Olafur Eliasson and Minik Rosing 'London Ice Watch' 2018-19
Nicola Siebert Patel
Show archive
This section contains the work for our shows during 2023.
To view exhibitions from 2019 to 2022 please click here to visit our separate archive website
'Conchology'
The primary material for the twenty-first show by the Dogma 19 Artists was shells.
The exhibition opened online on 25th October and closed on 28th November 2023.
Hamish Pringle
'Razor Clam Fan'
Named after straight-edged shaving razors dating from the 17th century, razor clams do indeed have sharp edges. Care must be taken to avoid cuts.
People are said to ‘clam up’ when they become silent suddenly, usually because they are embarrassed or nervous, or do not want to talk about a particular subject. The phrase derives from bivalves which close up quickly and tightly when threatened.
The fan has a practical use in cooling the face in hot conditions. It’s also used as a flirtatious device to hide the face in a coquettish manner. It’s said that in Victorian times the fan was used to send coded signals.
Hamish Pringle 'Razor Clam Fan' 2023. Razor clams, glued. Digital photo print. 29cm x 20cm. Edition of 10.
The Fan Dance has been an integral part of the British SAS Selection course since its introduction following the Second World War.
It is the world’s oldest and most famous Special Forces Selection test and was designed by Major John Woodhouse.
Officially it’s the High Walk, but everyone calls it The Fan Dance because SAS candidates have to climb over Pen Y Fan, the highest peak in the Beacons.
Only 10% make the cut.
Nicola Siebert Patel
Nicola Siebert Patel ‘Shellac’ 2023. Shells, nail varnish, hand. Digital print. 10cm x 20cm.
‘Shellac’
Unnaturally natural nails.
Claire Michel
%202023%20IMG_4987.jpg)
Claire Michel ‘My Precious Addiction (is killing the ocean)’ 2023. Digital photograph, oyster, cigarette butt. A3.
‘My Precious Addiction (is killing the ocean)’
Kate Rossini
‘Monetaria’
In many cultures seashells have a spiritual meaning, from good luck and protection for the wearer, to ceremonial use. The cowrie shell is a sign of femininity and fertility, and other shells are believed to contain the energy of the ocean goddess, prosperity, and good health.
Shells were used in many ancient cultures as currency beginning as commodity exchange, having a use value as body ornamentation. The cowrie shell was the one most widely used as money (Cypraea Moneta) which formed an important part of American, African, and Asian civilisations. and their trade networks.
In China cowries were so important that the written characters relating to money or trade contain the kanji or pictogram for the cowrie with the symbol first appearing over 3,000 years ago in oracle bone script.
Kate Rossini ‘Monetaria’ 2023. Cowrie Shells, string, adhesive. 28cm x 21cm x 2cm.
Gail Theis
Gail Theis ‘Going, going, gone…’ 2023. Photo montage 36cm x 38 cm.
‘Going, going, gone…’
As a child I loved beachcombing and collecting seashells.
Such innocent times.
Now I realise that many of the shells I picked up weren’t the abandoned homes of dead marine creatures, but dwellings in waiting for the next occupant to come along, they having grown out of their previous shell and left it in search of bigger accommodation.
More recently I’ve learned that the burning of fossil fuels has had a huge impact on our oceans. Scientists estimate that PH balance of the ocean has become more acidic – up by 30% since the Industrial Revolution.
Acidification is causing many parts of the ocean to become under-saturated with calcium carbonate and other minerals. These are the building blocks for the skeletons and shells of many marine creatures.
So some of them are having increasing difficulty in producing shells. If this continues these species will either have to adapt, which is unlikely in the timescale, or become extinct.
I’ve stopped picking up shells.
'Unlocked'
The primary material for the twentieth show by the Dogma 19 Artists was keys
The exhibition opened online on 13th September and closed on 24th October 2023.
Gail Theis
Gail Theis ‘Just passing through’. 2023. Video 46 seconds.
‘Just passing through’
Life’s journey
Hoodoo
Voodoo
Mystery
Puzzle
Supernatural
Master key
Secrets
Free pass
No power
No control
Hamish Pringle
Hamish Pringle ‘Unlocking’. Padlock and ring with multiple keys. Digital photo print A3.
