Marie-Louise Jones
Artwork’s Title: Redefined Horizons
Materials Used: Reclaimed/reworked steel, collaged prints on wood
Studio Based: London, UK
Can you tell us about the process of making your work?
My work attempts to navigate a number of issues, each with their own complexities; science, philosophy, aesthetics, typologies, poetics, ontologies, and in doing so I employ a range of processes. If I’m responding to a particular site methodologies can include gathering samples of the surrounding landscape, collecting objects, materials, surface data, and images. Then spatially organising assemblages of materials I begin to develop my connections. Processes I use include traditional sculpting techniques such as casting, metalwork, woodwork, and new technologies such as photogrammetry, digital sculpting and 3d printing.
How would you define your work in a few words (ideally in 3 words)?
Landscape as material.
Rugged Terrain was your show’s title at The Koppel Project in London. How did you decide to give this name?
I found a series of architectural publications at the site I was responding to and in one volume there was a text discussing combinations of natural character and human-drawn geometric straight lines. This resonated with the work I was producing which used form and materiality to explore the artificial nature of the built landscape. When thinking about machine-made environments and the topology of the city, the straight line could be perceived as an icon of modernity in contrast to the uncultivated organic lines of the wild, uncivilized landscape. The city is civilised, orderly, ruled and linear. Whereas a landscape without human intervention is rugged terrain.
Could you share with us some insights on your artwork Redefined Horizons? Is there any particular story behind this artwork?
Redefined Horizons was created with salvaged architectural components collected from a building being redeveloped. I spent 3 months in studio residence there and would walk around the site daily to collect the buildings debris as the construction workers tore parts of it down. The sculpture was made with a piece of steel I reworked and also incorporated collaged printed imagery from the architectural publications I mentioned earlier. The work is activated as the viewer moves around it creating different forms within the work depending on perspective.
Is there any particular theme that utterly triggers you to engage your art with?
My work deals with landscape and environments and I’m often triggered by the ecological and geological, and how we wreck, mine and build our worlds. I am triggered by signs and signifiers from my environment so architecture also tends to play a key role.
What would be the best way to exhibit your work?
There is no prescriptive format, some works manifest as part of the landscape, as outdoor sculptural installations. Memorial to Receding Land was made from a tree trunk found in the river, sculpted and returned as a reimagined version of itself, an expression of the ever-changing landscapes that the river continually shapes, reshapes and washes away. Whereas the Rugged Terrain installation was constructed from the materials of a central London building in the process of being redeveloped and so it was an important element of the work – for it to be viewed on the top floor of the building it was made out of, with the backdrop of architectural forms and horizon line of the city.
Do you wonder if additional work was needed, when an artwork’s making process is finished?
Afterwards there will always be reflections on how something could have been better, or how it could be done differently but essentially everything is what it was meant to be at that particular point in time.
Which exhibition did you visit last?
It was an exhibition by Sung Tieu at Emalin and it was a really great show! It was back in November and feels like so long ago. It was just before everything closed down again for the regional then national lockdowns. Over the last few months while the galleries have been closed I’ve engaged with a few online shows, they can be interesting as extensions of physical exhibitions but it’s not really a substitute. I’ve filled the gap by attending more online seminars and talks instead.
What are your plans for the near future?
In the immediate future, finishing my MAFA at Central Saint Martins. Whilst also throughout April/May undertaking the first phase of my Amazon rainforest residency with LabVerde as a precursor to my physical residency in Brazil next year. Plans for the summer are to set up my new studio in preparation for an exciting new project I’m developing for the Autumn.
Additional Images
All images courtesy of the artist