Shifting States

Shifting States is an exhibition of work made in response to ‘One Day This Glass Will Break’ by Cornelia Parker, a Hayward Touring Exhibition shown at the Dick Institute in Spring 2024. Shifting States is the culmination of work from East Ayrshire school pupils, members of ‘Artclub?’ and young visitors to the exhibition, pulling together works that explore tone, contrast, liminal space and transition through play with light and shadow.

Through a programme of exhibition visits and workshops pupils from Doon Academy, Kilmarnock Academy, Park School, Robert Burns Academy, Stewarton Academy and ‘ArtClub?’ were asked to engage with concepts surrounding Cornelia Parker’s work and make responses that sit within a context of the histories and methodologies of photography. Utilising found objects, cyanotype printing, experiments with pinhole cameras and expanded drawing practices brought about conversations around positive and negative space and new processes developed.

The final component of Shifting States comes from the Cornelia Parker Light Studio where visitors to the exhibition are invited to engage with shadow play, collage, and photography. This time, utilising the technology we all have at our fingertips, our mobile phone cameras! The variation of exciting experimental results are proof that art can happen anywhere, anytime, the only limit is our imagination.

Supported by Creative Scotland Cultural Recovery Fund.