‘capes, folds, drapes’ with William Luz at Minerva Cafe on March 2nd

On March 2nd at Minerva Cafe in Bretonside, Plymouth, artist William Luz and I will present some outcomes from conversations and work-in-progress. Our process of working together started from a conversation about drawing, gesture, mark-making and representation. Specific details came to the fore, and prompted a gathering of material around fabric and drapery in art, and around the image of the cape in particular in superhero comics. Further thoughts clustered around queer representation of the cape, around desire as focused on the wrapped, clothed or veiled body. Our distinct practices in drawing, performance, writing and making combine in this joint presentation of early outcomes of this investigation. There will be drawings, actions, reading, words, and a free mini-zine for the audience. The event is part of the First Thursday series organised by Queer District Collective.

‘scavenged home’ with Aled Simons

Aled Simons and Mark Leahy, ‘Scavenged Home’, (2021), digital animation with audio, 2’ 30”

Sticking bits of things together for now: we began with a conversation, talked about collecting, stickers, taxonomy, and about making work, and the things that get in the way of making work – we also talked about Artex covered ceilings and finding a “studio” or somewhere to make stuff; subsequent exchanges included some mail-art collages sent from Dublin to Swansea, and discussion of grottoes, skins, Stonehenge, Welshness (sort of) and Irishness (a bit) and somewhere in there a sense of the legacy of colonialism … these things have fed into a short animation that curls together hermit crabs, National Trust properties, appropriation and occupation, language, accidental layering and a relationship of belonging and memory;

Over recent months I have been part of the Exchange project, which has involved 60 artists from 6 artist-led groups across England. 10 members of CAMP (Contemporary Art Membership Plymouth) were each paired with a partner from another organisation, and I have been working with Aled Simons of g39 in Cardiff. The project comes to a close on 30th July with The Summit – a sharing of some outcomes and a conversation about the sharing / collaboration / exchange process.

Constrained Radio Show on Mixcloud

The Constrained Radio Show series I have made for Soundart Radio is now archived for future / later / repeat listening on my Mixcloud page. The shows have been broadcast weekly on Wednesdays since mid-May. They began as a response to restrictions, limits and confinement during COVID lockdown. The Mixcloud page includes tracklistings and other information.