Artist Residencies

Chantal Pitts, Courtenay Welcome, Daya Bhatti, Molly Thompson, Satinder Parhar.

Produced in partnership between Multistory and The Wolverhampton School of Art as part of Multistory’s artist development programme, the residency supports five emerging Black Country based artists each year with time, space, funding and critical mentorship. The artists’ presence activates the building as a site of exchange between students and the professional art world; opening access to the school's specialist facilities to the wider arts community, while contributing to a multidisciplinary culture of shared learning.

The programme culminates with the sharing of their work in an exhibition in the Wolverhampton School of Art’s foyer space, which is programmed to coincide with the yearly degree show. Rather than presenting work in its final state, the exhibition shares work in progress, reflecting the programme’s commitment to supporting practice as research, and providing space for artistic experimentation and play.

Chantal Pitts

During her residency, Chantal created a new body of work titled Chapter 53, concerning family, love, loss, change and memories. The number 53 relates to Chantal’s current age; with empty nest period looming, the work is an exploration of motherhood, menopause, ageing and the tensions between holding on and letting go. Chantal explored printing onto wood, metalworking, sculpture and assemblage, combining different materials with wood and furniture and using hypnotherapy as part of the process. Each work represents various aspects of the artist’s personal experiences and feelings. They are all a part of the same work, but also stand alone as pieces in their own right, like members of a family. Introversion, a new series of clipboards, is a dissection of the psyche, a breakdown of thoughts and emotions, jumbled and displayed, raw and exposed, yet given space to be seen and acknowledged.

Courtenay Welcome

During their residency Courtenay expanded on their ongoing body of work exploreing the rich complexities of race, memory, space and time, with interests spanning Black Conceptualism, Freedom Dreams, water, care, the role of the artists’ hands and experimental mark making. They explored how they might merge painting and sculpture, and how they can become one through installation. Drawing from Stuart Hall’s Encoding/Decoding model of communication which informed how marks are made and installations are built in space.

Daya Bhatti

For Daya’s residency, she focussed on experimenting with new materials and ways of making work, and initiated a new project titled Sari Stories. Sari Stories delves into the sari beyond its use as a garment, as a symbol rich with cultural, emotional, and historical significance. The work draws upon the sari’s deep connection with South Asian cultural traditions, and ability to transcend borders and travel across different regions. The artist incorporated scent and touch sensors to create interactive experiences that invite viewers to participate in the storytelling. In 'Scent & Memory', scents like sandalwood and turmeric evoke the warmth of home and memory, and the sari becomes a dream space which transports the viewer home. 'Protector' explores the spiritual significance of the sari being a protector of energies, and 'Past & Present' explores the evolution of the sari drape, from its ancient depictions to its modern-day styles. The artist incorporated elements like sound and touch sensors, scent and glow to create interactive experiences that invite viewers to participate in the storytelling.

Molly Thompson

Molly shares a new sculpture informed by a burnt out car she encountered during her walks along the canals. Drawn by the uncanny nature of the site, the artist found herself returning to it again and again to watch the landscape change. The sculpture abstracts and replicates this scene, drawing inspiration from the landscape and what the artist sees as industrial / laborious remains, with the materials dictating the form of the sculpture. The breathing airbags were inspired by the impact of the burnt car. She explored movement, especially breathing and air, aiming to manipulate the non-living into the living. As she completed the work, a new walk revealed that the remains of the car had been taken away - the work transforms into a haunting of what once was.

Satinder Parhar

The focus of Satinder’s residency was to use the school’s facilities to realise a series of large-scale, dry-point prints of ‘empty spaces’ in the local area. The prints displayed play against the pressure for perfectionism in printmaking, and explore what a site-responsive printmaking practice might look like - while using the facilities unusually warm weather meant that the ink was extra sticky, and the print teared. This introduces a performative element to Satinder’s practice - the process of tearing immortalised in the frame etc. The residency also allowed Satinder to explore possibilities for his practice to move towards immersive installation, exploring around the concept of entrapment and spaces with the absence of light. This is the opposite of what he currently produces with his dry-point prints, where it focuses on light, depth, and the ability of placing the viewer in a place to fully immerse themselves in the work. He began to play around with a selection of the world’s blackest paints, which absorb 99.95% of all light - these tests can be seen in the new sculptural pieces shown alongside the prints.