Stuart Woods
I presented two paintings in response to a trip to India, three mirror sculptures and a filmed piece called The Swing.
I learned about public responses to the work and what would happen if I invited them to interact with the mirror pieces. I received first responses about how the work is seen and thought about. A range of responses meant I could think more deeply about the impact of the work on an audience. The feedback contained some unexpected but very useful insight into how people see my work and I enjoyed that.
I have learned that the power of constructive feedback is essential to developing work. Having worked in private for an extended period, I now have formed useful ways forward to explore intentions and processes in future work and am clearer on ways to present work from these collections.
I highly recommend the Critical Exchange process.The facilitators (Celeste and Jilly) were immensely helpful in ensuring I understood the stages and were committed to ensuring the experience developed my artistic thinking in a systematic and rigorous way. From selecting pieces, to preparing questions, I was challenged to scrutinise my intent and implementation model and benefited greatly from sharing my work with an informed and supportive group.
The session yielded informative responses and insights and the debrief was particularly impactful as it helped shape my next steps in developing the work. As a result, I’m clearer, more confident and sharper in my understanding of my practice and would encourage any eligible artist to experience this powerful and progressive opportunity for themselves.
Amy Scott-Pillow
I presented some new work which was in an experimental stage. The work included 3D printed replications of some objects I have found and collected, a video of a 3D scan of an object I was invited to paint on ‘PLINTH’ as well as some experimental work ‘polygon pathway’ which I showed a few months prior at the Winchester gallery as part of ‘Waste Work’ but I didn’t get the chance to have much constructive feedback on that piece. I also showcased part of ‘Island Room’ – an older work, which was given new contextualisation alongside the new works.
I was pushed out of my comfort zone; I had been stagnant in my making for a long time, and initially I wanted to use the process to help me think about where to go next. After speaking at length with Jilly and Celeste I realised I just needed the push to make new work to present. This meant that a lot of it was so fresh, that I felt extra vulnerable showing it, but this is where the real magic happened. I could get very useful current bits of feedback and felt that the process allowed me to feel safe doing so!
The feedback was so helpful. There were some wonderfully insightful people in the room, they have helped me to process what I am doing, and even why. I gained new avenues to explore and some brilliant questions to think about. I already thought I knew what I wanted to explore further before the event, but now I have found other things that have helped me refine what I am interested in and what might make for a more exciting piece or even a new body of work!