‘Unlocking’
Keys' contest.
Nicola Siebert-Patel
Nicola Siebert-Patel ‘Way-out’. 2023. Key with ink on paper. 10cm x 10cm.
‘Way out’
Trying to ‘unlock’ the way we see this object.
This can be difficult when keys have such an obvious function.
I am imagining the shape of the key as a doorway at the end of a path.
What do you see?
Claire Michel
Claire Michel ‘Keys found in a deceased man's house’. 2023. Various keys. A3 poster.
Kate Rossini
Kate Rossini ‘Il Cattivo’ 2023. Digital Print 30cm x 42cm.
‘Il Cattivo’
The word ‘key’ has may different & faceted definitions and meanings: shaped metal with incisions cut to fit the wards of a particular lock, buttons on a panel for operating a computer / typewriter, a thing that provides a means of achieving or understanding something , in music, a group of notes comprising a scale.
Many of these meanings are opaque/hidden – almost needing to be unlocked.
I was drawn to the fusion of musical key (notes) and something that provides a means of achieving understanding.
So with the key of a hidden message in music the meaning of my work can be unlocked.
Kate Rossini ‘A Universal Truth’ (2023) Washi paper Braille dots on paper. 30cmsx21cms.
Kate Rossini
'Anec(dot)e'
The primary material for the nineteenth show by the Dogma 19 Artists was sticky dots
The exhibition opened online on 10th May and closed on 12th September 2023.
Claire Michel
Claire Michel ‘It sold for $120,000’ 2023. Banana and three red sticky dots. Digital photograph on A3 paper, edition of three
‘It sold for $120,000’
This work is a direct reference to "Comedian", an artwork made by Maurizio Cattelan in 2019. The original sculpture consists of a fresh banana affixed to the wall with duct tape. The artist made an edition of three which were sold for $120,000 each. Here, the three red dots refer to the infamous red sticky dots used to mark sold artworks in galleries and art fairs.
Gail Theis
Gail Theis ‘Umbilicus’ 2023. Transparent sticky dots on paper. 29.5cm x 30.5cm.
‘Umbilicus’
Join the dots, A to Z, mother to foetus.
Cells multiply and grow, conception to birth.
Hamish Pringle
Hamish Pringle ‘Full stop’ 2023. Arial Bold type on paper with a stack of sticky dots. Digital photo print 19cm x 19cm.
‘Full stop’
As a punctuation mark the full stop has power – it puts an end to a sentence.
If you dictate a sentence with punctuation, the words ‘full stop’ have an onomatopoeic quality.
A red sticky dot applied to an artwork says ‘sold’ and puts a full stop to anyone else wanting to buy it.
Here a stack of sticky dots makes a ‘full’ stop to create a physical ending.
Nicola Siebert Patel
Nicola Siebert Patel ‘When you're smiling’ 2023. Face paint and sticky dots. Digital photo print 16cm x 16cm.
‘When you're smiling’
The iconic smiley face was originally designed in the 60s as a logo for an insurance company (State Mutual Life Insurance Company of Worcester Massachusetts) for a promotional campaign. The logo was hijacked by American counter-culture in the 70s before becoming associated with the acid house movement in late 80s. Today we use many variations of the smiley face in emogis. The eyes are one of our greatest forms of communication, so in line with the title of this exhibition 'Anec(dot)e', the sticky dots over the eyes tell a story.
Kate Rossini
Kate Rossini ‘A Universal Truth’ (2023) Washi paper Braille dots on paper. 30cm x 21cm.
‘A Universal Truth’
I was drawn to the idea of dots used in communication - messages often not accessible on the face of it - hidden: braille, binary code, morse code. The secret side of this appealed - a way of communicating a personal or intimate message - that’s ‘out there’ but laden with obscure meaning, which can be transmitted in abstract form.
The message I chose was the first line of Pride and Prejudice - my favourite book - that my mum introduced me to at a young age, and that my husband used as a test whenever he set up technology for me - so something hardwired into my identity but with nostalgia and love intertwined.
