Bluecoat Studio Windows
Sally was the recipient of the Adam Reynolds Memorial bursary, which took place at the Bluecoat between February and April 2009, with support from Shape and Tate Liverpool. She was later invited to return to the Bluecoat as part of DaDa-Fest 2009 with a series of photographic light-boxes inspired by her residency and time spent in the Bluecoat studio. The collection of works formed an exhibition which was installed at the Bluecoat in 2009. November.
This section shows installation shots and written descriptions of each piece. There is also an extended site specific audio description which was made for visitors to the exhibition.
Sally said: "One of the things I wanted to do on my residency was to make a series of work directly reflecting my experience of the Bluecoat studio. Their beautiful oval windows had inspired me from the beginning. I made ongoing photographs of the changing light and shadows cast by the windows at night and in the afternoons. Sometimes the light was diffuse and soft, evocative of my own vision; sometimes reflections were abstracted, sharp or almost invisible. As the days slowly lengthened over the course of my residency, and glimpses of developing work and general studio life appeared in the background, this series became an important part of the passage of time during the residency".
Eight photographic light boxes
There are eight photographic light boxes hung on one long, brick, and whitewashed wall. The boxes are all 18in (48cm) x 24in (63.5cm) and 7in (18cm) deep. They are constructed in MDF and painted matt black. There is one photograph in each box, illuminated from a light source hidden within each box. There are three portrait format images and five landscape format images. Six images are double banked with two portrait format at each end. The illuminated images give an impression of stained glass or a triptych in a church.
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Installation shots of exhibition of light-boxes at the Bluecoat. Photograph by Minako Jackson, Art in Liverpool (www.artinliverpool.com).
The Images
Each picture uses the oval studio windows in some form as its motif. This may be in the form of a reflection, a shadow, or part of the window itself. In only one picture does the full window appear.
The windows themselves are part of the original Bluecoat, built in the period of Queen Anne. They are visible in a row on the top floor of the building as you enter the front entrance. . They are oval with white wood frames, about one metre in diameter and slightly wider across than in height. Each window has an oval pane of glass in the middle, with eight small panes and white wood frames radiating out from the centre like a bicycle or cartwheel. The windows appear to the eye as round rather than oval, reminiscent of porthole windows, a clock face or a rose window in a church.
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