An informal discussion and story-sharing event with Dr Elizabeth Hodson and artist in residence Emily Joy, with contributions from artist Alison Cockcroft. The event will take place at Hardwick Gallery, 1.00-4.00pm on Thursday 20 February.

In conversation with Elizabeth Hodson, Emily will be discussing the tensions between personal and public narratives within her multidisciplinary work and asking what role materially based art plays in both commenting on and facilitating social and cultural change; Emily will start this exploration with examples of her recent body of work ‘Untethered’ which encompasses personal and ecological loss, Alpine nostalgia, glacial melt and movement of material mass.

This talk will trace the encounters between artists and the material world, exploring how artmaking is both rooted in the moment of making but also reaches forward and out, communicating both personal and broader social issues. Art belongs to those experiences that as Fuglerud and Wainwright (2015) note ‘sit between dreams and fantasy – a nexus of projected futures and remembrance which enfolds humans with the material world’. In conversation with Emily’s art practice, this talk suggests a number of routes through these ideas: specifically looking at material, drawing and ground, and asks what role the artist has in the re-telling of current narratives; what moral, ethical issues are raised when making work about current concerns, and what does the artist communicate that others do not?

Joining the conversation is artist Alison Cockcroft who has collaborated with Emily Joy over 12 years creating immersive public events as creative partnership Periscope, and whose practice shares a concern with material and meaning.

This talk will be an informal event and include short readings, images, panel discussion and open discussion involving the audience. The discussion event will be situated within the gallery, and during/after the talk there will be invitations to contribute to various participatory pieces.

This will be followed by a Story Sharing session exploring shared viewpoints, empathy, our relationship to the land and with each other. All ages welcome to this relaxed and open event. Part storytelling, part performance, this is a change to listen to other’s contributions or to share your own memories and stories in a safe and playful space.

Emily Joy is a visual artist making installation and performative works exploring the boundaries of self and other in relation to personal narratives of loss and memory. She is artist in Residence at Hardwick Gallery from 12^th February to 6^th March.

Dr E A. Hodson is an anthropologist working in the interstices between art, anthropology and art history. She has conducted ethnographic research on art in Iceland and Scotland, exploring a range of topics including drawing, interdisciplinarity, alterity, the imagination and materiality. She is currently a lecturer in Fine Art Critical Studies at The Glasgow School of Art.

Alison Cockcroft is an artist whose practise encompasses drawing, sculpture and participatory creative events for communities. Her work investigates how we relate to the natural world through embodied experience, visceral and emotional responses and imagination.