Practice in Place

Practice in Place - Ellen Gillett

Ellen Gillett shares her experience as an artist living and working in Southampton

Posted

19/12/23

Author

VASW

Region

Region-wide

Tell us about you and your practice:

I am a visual artist and curator based in Southampton. I create animated and interactive installations that are often strongly rooted in a sense of place. My artistic practice involves drawing, stop-motion animation and digitally-created video imagery, often inviting contribution or participation from audiences, blurring the lines between engagement, curation, and art-making.

I am Co-director and a founder of ZEST Collective, a group of artists in Southampton who support each other and local communities through skills-sharing workshops, group exhibitions, and by sourcing external funding for projects and collaborative artworks. More recently, we have launched ZING (The ZEST Inclusive Group), a broader network of artists local to the area that is free and open to all.

My work with ZEST and my practice are closely intertwined, we have exhibitions at least twice a year and this is primarily where I exhibit my work. Although we call ourselves a collective, we create work as independent artists and the collaboration comes in the form of close mutual support and shared exhibitions. We are always looking for new ways to push boundaries with our exhibitions and projects, contributing to Southampton’s grassroots arts scene in radical and exciting ways.

This month, I begin work as Arts and Cultural Leadership Coordinator at Winchester School of Art, University of Southampton, where I will support Professor Kai Syng Tan in their interdisciplinary creative research. I am excited to discover how this role will inform and interact with my creative practice.

Last year my artwork ‘Home’ was selected by Lubaina Himid CBE to be displayed on digital billboards across Southampton in connection with the 'Found Cities, Lost Objects' exhibition at Southampton City Art Gallery. This opportunity encouraged me to further explore the role that personal geography and ideas of place play in my work, now something that I view as a core element of my practice.

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A digital billboard positioned on a pedestrian street

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What are the great art spaces and organisations you love to visit?

Southampton is known for Southampton City Art Gallery, which has an incredible, expansive collection, and John Hansard Gallery, an internationally recognised contemporary art space, which is part of the University of Southampton. I keep up with the exhibitions in these spaces as well as at God’s House Tower, an arts and heritage venue run by ‘a space’ arts that hosts an engaging programme of contemporary art exhibitions and events.

Beyond these established spaces, there is an exciting, grassroots visual arts scene in Southampton, with exhibitions at the The Art House, Arch 4 (a testing space for artists and creatives), K6 Gallery, and along Old Northam Road, where artists from ZEST, ZING, and the RIPE programme host exhibitions and events in a variety of unique spaces, including The Hidden Wardrobe and The Alfred Arcade.

K6 Gallery, a volunteer-run exhibition space in two grade II listed red telephone boxes, offers experimental and exciting exhibitions and projects in the city. Verity Babbs and Sofia Krook have recently taken K6 on, and I’m excited to see what they will do with the programme.

Further afield, I love visiting the wealth of spaces that London has to offer, and recent favourites elsewhere have been Quench Gallery in Margate, Hauser and Wirth in Somerset, Tramway in Glasgow, and the Arnolfini in Bristol. Aspex Portsmouth, where I have worked recently, has a fantastic programme in a beautiful space.

I’ve been fortunate enough to visit the Venice Biennale multiple times and in 2022 I went to Kassel for Documenta 15, which has been influencing my thinking on collaborative practice ever since. I think it's important for artists to try to broaden their horizons and expand their knowledge of what is being made elsewhere and in what ways, and I would love to see more funding and bursaries available to facilitate this for a greater number of artists.

A collage of images that have a translucent, layered quality

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What resources or facilities are there that you (can) access?

There is a lot of support for visual artists in Southampton, if you know where to look.

‘a space’ arts offer the greatest amount of support in the city. Their mission centres on providing affordable space and accessible opportunities for artists at a variety of stages in their careers. Their website is a great source of opportunities and information that could benefit most artists, but particularly those with an SO postcode. For example, they run a ‘lucky dip’ bursary scheme, where artists are chosen at random to receive a small bursary and 1 to 1 support. There is no application to go through and therefore it is much more accessible to many artists who struggle with this type of barrier.

‘a space’ also runs Critical Exchange, a platform for positive critical discussion of new bodies of work; the Arches Studios, discounted studio space with a flourishing artistic community; and RIPE, an artist support programme for graduates of Southampton’s Universities that led to the creation of ZEST Collective.

ZEST offers free membership of our broader network ZING, a local network of artists that is open to all. Members of ZING have networking and workshop opportunities and pull together to produce exhibitions either independently or in collaboration with ZEST Collective. Our events, exhibitions and annual participation in Hampshire Open Studios creates a positive, social community around us that all are welcome to join.

A group photograph of people smiling for the camera, stood in front of a shipping container that has printed fabric hung on its side

An image of three people stood inside a shipping container smiling for the camera. there are artworks hanging on the walls and ceiling and a string of yellow spotlights along the walls

Cheerlead for your peers! - Who would you like to shout loudly about?