‘It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife'
'Corrugated'
The primary material for the eighteenth show by the Dogma 19 Artists was cardboard.
The exhibition opened online on 29th March and closed on 9th May 2023.
Nicola Siebert-Patel
'I fits I sits', 2023 Cardboard and sticky tape. 30cmW x 45cmD x 32cmH
'I fits I sits'
A functional, avant-garde bed for a small domesticated carnivorous mammal with soft fur.
Kate Rossini
Nest (2023) (43cmsx43cms card and acrylic paint)
'Nest'
For this piece I wanted to use cardboard as the sole material but also to explore its inner workings or hidden side as well. I was intrigued that some packaging I had was corrugated but also had a cell like structure under the brown paper surface that covered the cardboard.
Although organic itself – the surface of the carboard revealed a hexagonal pattern or mesh of structure below the surface – similar to honeycomb or snakeskin.
.The hexagon is a pattern that appears in nature from hives, skin, coral, snowflakes, tortoiseshell, the compound eyes of insects even the giant’s causeway. They create natural patterns with characteristics of repetition and symmetry.
The hexagon is an efficient shape for packing identically shaped cells together. By contrast, square or triangular cells have longer wall lengths, circles leave gaps but the hexagon enables the maximum number of close neighbours with a minimum amount of reinforcement - ideal for packaging!
The hexagon is also symbolic shape which carries a great deal of tradition and cultural weight. Six is the number of creation, & of perfection, symbolizing divine power, majesty, wisdom, love, mercy, and justice.
A symbolic shape that still carries a great deal of tradition and cultural heft. Six is the number of creation, and perfection, symbolizing divine power, majesty, wisdom, love, mercy, and justice. With this in mind I wanted to see what I could create from the carboard structure.
My first step was to soak the carboard and peel off the covering paper. This revealed the hexagons but surprisingly, when wet the structure concertinaed and became malleable and – and stiffened when dry.
I played with the wet card making serpent like shapes to reflect my initial thoughts on snakeskin and let them dry. I then arranged them in some circular packaging I had as a nod to beehives and then and applying some black acrylic paint.
I added some card circles (eggs?) and some ripped surface card (skin?) - I’ve named it Nest – which are the homes of both bees and snakes.
Claire Michel
Have You Seen Me?', 2023. Spray paint o milk carton 8.8cm x 19cm
'Have You Seen Me?'
Gail Theis
'I am beside myself...' 170cm x 55cm Gouache on cardboard.
'I am beside myself…'
After I made this full-size cardboard cut-out of myself, it was often relegated to the hallway as it took up space I needed in my studio. Every time I or any one else walked past it, we were shocked to see me rendered in cardboard, looming there. Although we tried, none of us remembered that it was there, and were repeatedly startled by it.
As I get older, I frequently find myself belonging to a group of ageing occupants of a world that is youth-oriented; in short, I am gradually becoming invisible. How strange is it, then, that the cardboard image of me can invoke such a strong reaction by anyone who comes across it, while my presence doesn’t always have the same effect.
However there is something to be said for this quote: "There is something about the present which we would not exchange, though we were offered a choice of all past ages to live in."
Episode 3 season 1 "Grace and Frankie” a comedy.
At a shop till addressing the sale person:
Grace “ Hello! Hello! Hello! What kind of animal treats women like this? Do you not see me?! Do I not exist?! You think its all right to ignore us?! - Just because she’s got grey hair? “
and on leaving the shop:
Grace Okay. That lacked poise and I'm sorry. But I refuse to be irrelevant.
Frankie It's okay. I learned something. We've got a superpower.
Grace You stole those?!
Frankie You can't see me, you can't stop me.
Hamish Pringle
'Amazon', 2023. Cardboard and pastels
‘Amazon’
Much of the cardboard we receive is from Amazon – often too much of it for the size of the contents delivered. Cardboard’s undulating corrugations remind me of the great river, and the threat to the Amazon rainforest from illegal logging and the use of unsustainable timber in cardboard production.
Claire Michel
'Hide and seek'
The primary material for the seventeenth show by the Dogma19 Artists was leather.
The exhibition opened online on 22 February 2023 and closed on 28 March 2023.
