The Mater Podcast

An EPIC conversation with Ellie Barrett. We delve into the philosophical and artistic histories of materials. We talk about Ellie’s art practice working with various materials and in collaboration with both her mum and daughter.. Ellie is a sculptor, practice-based researcher, writer, academic and artist-mother, who is invested in exploring sculpture as a collaborative discipline. Using material engagement as a means of activating different circumstances and experiences as sites for making. She is an advocate for artist-m*thers. The PhD: https://eprints.lancs.ac.uk/id/eprint/152305/1/2020BarrettPhD.pdfE.Barrett’s website: https://elliebarrett.com/Put It To Work: https://putittowork.wordpress.com/E.Barrett’s Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/elliecbarrett/?hl=en-gbLinks to sited texts and works (in order of mention)Aristotle’s Hylomorphism: https://metaphysicsjournal.com/articles/10.5334/met.2New Materialism: https://www.oxfordbibliographies.com/display/document/obo-9780190221911/obo-9780190221911-0016.xmlMaterial Literacy, A.S.Lehmann: https://www.academia.edu/35213411/A_Lehmann_Material_Literacy_Bauhaus_Zeitschrift_Nr_9_2017_20_27Glitter with R.Coleman and N.Seymour, The Mater Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/the-mater-podcast/id1749226924?i=1000670752060O. Bax: https://www.oliviabax.co.uk/R.Molloy: https://www.artthou.co.uk/editorial/12/rebecca-molloyJ. Shannon The Disappearance of Objects: https://www.abebooks.co.uk/9780300137064/Disappearance-Objects-New-York-Art-0300137060/plpThe Goat, R.Rauschenberg: https://www.royalacademy.org.uk/article/rauschenberg-goatDominique White: https://blackdominique.com/E.Barrett Salt Dough Exhibition: https://elliebarrett.com/explain-things-to-me/J.Bennett Vibrant Matter: https://www.dukeupress.edu/vibrant-matterC.Oldenburg, London Knees: https://www.moma.org/collection/works/77314Object Oriented Feminism: https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.5749/j.ctt1g2knjgObject Oriented Onology: https://www.artspace.com/magazine/interviews_features/the_big_idea/a-guide-to-object-oriented-ontology-art-53690Lion Salt Works: https://lionsaltworks.westcheshiremuseums.co.uk/about-us/Art & Agency by A.Gell: https://monoskop.org/images/archive/4/4d/20150328075023%21Gell_Alfred_Art_and_Agency_An_Anthropological_Theory.pdfSPACE podcast: https://spacestudios.org.uk/events/out-of-space-episode-4-looking-after-the-art/Bad Vibes Club - Ten Texts on Sculpture, Maintenance: https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/ten-texts-on-sculpture-10-maintenance/id1220925467?i=1000659524759E.Thomas: https://www.herts.ac.uk/uhbow/students/meet-the-artist-elly-thomasE.Thomas, Play and the Artist’s Creative Process: https://www.worldofbooks.com/en-gb/products/play-and-the-artists-creative-process-book-elly-thomas-9781032178370E.Barrett’s, Processes and Forms for Artist-Motherhood, In Situ residency text: https://www.in-situ.org.uk/post/in-residence-ellie-barrett-and-nora-2-yrsK.Barad, Meeting the Universe Halfway: https://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctv12101zqE.Barrett, The Sculpture Kit: https://elliebarrett.com/the-sculpture-kit/R.Morris: https://www.artnews.com/art-in-america/features/robert-morris-62842/B.Le Va: https://www.artnews.com/art-news/news/barry-le-va-dead-post-minimalist-sculptor-1234582161/H.Judah, How not to exclude artist mothers and other parents: https://www.hettiejudah.co.uk/how-not-to-exclude-artist-mothers-and-other-parentsE.Barrett’s w/ mum and daughter: https://putittowork.wordpress.com/2023/08/26/how-to-work-as-a-mum/Hand-made Soft Play: https://elliebarrett.com/handmade-soft-play/E.Barrett, Vibrancy and Natural Dyeing: https://putittowork.wordpress.com/2023/09/20/agency-and-natural-dyeing/