My fellow artists in ZEST, who not only produce some amazing artworks, but also pull together to support each other and the wider artistic community local to Southampton, namely: Kane Applegate, Jenny Andrews, James Hewins, Maryam Kazimi, Bryn Lloyd, Anna Marris, Robin Price, Alex Sutherland, Sharlott Wardner, and Net Warner. Our latest exhibition, Heavy Presence, was a real feat of mutual support and collaborative creativity.

Also, the brilliant artists in ZING (the ZEST Inclusive Group) who are listed on the ZING page here.

It’s not always just about artists! I’d also like to mention Mia Delve, the Creative Programme Manager at ‘a space’ arts, and Ricardo Reverón Blanco, Curator and Programme Manager at Aspex Portsmouth, who are both pushing curatorial boundaries and overturning conventions with their exciting programmes. Last but not least, I’d like to shout about Verity Babbs, a fab comedian and art critic based in Southampton.

Groups of people are sat outside at cafe tables on a pedestrian street, there are yellow balloons above with the word ZEST printed on them

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A photograph of a mixed group of people stood and crouching, smiling for the camera, in the middle of the group is a hanging sculpture made from thin strips of wood and greenery

Where do you make your work?

I think this is one of the most interesting questions to ask artists because you receive the most bizarre and exciting array of answers. It forms the basis of a piece I am making at the moment called Overheads, where I am requesting that creatives send me a photograph of the ceiling above where they do their most creative work. The range of ceilings I have received is astonishing and the project is coming together to create both an artwork and a collaborative process that I am very excited about.

I make my work in my studio in Tower House in the Old Town in Southampton. ZEST Collective have just moved our studios there from our long-term home in the Alfred Arms, a former pub on Old Northam Road. The move was very last minute and emotional, ‘the little pub’ is where we built our organisation, friendships and hosted exciting exhibitions, workshops and projects. However, Tower House, a grade II listed, 19th century building connected to God’s House Tower, is a fantastic opportunity to grow as an organisation, expand our artistic community and make a real mark in the city.

An image of the front of a series of stone buildings, there is an entrance with a red door and glass window arch

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What opportunities are there for artists in your area?

Commissions for artworks, workshops and projects tend to spring from ‘a space’ arts, Southampton Forward, John Hansard Gallery, University of Southampton, Southampton City Council, and Go! Southampton, so artists local to Southampton should keep an eye on them to find opportunities.

There are also different types of festivals that can provide opportunities for specific artists, for example SLAMMA, a skateboarding festival that included opportunities for street artists, or BBAM (Black Business, Arts and Music), a new annual festival created by The United Voice of African Associations (TUVAA) that is a chance for Black artists to showcase their talent.

One beautiful thing about Southampton is that different disciplines often come together to support each other: WeSkateSoton, Skate Southampton, SOCO Music, Address, City Eye, MAST, amongst many others, are great examples of positive influences in the city that find ways of supporting visual arts activity in addition to their core missions.

Three people are smiling, throwing three colourful block shapes into the air , behind them is a colourful block wall made of of the same shapes

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What or who helps you maintain your practice?

The community of artists I have around me is the biggest factor in maintaining my practice. I originally embraced myself as an artist with their encouragement, support and advice and I continue to benefit from our mutual support of each other. Artists, or at least the kind that I know, need space to make work, advice and critical input, and a strong social sense of community; ZEST and ZING provide me with all three.

Having a sense of community and accountability to deliver for regular exhibitions helps me to maintain consistency within my practice. Consistently showing up for my practice, whether I feel like it or not, is the most surefire way to grow as an artist, cultivate my creativity and explore my ideas.

Net Warner, my fellow Co-Director of ZEST Collective and best mate, is a huge influence for my creative practice. I feel incredibly fortunate to have a rare connection with them that allows us to grow together, build ZEST and ZING, and closely support each other to take our creative practices in new and exciting directions.

I don’t believe in the purported ideal of the lone, pensive artist, creating mysterious masterpieces in a warehouse for collectors to puzzle over and decode. Exciting art comes from collaborations, supportive environments and lively conversations. I would encourage all artists to find like-minded people that can support them to create their best work.

A group of people are sat in a line on a flat roof of a pub called The Alfred Arms, smiling and looking down for the camera

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What else would you love VASW's audiences to know about where you live and work as an artist?

I think people underestimate Southampton as a destination for visual arts and culture and also as a generator and cultivator of new talent and exciting creative works. From established institutions through to grassroots activity, there is a lot on offer to experience or join as a visitor or resident.

Each year, there is more going on in Southampton and more to be excited about. Post City of Culture 2025 bid, there are many plans afoot at a high level from larger cultural players in the city to expand and encourage innovation within the City’s cultural scene.

At the grassroots level, ZEST and other small, artist-led organisations are building an exciting visual arts scene, supporting and building communities, and delivering a series of fun creative events and projects. We have ambitious plans underway for the future of visual arts in Southampton.

So watch this space.