie Chrobnik
Charlie Chobnik is showing one piece; Ensure Plus
Ensure Plus explores the representation of a personal experience of illness; the title of the piece refers to the nutrition drink used to maintain healthy weight. Charlie Chrobnik’s paradoxical aesthetic outcome is playful in nature. The shapes resemble puzzle pieces, building blocks or play toys on a mat. Chrobnik says: “I found a few recurring emblems emerge within a series of my figurative works. I decided to take these symbols, detach them from the body and place them like totems surrounded by nothing.”
Dagmar Rieger
Dagmer Rieger is showing one piece; Game Over
Dagmar Rieger is an Austrian artist who has exhibited widely in Istanbul, London, Birmingham and Salzburg. Game Over examines the issue of stereotyped gender roles in the games industry, with a light-hearted and humorous touch. Rieger says of her piece: “Game Over should be said more often, especially to all those male dominated, violent games. So it's teddy's victory!”
Mitts
Mitts is showing one piece; Paper Boats
“Paper Boats is an artwork dedicated to that era where no ready-made toys existed. Back in the day, the simple material of paper could be transformed into a means through which someone could develop craftsmanship, compete, travel and dream.”
Eero Tiittula
Eero Tiittula is showing four pieces; Ballb, Reincarnation no.1, Reincarnation no.2, Parc des Buttes Chaumont 2
“Craftsmanship and careful material execution, is the cornerstone of my practice. Physicality transmutes representation into a more self-contained being: something with history, orientation and gravity. My works often have performative quality. Either they are meant to be used, or present themselves as props or documents of a past, on-going or potential action. The works seek to claim an active, and at times obstructive, position in space, to interact with their surroundings and the viewer. Some themes recurring in my work include the mirage-like attraction and transience of utopias, social identification and marginalisation, and humanity, which manifests itself in failure and imperfection.”
Han Caroline
Han Caroline is showing one piece; Gamer Girls
Gamer Girls looks at the role of women and girls in video gaming and trading card games; often marginalised in art mediums they are just as active in. This wall hanging aims to present female players in the comfort of their gameplay, on consoles and collecting trading cards, in a vivid, pixel-like display
Heike Berl
Heike Berl is showing one piece; Substituted Bench
Heike Berl’s art practice explores issues of the emotion evoked for some by participating in the practice of support of games such as football and this dedication and commitment is addressed with humour and a sense of the surreal, with ordinary objects being transformed in artistic works. Substituted Bench is dedicated to the great game of football.
Ashman
Ashman is showing one piece; Casino
“I create paintings from my imagination. Thinking outside the box and using my background in Fashion, I now paint people in situations that reflect my vision of modern life and times. My new work has evolved into a Fashion influenced narrative in an attempt to get the bigger picture and express the zeitgeist of the Computer age. With photography, Internet and social media playing such a huge part of modern life, my paintings work to slow down the fast paced and throwaway society that is evolving in the world”
Evelyn Jean
Evelyn Jean is showing one piece; le vrai sens de l'amour
Evelyn Jean creates filmic images examining human behaviour. In this piece Jean suggests that human relationships are similar to a game of Russian roulette. The danger, potential pain and even death possible with the game is likened by Jean to the emotional stresses and trauma caused by a relationship gone bad and also asks the viewer to consider games they may play in the romantic world.
Jamie Grey
Jamie Grey is showing one piece; The Dervish
Jamie Grey’s piece is reminiscent of a wooden spinning top; a childhood toy many will recognise. A dervish is a member of a religious group known for their spinning dances. Gray says of her work: “My current body of work is rooted in the spirited conversation between form and process. Polygonal motifs and abstract compositions communicate playful actions and can be viewed as game-like metaphors for mental constructs. In this body of work I am also playing with the viewers’ perception of materials by integrating traditional craft techniques, of marbleising and gold gilding, in the making of contemporary artworks.”
Jane Fincham-Wood
Jane Fincham-Wood is showing two pieces; Spanx I and Spanx III
Spanx I is part of the Spanx series of candid photographs of three women, participating in a restriction 'sex game'. The title plays with the name of a popular underwear brand and alludes to the garments’ connotations of the restrictions and liberations of women.
Sons of Incoherence
Sons of Incoherence is showing one piece; Come on - Game Face
"Insert Feminist statement here"
Jon Arbuckle
John Arbuckle is showing one piece; Snakes and Ladders Board
Jon Arbuckle’s piece is based on a real life story that began with the artist Ed Fornieles' 'character dating' project a few years ago. The games’ protagonists, based on real life artists (Jon Buck, Buffy Yoda, Amanda Squirrel and Jonny Meerkat), are trying to blow up the Death Star of patriarchal capitalism in order to save the universe by getting to the end of the board. To do so they must rescue Katy Garfield from the clutches of golden Jabba the Hut. Ed the Fox introduces random elements which may help or hinder their progress. Although the game is a race to the end there is a co-operative component whereby players can help each other out. The piece is a game reflecting a 'game' in 'real life' based on this initial 'character dating' art project; while it follows the traditional methods of Snakes and Ladders it also modifies these in terms of story and character reflecting contested or evolved gender roles and related story lines in the early 21st Century.
