MARIE-LOUISE PLUM
ABOUT
I am a multidisciplinary self-taught artist. I draw, paint, print, collage and collect. I enjoy folklore, unreal realities, the occult and the uncanny. I'm currently working on a new collection of oil paintings exploring higher states of consciousness and alternate realities.
My particular interests are collecting, preservation, memory, mortality and sense of self. I often follow themes of social alienation, personal boundaries, sexual ambiguity and subversion of the 'common sense'. Linear time and the existance of consciousness, and self-attributed ritual for protection are also of great interest to me.
As my artistic practice takes shape, alongside the final pieces, I employ long-term, thoroughly documented research as a way of amassing multiple notebooks, journals, and preparatory work, which I consider to be just as important as exhibition ready work, and sometimes exhibit.
My obsession with 'keepsakes' extends to all manner of ephemera; by finding clues and making connections I am driven to respond to the past by looking at the present. A large part of my art practice is scavenging and regenerating, used mainly to bridge the gap between analogue and digital mediums in my collage and sketchbook work.
I also work as an artist educator in the field of mental health, working with groups and individuals. My arts and mental health project, Mental Spaghetii, has been running since 2011, often worked in partnership with organisations such as The Wellcome Collection and Library, Mind, Free Space Project, Scratch the Surface Festival, William Morris Gallery, The Herbert Gallery and Museum, Oxford Town Hall Museum and Gallery.
Any spare time I have I spend exploring, trawling cemeteries, or mudlarking on the River Thames, searching for historical finds which are recorded at the Museum of London. An online archive of my cemetery and mudlarking endeavours can be seen in my Projects page.
For press release and full CV including public engagement and curation projects please send a request by email.
Selected Exhibitions
2018
Moore Plum - Paintings, Music & Things, Stash Gallery at Vout-O-Reenee's,
London.
Imitation Solero - group exhibition curated by Broken Grey Wires, The Soup Kitchen, Manchester.
2017
Suburban English Magick - solo exhibition, live painting & audio installation, CCCA, Coventry.
2016
Silver Linings - group exhibition, curated by The Unseen Emporium/Victoria Tischler, Koppel Project, London, UK.
One Bare Foot Square - group exhibition, curated by Uncooked Culture, Amsterdam Outsider Art Museum, Netherlands.
What Goes On In the Mind - Mental Spaghetti/AIMS group exhibition, Town Hall Gallery, Oxford, UK.
The Mind Machine - Mental Spaghetti group exhibition, Menier Gallery, London, UK.
2015
Mental Spaghetti Roadshow - group exhibition, Studio 3 Arts, London, UK.
2014
New Folk Visionaries - Pack of Wolves group exhibition, E17 Art Trail, London, UK.
2012 - 2013
Once Upon Again - Pack of Wolves group exhibition, Winns Gallery, London.
Also shown at Milkwood Gallery, Cardiff, Wales.
2011
H A P P Y L A N D – Sole exhibiting artist at Postcards Festival, Jacksons Lane Theatre, London, UK
2010
Space Made Live - Small Media Large curated group exhibition for West End Festival, Category 'A' Bank Repository, Glasgow, UK.
Selected Performances
2015-2016
Roving Diagnostic Unit - Performance tour with Bobby Baker and Daily Life Ltd, Shuffle Festival, London, UK, and, William Morris Gallery, London, UK.
2014
The Lights Are On - Live painting and recorded audio performance, group exhibition, Fox Court, London, UK.
2014
Running With Wolves - masked performance tour, Pack of Wolves group exhibition, Fox Court, London, UK.
2010
Mask! - Masked performance and installation, curated by Sarah Ruff, The Old Police Station, London, UK.
Selected Workshops & Teaching
2018
Royal College of Art – Guest lecturer, 'Fr-iction' Visual Comms PHD group
Queen Mary University - Guest lecturer, Creative Arts & Mental Health
2016
Workshop Residency – series of drawing, printing, crafting workshops, Free Space Gallery, London, UK
William Morris Gallery 'Late' - performance for Daily Life Ltd, William Morris Gallery, London, UK
''Diagnostic Portrait of a...' - drawing workshop for Daily Life Ltd, Vestry House Museum, London, UK
The Dragon Café/Mental Fight Club – Panel guest, ReThink Psychiatry
2014
39 Hoe Street - drawing workshops for The Big Draw, London
2013
Bournemouth University – Guest lecturer, 'Mental Health in the Media'
Running with Wolves - Mask-making workshop, Stockholm Fringe Festival, Netherlands.
2010
Scottish Mental Health Arts & Film Festival – Illustration workshop, Edinburgh, Scotland
Published Work
Caterpillar Magazine, Thrill Murray Colouring Book, Middleboop Magazine, Forest Fringe, Big Team Scribble, 69 Love Songs Illustrated
Selected Press
'Creating Happy': About Mental Spaghetti | Laura Barton, The Guardian
The Mind Machine, exhibition Review | Judith McNicol, Raw Vision
The Mind Machine, exhibition Review | Colin Hambrook, Disability Arts Online
What Goes On In the Mind, exhibition Preview | Oxford Mail
What Goes On In the Mind, exhibition Review | The Oxford Times
What Goes On In the Mind, exhibition review | Deborah Caulfield, Disability Arts Online
Grants for the Arts, award by Arts Council England
Inspired by... - group exhibition, Victoria & Albert Museum, London