Hamish Pringle
Hamish Pringle ‘Wardrobe Malfunction’ 2023. Digital photo of leather belts. 19cm x 19cm print in a limited edition of 10.
'Wardrobe Malfunction'
We dress in anticipation of the occasion. Accessories chosen as we imagine the scenario. Sometimes there's a Freudian slip.
Nicola Siebert-Patel
Nicola Siebert-Patel 'Methane', 2023. Cowhide leather, cotton thread and marker pen
'Methane'
Each year, a single cow will release about 220 pounds of methane.
Kate Rossini
Kate Rossini 'Shapeshifter', 2022. Leather 40cm (h) x 30cm (w) x 40cm (d)
'Shapeshifter'
Identity is multifaceted and non – linear - in life we are required to assume personas in response to how others might perceive us or what ‘image’ we may wish to convey. We change our look/behaviour adapting in order to ‘fit in’.
Made of Italian recycled leather with embossed scales (snakeskin) and stuffed with offcuts Shapeshifter is the puppet master of my identity- representing my birth sign (Chinese) and European roots.
Skin – like outward shows of identity - need not define us or be used as camouflage – it can be changed or even shed – identities of old cast aside so that a truer, more open self can be revealed.
Claire Michel, 'Unknown Faces' 2023. 63cm x 29cm. Leather and black thread
'Unknown Faces'
Unknown Faces is made of leather and is reminiscent of the facially disfigured soldiers of the First World War. The stitched faces on the black leather are difficult to distinguish, as if the memories of these soldiers have been obscured by the passage of time. Leather has been used throughout history to make armours and other protective gears for soldiers. The careful stitching of each face adds a haunting quality to the artwork, reminding viewers that these soldiers were once real people with their own unique stories, but have now faded into obscurity.
Gail Theis
Gail Theis, 'Tongue Twister', 2023. Leather, kapok stuffed hosiery fabric. 10.5cm x 11.7cm print
'Tongue Twister'
'Fallen'
The primary material for the sixteenth show by the Dogma 19 Artists was leaves.
The exhibition opened online on 18 January 2023 and closed on 21 February 2023.
Gail Theis
Gail Theis ‘Autumn Ghosts’ 2023 49.2cm x 37cm. Multi image colour photograph.
‘Autumn Ghosts’
Day by day on my walks during Autumn, the ghosts of the dying summer leaves start to appear. The leaves fall and stick to the paving slabs; when it rains, the tannin in them sinks into the porous concrete and, like a spectral shroud, their final image is preserved, as if by magic.
Hamish Pringle
Hamish Pringle ‘Autumnal’ 2023 Scan of dried leaf collaged with digital photos by Vivienne and Hamish Pringle. 19cm x 19cm.
‘Autumnal’
The timely fall to earth.
A soft bed to lie upon,
Peacefully at rest.
To dream eternally?
Or awake renewed?
Nicola Siebert-Patel
Nicola Siebert Patel ‘Gold Leaf’ 2023. Leaf, imitation gold leaf.
‘Gold Leaf’
Monstera deliciosa (Swiss Cheese Plant) covered in imitation gold leaf.
Kate Rossini
Kate Rossini ‘Shed Skin’ 2022. Leaves, acrylic paint and PVA. 70cm x 40cm
'Shed Skin'
My work recently has been about how strong emotions – such as grief impact the body not only emotionally but physically – at a cellular or synaptic level – as the body seeks to come to terms with those feelings and become part of an altered identity as a result
Leaves are akin to an ‘organ’ for trees – their role to manufacture food - and are shed by deciduous trees as form of self- protection as the tree prepares for winter dormancy – almost like shedding a skin – the identity of the tree changes. Thinking or this change I was drawn to the metamorphosis of insects and butterflies that use leaves to help camouflage them and keep them safe as they pupate. So leaves become a skin – like human skin: made of cells.
Taking this further so that leaves become the material I aimed to make a ‘leaf’ (sheet) of paper made of leaves – what emerged was a “skin” of leaves – with leaves themselves being the individual cells. – imperfect where it ripped in the making -almost like a mosaic – but with an irregular pattern (cells are not uniform) but still maintaining a natural rhythm – and using colours that mean something to my own identity (1980’s).