Kelly Xi
Kelly Xi is showing one piece; XXX
“My work as a post-media painter-projectionist is driven by sunshine, software, and subversion of longstanding systems of oppression. I design immersive experiences to challenge audiences towards a culture I hope to be more inclusive, curious, and open-minded.”
Lauren Pryde
Lauren Pryde is showing two pieces; Eleka Nahmen Nahmen and With Jsut 8-Bit of Luck, I'll Get Thru Today
Lauren Pryde uses materials such as Perspex and mirrors to create playful pieces which she describes as a release from personal and universal problems. She created this sculpture with painting and painting process in mind, subverting the traditional forms and methods of sculpting. The title of the piece is taken from the musical Wicked, where the protagonist, the ‘wicked witch’ debates her failure to be seen as a force for doing good. Pryde’s piece may therefore also be seen to question and play with appearance and personal identity.
Lena le Ballena
Lena la Bellna is showing one piece; RUBIX
In RUBIX, the puzzle of the cube could be seen to represent the challenge, frustration and problem solving present in everyday life. La Bellena says: “My work is a constant exploration. The Rubix is about precisely that. We play, we have fun, we mix and match different aspects of our lives, and then we create.”
Maria Varnava
Maria Varnava is showing one piece; I DO #4
“My practise consists of creating alternative selves using makeup, props, and myself. I look at the idea of fantasy, fiction, and reality through recalling memories of childhood storytelling. I wanted to create strange but familiar personas that probe at identity. My practise is performative but captured and displayed as photography. I think the theme of the double, euphoric states and the notion of play begins to manifest from my photographs. What I am trying to question in my work is the human condition and the perceived idea of “self.” My work often ridicules the role of women and female stereotyping.”
Marnie Scarlet
Marnie Scarlet is showing one piece; Flying VaaJeeJee
Marnie Scarlet’s piece is based on the idea of a flying vagina. The pared-back, almost iconised depiction of the vagina is reminiscent of an early computer-game icon. The wings could be taken from those usually found on a (male) game character such as Super Mario, but here are attached to the female symbol of the vagina, investing it with power and agency.
Mervenil Emiroglu
Mervenil Emiroglu is showing one piece; Untitled
In order to create this work, the artist used methods of chance and play. A structure was built to support the seven canvases. Different sized balls were covered in paint in different colours and then rolled over the canvases. The challenge the artist set herself was to keep the ball rolling as long as possible whilst being hold from both ends by two participants. As the ball rolls, an abstract painting of the game’s progress is created; each ball’s mark has a unique character. When the ball rolled off the surface, the next ball would continue. Emiroglu sees this work as an ongoing experiment of mark making which could be done by the artist, or with multiple participants.
Michelle Baird
Michelle Baird is showing one piece; The Game of Life
“As a grown-up, I take great pleasure in drawing on text books or indeed any other printed material I feel would benefit from my mark. To further indulge my subversive nature, I play with dolls, toy soldiers and rummage in charity shops. This is the result...”
Nicki Rolls
Nicki Rolls is showing one piece; Cyber
In this piece, computer generated geometric pattern is juxtaposed with kitsch imagery borrowed from early Disney film created at a time before computerisation. Nicki Rolls produces works which explore cinematic and virtual worlds. Her work investigates the construction of virtual space and its propensity to exploit our emotions, to both invite and repel, and explores what it is to be a spectator in a digital age. She is interested in the tension which arises between the natural world and its appropriation by technological process and I seek to interrupt and break down this process, attempting to wrest the image from the grasp of technology
Oriana Haddad
Oriana Haddad is showing two pieces; Let the Bridge Come and The Solitude of a Sqaure
In this work, a person crouches in position, almost blending in to the cityscape as a piece of street furniture. The viewer is compelled to question the reason. This could almost be an elaborate game of hide-and-seek or peekaboo. The photograph is in fact a record of a performance work. In the piece, Oriana Haddad performed the distance between one seat and another, the distance to connect a person with another, and the empty space between them. This image is a document of that performance.
Haddad’s work lies in a trans-disciplinary research about the human body. She addresses the body as the inalienable condition of human existence, by virtue of which we generate and experience reality. Her anthropological and performance-based practice aims to raise awareness of the body as embodiment.
Ricki Nerreter
Ricki Nerreter is showing one piece; Smoke and Mirrors
Ricki Nerreter here aims to examine the divisions in contemporary religion. She feels that commandments of kindness and charity have been overlooked by all religious beliefs, due to greed and the desire for political power; the warfare is the same as in medieval times, just the weapons have changed.
Smoke and Mirrors could be seen to portray the conflicts present in religion as a game. She treats the subject in a light-hearted way with the presence of found materials; children’s toys, plastic knickknacks and icons all are given the same privilege within the piece asking the viewer to consider what they attach importance and status to.