An amazing conversation with Bisila Noha & Simone Brewster Bisila is an artist working predominantly with clay, with a background in Translation and International Relations. She writes about ceramics, crafts, identity and design, and has a particular interest in the contributions of women of colour to the history of art and craft. Her words are a bridge bringing the past - the forgotten, the ignored, and the belittled - to the present.Bisila suggested we are joined in conversation by artist, designer & cultural change-maker Simone Brewster. Strongly grounded in craft, Simone’s practice includes painting, sculpture, jewellery and writing, Using her creative outputs as her voice, celebrating and sharing windows into varied Black female narratives and histories. The threads that flow throughout her work display a balance of function with beauty, a repurposing of the “ethnic” and the “western” and a continuous playing with scale, materiality and architectural form. LinksBisila Noha InstagramSimone Brewster InstagramBisila’s blog post about translationBisila Noha Baney clay projectNegress and MammyWoman In PartsSimone’s solo exhibitionSpirit of PlaceV&A porcelain sugar holderUrsula K le Guin, Carrier Bag Theory of FictionElizabeth Fisher's best-known work is Women's Creation: Sexual Evolution and the Shaping of Society. The 7th chapter The Carrier Bag Theory of Evolution inspired Le GuinLydia Yuknavich talking about The Carrier Back Theory of Fiction Frank Gehry, a Canadian architect, famously said, “Decoration is a sin, expression is in materials”Truth to materials - ‘A belief that the form of a work of art should be inseparably related to the material in which it is made’. Slow Motion Multi Tasking, Tim HarfordFollow Mater on InstagramThe Mater website

I am joined by two UK-based artists Hannah Lees and May Hands. The two have recently undertaken their second collaborative project together, titled ‘Self can shade off into otherness gradually’. The project was held at VOLT gallery, run by Devonshire Collective in Eastbourne.Hannah Lees investigates ideas of cycles, constancy and mortality; the sense that things come to an end and the potential for new beginnings. This constancy, be it in religion, science, history or in organic matter, is visible in her practice through her attempts to make sense of and recognise traces of life. Traditional processes, materials and rituals are often reworked to explore how ideas and beliefs can live, die and be reborn across times and cultures.May Hands explores how our relationship with materiality shapes our understanding of the world. She documents and collects observations of the world around her through traditional craft-based techniques and the collecting and reinterpreting of objects. Reflecting upon seasonal cycles, sensuality and the inherently curated aspect of our everyday consumptions, her work questions how society constructs and articulates value and desire.LinksVolt Gallery: https://www.devonshirecollective.co.uk/about/exhibitions-at-voltDevonshire Collective: https://www.devonshirecollective.co.uk/https://www.instagram.com/devonshirecollective/Hannah and May:https://www.instagram.com/hannahjlees/https://www.instagram.com/may_hands/Collective Ending: https://www.collectivending.com/https://www.instagram.com/collectivending/Green screen refrigerator action Mark Leckey: https://markleckey.com/IMGs-2010Primitive Technology - send to May. can she share a video of the person making cordage. Funny that they are often menman on YouTube - video of him making a furnace and also cordage

This week I discuss oil paint, car wraps, spray paint, light, and painting tools with Harriet Gillett and Kate Dunn.  This conversation contains references to sexual assault.Harriet is an artist living and working in London, who works from sketches made in the moment, usually in pubs at live gigs.. Working predominantly with oil and spray paint, she layers thin veils of colour over a warm fluorescent spray paint ground. She recently finished an MA in Fine Art at City & Guilds of London art school, after previously studying English Literature. When I contacted Harriet to be a guest on the podcast, she suggested we are joined by Kate Dunn. Kate, another former C&G student who is now a fine art tutor at the university. The two met in tutorials and conversed over their shared use of spray paint..Kate Dunn studied MA Fine Art at City & Guilds of London Art School, following a classic training in Florence. Previous artworks have included UV reactive pigments, UV light, sound, pigments, spray paint and coloured pencils. Her works have been installations and experiences based around painting; working with themes such as renaissance, rave, light and sacred space. skin is a new body of work looking at themes of touch, rage, and absence. These works involve using oil paint and abrasive tools on car wrap. Car wraps are made as a temporary and alternative exterior. Created to last only a few years, the wrap is like a kind of transitionary skin. Harriet Gillett on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/harrietgillettart/Website: https://harrietgillett.co.uk/workKate Dunn on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bellissi.mama/Website: https://www.k8dunn.org/Mater on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mater________/Website: https://mater.digital/