Claire Michel
Claire Michel ‘Antidote’ 2023. Video 2minutes 17 seconds.
'Antidote'
In an old ochre factory that burnt down in 2013, nature has taken over, with ferns, moss and other plants growing in the remains of the factory.
In this specific room, called the ‘ochre room’, one can see colourful pigments, some natural ochre, and some chemically-transformed that survived the fire.
A girl wearing a painter’s overalls decides to pick some ferns and uses them as paintbrushes to paint her suit with the pigments.
Here, the body navigates in perfect harmony with the colourful environment and nature overtaking the abandoned building.
'Off-grid'
The primary material for the fifteenth show by the Dogma 19 Artists was graph paper.
The exhibition opened online on 23 November 2022 and closed on 10 January 2023.
Claire Michel
System I
-
20 minutes
-
An enjoyable experience
-
A little bit painful towards the end.
System II
-
46 minutes
-
Not enjoyable whatsoever, I was eager to get to the end
-
It started to be painful not even halfway through the sheet
-
Some imperfections remain as I find it hard to be perfect
Claire Michel ‘System 1’ and ‘System II’ 2022. Graph paper and pigment liner pen. Two A5 sheets of paper.
Gail Theis
Gail Theis ‘What are you hiding?’ 2022. Graphite on graph paper. A2.
‘What are you hiding?’
Our senses and emotions help us understand cultural fragments that flow through our brains. Visualisation revolves around processing and patterns; meaning emerges from the relationship between the outside world and our own physical senses and emotions. It is the exploration and interpretation of our consciousness that influences how we view the world. Experience teaches us to recognise faces with very little detail – the detail is embedded deep in our psyche. Even when a photo is strongly pixelated your brain can still decipher an image.
Hamish Pringle
Hamish Pringle ‘Intention’ 2022. Digital print of photographs and painting in ink on graph paper with holes. 19cm x 19cm.
‘Intention’
But Mousie, thou art no thy lane,
In proving foresight may be vain:
The best-laid schemes o’ Mice an’ Men
Gang aft agley,
An’ lea’e us nought but grief an’ pain,
For promis’d joy!
From ‘To a Mouse’ by Robert Burns. On Turning Her Up in Her Nest with the Plough’, November 1785
Nicola Siebert-Patel
Nicola Siebert-Patel ‘Umbilical’ 2022. Graph paper, model figure, acrylic pen, thread. Height 20cm H x Width 20cm W x Depth 10cm.
'Umbilical'
How much are you a slave to the system?
Joana Passos
Joana Passos ‘Framework’ 2022. Graph paper and ceramic. 28cm x 25cm.
‘Framework’
Through the ceramic frame the paper is trapped, in a way that creates volumes and waves. Despite being cornered, the paper is freed by its shape.
Claire Michel 'Grounded'. Installation view at ;Immurement' at The Crypt Gallery, and studio shot November 2019 70cm x 25cm x 18cm variable
'Grounded'
The starting point for Grounded was that the Crypt Gallery was used as a raid shelter during both World Wars. These prosthetics legs are quite old and were used on amputated soldiers. The fact that the legs are embedded in cement show the immobility that the soldiers had to face upon their return.
Fio Adamson
Fio Adamson 'Saint Barbara'. Installation view at ;Immurement' at The Crypt Gallery, and studio shot by Nick Manser November 2019. 120cm x 17cm x variable
'Saint Barbara'
Saint Barbara (possibly the original Rapunzel) was a Roman lady whose father objected to the Christianity she was devoted to. She refused suitors he brought to her and only wanted to serve the poor. So he shut her away in a tower.
The story is a symbol of the millions of women over the centuries who have disobeyed the patriarchy and been hidden in psychiatric hospitals, in prisons, in hovels and in caves because they refused to toe the line.
Asked to create site specific work I was taken by the dungeon-like atmosphere of the crypt, and learnt that the early feminist, Mary Wollstonecraft was a parishioner. In stark contrast I thought about the freedom of being in the lightness and brightness of a sunlit beach and made sandcastles in concrete to pile into a tower.