Roxane Pronier
Roxane Pronier is showing one piece; Skateboard
In this piece Roxane Pronier has used a skateboard as a canvas, transforming the toy into a work of abstract art. She feels that colour is not only a means to an end - a way to create light and shape, but is the subject of the piece itself.
Sal Jones
Sal Jones is showing one piece; It's Not What it Looks Like
Sal Jones’ work imagines fictional characters fixed in moments of crises or emotional upheaval. The protagonists in her work could be seen as characters from a computer game or film, paused by the viewer in their moment of trauma. In this piece, the subject’s expression has been enhanced by the use of perspective and heavy cropping. Trapped behind bars the character is immortalised in a false predicament. Jones sees her work as a reinvention of traditional portraiture through the introduction of filmic visual codes.
Shannon Lane
Shannon Lane is showing one piece; Rock, Paper, Scissors
“Rock–paper–scissors is a hand game usually played between two people, in which each player simultaneously forms one of three shapes with an outstretched hand. The game is often used as a choosing method.
I enjoy toying with the human body and human perception of each other within my work.”
Surya de Wit
Surya de Wit is showing one piece; Arora
Surya de Wit uses the idea of Arora (Sleeping Beauty) to explore ideas of reality and fantasy.
In the piece, Arora has woken out of a deep sleep to find herself transformed. In what should have been her moment of triumph; waking out of a 100 year sleep to find the handsome prince, Arora has become a monster. The traditional ideas of princess and monster taken from fairy tales by so many contemporary games limit their characters to prescribed gender and personality codes. This piece questions the difference between princess and monster, and whether they may share common traits and feelings.
Tamar Kasparian
Tamar Kasparian is showing two pieces; Untitled I and Untitled II
Tamar Kasparian creates photographic work celebrating difference. She says of this piece
“The world we live in today is much different than the world I grew up in. The idea of play was more about physical activities, whereas now the idea of play is all about technology. Capturing the essence of childhood and the purity a child naturally endures is so liberating.”
Trystan Williams
Trystan Williams is showing one piece; Boops and Beeps
In boops and beeps, Trystan Williams has etched a piece of text about the "future" on to a found circuit board. The text has resonances that many will be familiar with; to those playing computer games in the 1980’s and 90’s, the individual beeps of the games were instantly recognisable. To those who grew or are growing up in a digital society, these noises would be seen as kitschly retro. Williams says of his practice: “My work involves using found fragments of text from the internet and laser engraving them onto found physical objects in order to create contemporary artefacts of the 'now'.”
Tuba Gultekin
Tube Gultekin is showing one piece; x-h-o-pscotch-x
"It is reviewed in the works that how the reviewed sense of reality is carried into the artistic discourse in the intellectual artistic processes changing within sensory data and also which phenomenological meanings it holds."
William Reinsch
William Reinsch is showing one piece; Kingdom Come
William Reinsch says of the piece: “This painting explores the idea of fun and games against darker motifs such as worship and madness. I'm not completely sure myself what is going on in this piece, I very much want that part to be up to the viewer. I have just explored what would happen placing these elements together with the hope that it creates an interesting enough juxtaposition for the viewer to then explore themselves and question.”
Lia
Lia is showing one piece; Missed Fortune Cookies
“What if?.. Missed fortune cookies is an edible installation exploring fear of missing out.”
Seana Wilson
Seana Wilson is showing one piece; Judy Chicago
This piece is taken from the ‘Animals Pretending to be Other Animals’ series of works; a body of work that was inspired from playing MMORPG's (Massively multiplayer online role-playing games) over several years, creating online avatars and personas. “I make work that sits on that fine line between comedy and tragedy with a pinch of the absurd. Works include animals pretending to be other animals, who use found objects with a splash or two of paint. Animals in the act of comedic suicide and robots that dream to have a normal life.”
Laura Travor
Laura Travor is showing one piece; Ambiguous Collision
“In this piece conceptual boundaries started to become visual targets and the piece ended as soon as I hit the boundary of the circle.
I frequently seek to break art down to its essential components, i.e. time, gesture, material, and piece them back together rather than necessarily creating imagined images. Each piece therefore becomes an experiment and game, which may involve my aim, my judgement or the dimensions of my body and results in accident, misjudgement and discovery.”
Jin Eun Kim
Jin Eun Kim is showing one piece; Mulng
Mulng is inspired by an old fable: Peach Blossom Spring by Táohuā Yuán Jì. It is a series of works, experienced interactively as you journey through a virtual landscape.
Klaus is Coming
Klaus is Coming is showing one piece; Build a Bae
In this piece, klaus asks the viewer to become active in switching round the heads, torso, legs and feet of the sculptures around to create different people. The piece plays with gender and considers what is considered to be the ‘correct’ combination and what seems funny. Some parts are naked while other parts are clothed.
Karolina Peszko
Karolina Pasko is showing one piece; Laboratory of Amorphous Feelings
Katie Miller
Katie Miller is showing one piece; Drafts
Weng Cheong Wong
Weng Cheong Wong is showing one piece; Bystander Intervention
Freya Nash
Freya Nash is showing two pieces; Plastic Perfection I & Plastic Perfection II