I am joined by the artist duo Matterlurgy to talk about Water! Matterlurgy are a research-based artist duo composed of Helena Hunter and Mark Peter Wright. Some of their projects have responded to sites such as a hydropower station, disused steelworks, a laboratory for ice simulation, an abandoned copper mine, as well as galleries and museum collections. Examining ways of sensing, translating and representing environmental change.Our conversation focused on some of their projects that surround water.. From viewing ocean water under the microscope and the invisible activity which we are unable to see through the naked eye, through to complex river ecosystems. We discussed how they use installation, sculpture and film to bring this research into gallery/museum spaces, and the mediums that enable them to share these ideas.. LinksMatterlurgy website: https://www.matterlurgy.net/projectsMatterlurgy Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/matterlurgy_studio/Mark Peter Wright artist website: https://markpeterwright.net/Helena Hunter artist website: https://www.helenahunter.net/Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/_helena_hunter/?hl=enMIMA (Middlesbrough Museum of Modern Art): https://mima.art/The Seili project was hosted by Contemporary Art in the Archipelago: https://contemporaryartarchipelago.org/Sensitives Steam, website link: https://sensitives.stream/Arts Catylist: https://artscatalyst.org/ Flom Sang: https://www.matterlurgy.net/flom-sangMuseum of Sheffield artist's page: https://www.sheffieldmuseums.org.uk/whats-on/meet-the-artists-matterlurgy/Bakewell Old House Museum: https://www.oldhousemuseum.org.uk/Wellcome Collection: https://wellcomecollection.org/?gad_source=1&gclid=Cj0KCQjwsc24BhDPARIsAFXqAB00eCUGltjjED65pjkD0CpUH1MnHFEyh9s57mUx30ZR0o6jikMFT9QaAj9wEALw_wcB

A magical conversation with Emma Witter and Krista Mileva-Frank about Shells and Grottos.. I first came across Emma’s work a couple of years ago.. Emma is an artist who makes work from found and waste ephemera. Looking back at heritage craft, she combines ancient materials with relatively recent scientific processes such as electroforming and kiln forming. When I asked Emma a few months ago to be on the podcast, she wanted to take her time to pick the right guest. Which brings us to our second guest, Krista Mileva-Frank.. Krista Mileva-Frank is a fourth-year PhD candidate in the History, Theory, and Criticism of Architecture and Art program at MIT. Her dissertation examines grottoes and rock landscapes in nineteenth-century France and Latin America in the context of environmental transformation, labor, and racial politics. Krista is the curator of the group exhibition Objects for a Heavenly Cave, on view at Marta Gallery in Los Angeles, 7-12th October.. The show features work by Emma Witter..LinksEmma: https://www.instagram.com/emma_witter_/?hl=en & http://www.emmawitter.co.uk/Krista: https://architecture.mit.edu/people/krista-mileva-frankThe Exhibition: https://marta.la/exhibitions/various-artists-objects-for-a-heavenly-cavehere is a link to the exhibition.The exhibition catalog, along with the GROTTO hat, can be purchased from the Marta Bookshop.Other artworks in the exhibition referenced:James Naish (Corycia bench)Lily Clark (superhydrophobic fountain Dew Point III)Emily Endo (scent-based piece Nymphaeum)Masaomi Yasunaga masaomi_yasunaga (Melting Vessel 熔ける器, 2024)Marta Gallery on InstagramFumi: https://galleryfumi.com/ & Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/gallery_fumi/?hl=enMater on InstagramThe Mater website