Bocs

Bocs is a cooperative, contemporary and experimental art hub in Caernarfon, North Wales that promotes and nurtures young and emerging artists.

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Power Cut (diptych): Wig.

Human Hair, foam; 2015.

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Originally from Dumbarton Patrick Queen now lives and works in the city of Glasgow in Scotland. A recent graduate from the sculpture department at the Glasgow School of art his work explores the processes of transformation, conversion, metamorphosis and transfiguration within life; the potential that people and objects have to change and to become something new. Working interdisciplinary through painting, drawing, sculpture and photography his work examines this core concept of change aiming to make sense of past, present and future events and the role that they have in shaping who we understand ourselves to be today in the here and now.

His sculptures primarily composed of welded unfinished steel overlain with raw and fired clay explore the physicality of materials and their nature and propensity to break down over time. This dual nature and meaning can be seen as a metaphor for the life process and cycles found in nature - a building up and nurturing followed by decomposition and recycling of form and energy. Formally the work is often inspired by found materials from nature collected in locations ranging from Israel to Sardinia, all ending up inevitably in his studio in Glasgow to be explored and dwelled on intensely over long periods of times. Picked apart by hand and eye, again and again, he understands that what he sees and feels before him he will never have full grasp of intellectually -  the infinite potential of objects to give new meaning and direction to life. Each study reveals before unseen lines and forms to become shapes in a future piece of work, old memories combined with focused meditation in the here and now to create something new out of something bygone.

To be shown for the first time in the show are collages containing film photographs of past journeys and travels juxtaposed together with new and old drawings in gouache, charcoal and pencil. Text pieces from past diary entries and quotes from books which have shaped and continue to shape the life direction he takes are also incorporated into the collages. Books, much like the found objects, which have been visited again and again, left to penetrate deep into his mind before surfacing weeks, sometimes months later to inform new direction within his life and work. The overlaying of text with image over image hints at this multilayered experience of his mind, and of his memory, and the struggle sometimes which ensues in attempting to understand and place both in the moment of present experience. The collage work then is a visual representation of this complex course into understanding his mind and memory and of the subsequent process of yielding, of letting go and being okay with not knowing.

And sometimes if you sit, close your eyes and just feel who you are - where are you?‘  -Osho

The work on show is the result of ongoing research into the themes of time, location and movement and the influences they have in shaping and changing human identity. Central to these themes are questions relating to change and stasis, past and present and the nature of self and other - where does the past end and the present begin and where exactly am I able to locate myself within these moments? The work aims to explore the relationship between these themes and to make visible the moments of overlap and tension that can arise when exploring a possible consolidation to these questions.

The exhibition and workshop is sponsored by Bruce Edwards Jones Commercial Brokers and Ty Siocled

Check out Patrick Queen’s exhibition on Google Open Gallery

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'Connected' by Laura Cameron & Rebecca F. Hardy

Thema canolog i fy ngwaith yw’r ymdeimlad o ataliaeth. Creaduriaid nad ydynt yn pydru, calonnau na ellir curo, yr ymennydd wedi’i dal mewn limbo annaturiol.  Mae natur gyffyrddol a lliwiau llachar y gwau nodwydd ffelt yn lleihau’r bygythiad o atgofion marwolaeth wrth wahodd archwiliad agosach a myfyrdod o’r ddarlun wyddonol a bywiogrwydd cydgysylltiedig bywyd.

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Suspension is central to my work. Creatures which will not decay, hearts which cannot beat, a brain held in unnatural limbo. The tactile nature and the bright colours of the needle felted fleece tempers the threatening reminders of mortality while inviting closer examination and contemplation of the scientific spectacle & interconnected vivacity of life.

