Contact
rachelpursglove@gmail.com
(b.1989, Manchester). Rachel lives and works in Lancashire.
rachelpursglove@gmail.com
(b.1989, Manchester). Rachel lives and works in Lancashire.
April 2021
I have begun to question when performance starts and ends; does the live performance simply exist as a bi-product? Performance is by definition ‘the execution of an action’. It could therefore be said that the action or process of completing a painting, or writing an artist statement, or drinking a cup of tea constitutes as an act of performance. Can one therefore refer to them self as a performer, as a result of simply being human?
So here I am ‘performing’ sat at my computer screen trying to write the right words, they say writing an artist statement is meant to be hard, trust that it is hard. I am not a writer or poet, neither is this a novel or a poem but in the words of Charles Bukowski, ‘if it’s hard work just thinking about it, don’t do it. If you’re trying to write like somebody else, forget about it.’
I am finding it hard work to define the nature of my practice, and I think it is something that is perhaps best left to a curator or art writer. Though a colleague of mine recently described it as similar to poetry, which at present I find this the best way to offer a description, - to make known, truths about the human condition. As a poem would reflect the ideas and state of mind of its writer, I choose a visual language to convey such thoughts to others.
I have begun to question when performance starts and ends; does the live performance simply exist as a bi-product? Performance is by definition ‘the execution of an action’. It could therefore be said that the action or process of completing a painting, or writing an artist statement, or drinking a cup of tea constitutes as an act of performance. Can one therefore refer to them self as a performer, as a result of simply being human?
So here I am ‘performing’ sat at my computer screen trying to write the right words, they say writing an artist statement is meant to be hard, trust that it is hard. I am not a writer or poet, neither is this a novel or a poem but in the words of Charles Bukowski, ‘if it’s hard work just thinking about it, don’t do it. If you’re trying to write like somebody else, forget about it.’
I am finding it hard work to define the nature of my practice, and I think it is something that is perhaps best left to a curator or art writer. Though a colleague of mine recently described it as similar to poetry, which at present I find this the best way to offer a description, - to make known, truths about the human condition. As a poem would reflect the ideas and state of mind of its writer, I choose a visual language to convey such thoughts to others.
Education
2012-2014 MA Fine Art Studio Practice (Distinction), University of Central Lancashire, UK
2009-2012 First Class BA (Hons) Fine Art, University of Central Lancashire, UK
Courses
2021 'Rules of the Game': an introduction to task-based performance and art, ECC Performance Art, (Online)
2021 Performance Art Archives and Documentation, ECC Performance Art (Online)
Awards
2021 DYCP Fund, Arts Council England
2015 Tracing PAPER, Mentoring Programme, PAPER Gallery, Manchester
2012 NADFAS North West Bursary Award for Fine Art Studies
Residencies
2022 Leveld Kunstnartun, Leveld, Norway
2022 Surge Established Specialists Residency, Argyll, Scotland
2021 33 Officina Creativa (33OC), Toffia, Italy
2021 Artist Lock-In, ArtHouse Jersey, Channel Islands
2020 Silence Awareness Existence, Arteles Creative Center, Hämeenkyrö, Finland
2013 Kurt Schwitters Merz Barn, Cumbria, UK
2013 Rule Of 3, Islington Mill, Salford, UK
Collectives
HRK Collective
Performances
2021 Play by the Rules, 33OC, Toffia, Italy
2021 My Delicious Flesh, 33OC, Toffia, Italy
2020 My Sister Forgot About Me, Arteles Creative Center, Hämeenkyrö, Finland
2020 Untitled (Sauna), Arteles Creative Center, Hämeenkyrö, Finland
2017 A Repetitive Task, April Fools, Harris Museum & Art Gallery, Preston, UK
2015 A Repetitive Task, Art Carbooty, Blackpool, UK
2015 The Struggle, TRS: LIVE! The Royal Standard Gallery, Liverpool, UK
Selected Group Exhibitions
2021 Open Studio with HRK Collective, 33OC, Toffia, Italy
2018 Hanover Projects Presents, Hanover Gallery, UCLan, Preston, UK
2017 Mural, PS Mirabel, Manchester, UK
2017 The Merz Show, Hanover Gallery, UCLan, Preston, UK
2015 Tracing PAPER, PAPER Gallery, Manchester, UK
2014 FANZINES! Festival: WBN United Artists, Marguerite Duras Public Library, Paris, France
2014 10, MA Degree Show, UCLan, Preston
2014 Index: Café Royal Books Project, Hanover Project Space, UCLan, Preston, UK
2012 As Far as We Got / So Far, So Good, International 3, Manchester, UK
Texts
2020 In Contact: Rachel Pursglove, Notes on Hapticity Collective
2012-2014 MA Fine Art Studio Practice (Distinction), University of Central Lancashire, UK
2009-2012 First Class BA (Hons) Fine Art, University of Central Lancashire, UK
Courses
2021 'Rules of the Game': an introduction to task-based performance and art, ECC Performance Art, (Online)
2021 Performance Art Archives and Documentation, ECC Performance Art (Online)
Awards
2021 DYCP Fund, Arts Council England
2015 Tracing PAPER, Mentoring Programme, PAPER Gallery, Manchester
2012 NADFAS North West Bursary Award for Fine Art Studies
Residencies
2022 Leveld Kunstnartun, Leveld, Norway
2022 Surge Established Specialists Residency, Argyll, Scotland
2021 33 Officina Creativa (33OC), Toffia, Italy
2021 Artist Lock-In, ArtHouse Jersey, Channel Islands
2020 Silence Awareness Existence, Arteles Creative Center, Hämeenkyrö, Finland
2013 Kurt Schwitters Merz Barn, Cumbria, UK
2013 Rule Of 3, Islington Mill, Salford, UK
Collectives
HRK Collective
Performances
2021 Play by the Rules, 33OC, Toffia, Italy
2021 My Delicious Flesh, 33OC, Toffia, Italy
2020 My Sister Forgot About Me, Arteles Creative Center, Hämeenkyrö, Finland
2020 Untitled (Sauna), Arteles Creative Center, Hämeenkyrö, Finland
2017 A Repetitive Task, April Fools, Harris Museum & Art Gallery, Preston, UK
2015 A Repetitive Task, Art Carbooty, Blackpool, UK
2015 The Struggle, TRS: LIVE! The Royal Standard Gallery, Liverpool, UK
Selected Group Exhibitions
2021 Open Studio with HRK Collective, 33OC, Toffia, Italy
2018 Hanover Projects Presents, Hanover Gallery, UCLan, Preston, UK
2017 Mural, PS Mirabel, Manchester, UK
2017 The Merz Show, Hanover Gallery, UCLan, Preston, UK
2015 Tracing PAPER, PAPER Gallery, Manchester, UK
2014 FANZINES! Festival: WBN United Artists, Marguerite Duras Public Library, Paris, France
2014 10, MA Degree Show, UCLan, Preston
2014 Index: Café Royal Books Project, Hanover Project Space, UCLan, Preston, UK
2012 As Far as We Got / So Far, So Good, International 3, Manchester, UK
Texts
2020 In Contact: Rachel Pursglove, Notes on Hapticity Collective
