- Institute for Modern and Contemporary Culture
About me
I am a Reader in contemporary art and visual culture at University of Westminster and also lecture in fine art at Goldsmiths University, London.
I work as a visual artist in collaboration with Jon Thomson (The Slade School of Fine Art, University College London) making artworks and installations for galleries, online and sometimes outdoors. Much of our recent work explores how trends of globalisation and global communications networks are re-shaping the way we all perceive and understand the world around us.
Teaching
I have previous been a regular visiting lecturer at Pier Zwart Institute, Willem de Kooning Academy Rotterdam and The Ruskin School of Fine Art and Drawing, Oxford,
At undergraduate level I teach on the Study Abroad Programme on the Art & Society Module. I lead on this programme alongside a team of other colleagues. This module is taught inside the museums as well as by traditional lectures held in the University.
I have written and run Artists use of Text option module. This module studies general movements and trends in contemporary art, focusing explicitly on the work of visual artists for whom writing or text is an integral part of their practice. It is taught in the classroom and in the archive and reading rooms of London Museums.
At postgraduate level, I am Module Leader for Work Placements in Cultural Institutions, which brings together MA students from across the Department. It is taught in partnership with the Career Development Centre at the University. This module is set up to enable students to gain first hand experience of working within a context relevant to their career objectives. By giving professional experience it further aims to enhance the opportunities for translating theoretical and practical knowledge into professional skills. It also aims to encourage students to make beneficial connections within a professional context.
Research
My practice-based research examining how windfarms are changing wild landscapes in the Scotland Highlands, in particular how people are responding to these material changes; what it means at an individual level but also in relation to the world’s wider transition to net zero carbon emissions at a time of climate emergency.
Ultimately, we will produce moving image artworks; an essay film and a series of documentary portraits taking inspiration from the work of filmmaker and poet Margaret Tait (11 November 1918 – 16 April 1999), in particular her interest in how people exist in conversation with the landscape and the seasons
Publications
For details of all my research outputs, visit my WestminsterResearch profile.