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'X8' by Jo Marsh & Rebecca F. Hardy

Mae Jo Marsh yn artist a’r curadur o Wrecsam, Gogledd Cymru. Ar gyfer y darn cydweithredol hwn ‘x 8’, mae’r ddau artist wedi defnyddio cynwysyddion gwydr a thagiau i gynrychioli pedwar eiliadau penodol yn eu bywydau eu hunain a gyrfaoedd. Mae gwahanol deithiau sydd wedi arwain y ddau artist i fyw ac yn gweithio yng Ngogledd Cymru.

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Jo Marsh is an artist and curator based in Wrexham, North Wales. For this collaborative piece ‘x 8’, both artists have used glass containers and luggage tags to represent 4 particular moments in their respective lives and careers. Different journeys which have led both artist  to now be living and working in North Wales.

https://vine.co/u/1073694471901822976

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'Method for Collaboration' by Sian Green & Rebecca F. Hardy

Dull ar gyfer cydweithio

1. Creu darn o gelf.

2. Rhoi disgrifiad ysgrifenedig o’r gwaith celf i’r cydweithiwr.

3. Mae’r cydweithiwr yn creu fersiwn o’r gwaith celf yn ôl y disgrifiad.

4. Cyflwyno’r dau waith celf ochr yn ochr.

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Method for a collaboration

1. Create an artwork.

2. Give a written description of the artwork to collaborator.

3. Collaborator creates a version of the artwork according to the description.

4. Present both artworks side by side.

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'Bwrw Glaw' by Catrin Menai & Rebecca F. Hardy

Mae’r gwaith yn deillio o atgof rhannodd Rebecca gyda mi am ddarllen yn uchel o lyfr arbennig gyda’i hathrawes fel plentyn ac wedyn yn cael eu gwneud i deimlo’n ‘ddrwg’ pan ddaeth yn sownd ar ynganiad gair. Roedd teimladau cryf Rebecca o ymweld â’r llyfr eto o ddiddordeb i mi. Fel plant yr ydym yn cael ein gwneud yn rhy ymwybodol o fod yn ‘gywir’ neu’n ‘anghywir’; mae’r llinell rhwng y ddau yn wahanol ac yn gwrthwynebus - mae sêr aur yn ein labelu ni fel plant da tra bod marciau du yn ein labelu ni’n ddrwg. Trwy gyfuniad o wrthrych, testun a dod o hyd i ddogfennau - cyfryngau sy’n cyd-fynd ag arfer Rebecca, rwyf wedi myfyrio ar y ffiniau o sut yr ydym yn dysgu a phwy ydym ni a sut mae hyn yn dylanwadu ar yr hyn yr ydym yn cael gwybod a’r canfyddiadau dilynol yr ydym yn eu creu.

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The work stems from a memory Rebecca shared with me about reading aloud from a particular book with her teacher as a child and then being made to feel ‘bad’ when she became stuck on a word she could not pronounce . Her feverish need to reacquaint herself with this book interested me – clearly a tool to solidify a memory and touch it physically in order to make sense of it. As children we are made boldly aware of being ‘correct’ or ‘incorrect’; the line between the two is distinct and polarized – gold stars brand us good, black marks brand us bad. Through a combination of object, text and found documents – mediums which align with Rebecca’s practise, I have reflected upon the boundaries of how we learn and who we are and how this is influenced by what we are told and the subsequent perceptions we create

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'Breaking her in' by Wendy Couling & Rebecca F. Hardy

Rwyf yn ystyried fy hun i fod yn artist cyfoes amlddisgyblaeth; mae ffocws fy ymarfer yn ymwneud â hunaniaeth ynghyd â sylwadau o berthynas, statws cymdeithasol, a delfrydau o fenyweidd- dra. 

Ymchwiliaf i hyn trwy ddulliau tynnu gan ddefnyddio effemera a delweddau ffotograffig, trin y raddfa yn gorfforol ac yn darnio’r ffurflenni drwy ddefnyddio tryloywluniau.

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I consider myself to be a multi-disciplinary Contemporary artist; the focus of my practice concerns identity along with observations of relationships, social status, ideals of femininity. 

I explore this through methods of abstraction using ephemera and photographic images, physically manipulating the scale and fragmenting the forms through the use of transparencies.

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'Di-deitl // Untitled' by Cathryn Lowri Griffith & Rebecca F. Hardy

Ymatebais i rai o’r themâu yng ngwaith Rebecca ar lefel personol er mwyn creu’r darn cydweithredol. 

Mae fy ngwaith yn delio â agweddau o’r cof, profiad a’r dychymyg. Byddaf yn defnyddio cyfuniad o lunio, paent a gludwaith yn fy ngwaith i greu cyfansoddiad amlhaenog.

I reacted to some of the themes in Rebecca’s work on a personal level to produce this collaborative piece. 

My work deals with notions of memory, experience and imagination.  I use a combination of drawing, application of paint and collage in my work, producing a multilayered composition.

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'Good plans are made by hand' by Gemma Lowe & Rebecca F. Hardy

Mae Gemma Lowe yn artist cyfoes sy’n byw ac yn gweithio yn Llundain.  Ar hyn o bryd mae hi’n astudio gradd meistr yn y Coleg Celf Brenhinol. 

Datblygais y colaj a roddodd Rebecca i mi ac mae’n portreadu fy nehongliad o’r gerdd.  Rwyf hefyd wedi creu darlun sy’n ymateb yn uniongyrchol i’w gwaith.

Gemma Lowe is a contemporary artist who lives and works in London and is currently studying a Masters degree in the Royal College of Art.

I developed the collage that Rebecca gave me and is my interpretation of the poem.  I have also created a painting that is a direct response to the work.

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Rebecca F. Hardy's installations/sculptures from her current exhibition at Bocs from the series Tuccia are loosely based on the renaissance painting ‘The Vestal Virgin Tuccia’ by Giovanni Battista Moroni around 1560. Inspired by the tale of Tuccia an ancient Roman Vestal Virgin whose chastity was questioned by a spurious accusation and how she proved her innocence by carrying a sieve full of water from the Tiber to the Temple of Vesta. The sieves in Rebecca’s artwork act as vessels and metaphors of the mind and these metal objects co-exist with the repetitive motion of winding and stringing the chosen coloured thread. The work touches on feminism and mental health issues. 

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'Sbaen' by Rebecca F. Hardy. Ffotograffi // Photography, 2013. 

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Rebecca F. Hardy's photography from the series Bodlondeb plays on the subconscious of grief and is mixed with the conscious of intentionally appreciating the importance of a memory, object, smell, or photograph. Her artwork encompasses these ideals through using personal autobiographical images in which she explores their representation with other surfaces and narrative objects. It is the passing of time and Rebecca’s own acceptance of her own grief; it is her contentment with this acceptance.

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'Chest of Drawers' by Rebecca F. Hardy from her exhibition at Bocs.

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Plasterworks by Rebecca F. Hardy from her June 2014 exhibition at Bocs.

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Rebecca F. Hardy's Collages from her exhibition at Bocs

Her assemblages, collages are expressive, obscure and surreal and the contribution of text in the work, written in English and Welsh adds both conflict and augmentation. This method and style has been present in her work since her university years at Howard Gardens, Cardiff but has evolved and expanded through subtext and medium. Rebecca states “like many of my pieces it looks aesthetically pleasing could almost say pretty but then there are undertones of quite dark and unearthed themes”. 

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Rebecca F. Hardy's 'Assemblage #1'. Mixed Media.

Rebecca's assemblages, collages are expressive, obscure and surreal and the contribution of text in the work, written in English and Welsh adds both conflict and augmentation. This method and style has been present in her work since her university years at Howard Gardens, Cardiff but has evolved and expanded through subtext and medium. Rebecca states - “like many of my pieces it looks aesthetically pleasing, and I could almost say pretty, but there are undertones of dark and unearthed themes”. 

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'O'r gyfres' // 'From the series Tuccia' by Rebecca F. Hardy.