Introducing Brummie Artist Grace Clifford and her English Objects.
Born in Brum and raised in the Black Country, Grace is an artist who takes pride in her roots and uses her life experiences to inform her manipulation of British tat.
“I refuse to change my voice and tone to try fit into the art world or as an attempt to escape my background.”
[me n bessie in studio]
Whether you’re using fivers or food from the local chippie, a sense of Quintessential Britishness often dominates your work. What’s your thought process behind using these types of objects?
I think I use these objects because I can understand them. They are everyday objects, although I think it’s interesting how people often don’t think of money as an object, (physically or metaphorically) thinking about the phrase ‘money is no object’….money is most definitely an object. I think a lot of the items I use are ones most people see and can associate with, which I hope makes my works more accessible and easier to communicate with than some of the stuff inside the white walls of a gallery.
The use of particularly ‘English’ objects is something I’m thinking about myself, I have a strong sense of pride and find comfort in being born in Birmingham and raised in the Black Country, the area has a lot of deep industrial heritage and a strong identity. I feel like a lot of people aren’t proud of where they are from nowadays, particularly with Brum n DY, the area and the accent gets a lot of ridicule in the media and also in person, 9/10 when people ask you where you from and you say Brum they say brum is shit and do an even shitter impression of the accent, most of the time these people ain’t ever been and the reason they give for not liking it is usually somewhat classist and/or racist. The north thinks ur south and the south thinks ur north, the midlands gets kinda written off. I refuse to change my voice and tone to try fit into the art world or as an attempt to escape my background.
I’ve noticed that your works ‘big shop’, ‘big chair’ and ‘cone of chips’ play with the exaggeration of scale. Why is it important that some of your ideas require you to manipulate the scale of objects?
Size manipulation is probably a way of me exploring value of objects or their connotations. sometimes this manipulation makes them into useless or into unattainable objects, Like the big chair started off as a quick scribble in my notebook, but then I was thinking about how people are like sort of sold this idea to believe that they can be a ‘big boss’ one day, like if you work just that little bit more, go uni, take out this mortgage etc. it’ll happen for you. I think that’s a bit of a lie.
big chair
big shop
How big is your ‘big chair’ exactly?
263cm.
Your work seems to be quite process orientated. Could you tell us about some of the processes involved in producing your works?
I always thought there was very little process to my work but I don’t think process has to be this big formal thing of experimentation and research like they teach you in school. I always have a notebook on me and will scribble odd words and questions throughout the day, it’s kind of obsessive really. A lot of my process is just walking round n observing things, which is handy because I’m always on my way to something or other. I think my work is a response to situations or events I’ve experienced in some way, a lot of my work has weirdly specific stories attached to it. I was quite a cheeky kid and got a lot of clips round the ear, which in turn became sarcasm, so that comes into my work as well. I collect a lot of stuff most people would regard as tat so there’s that as well, not all of these objects become work straight away and some probably never will, but they definitely provide something. I’ve suffered with severe OCD since a young kid so I guess I’ve managed to turn the hoarding aspect of it into something my mom can’t get mad about….I’ve also managed to justify going to the pub as a part of my practice so cheers to that!
What’s material have you worked with that’s surprised you?
Pickling fivers is a funny one, they’ve been in there for over a year now and there’s no change in their condition. Its my savings so if you see me in the pub with a vinegary fiver, you know I’ve cracked.
My favourite work of yours is your pink dildo watering can, because it’s so metaphorically intimate. Please tell me more about this work in particular.
This is probably one of my most personal and private works, and because its got a dick in it, it’s always the one people ask about haha! I was assaulted towards the end of 2019 and didn’t quite process what was happening at the time or after. I became numb to anything sexual, ended a relationship because I didn’t think I could be intimate again and yeah…. I guess the watering can was my way of trying to slowly incorporate sexual imagery into my brain again and work through these feelings, particularly using humour as a coping mechanism. It actually got nicked from a party I had in the summer, got it back now and it currently has some rosemary growing in it.
Do you have any ambitious sculpture plans that you want to realise in the future? What are they?
Hmmmmm, I wish I could say I did but I don’t know if I do yet! My ideas come quite quick and suddenly, I don’t really spend a long time developing a work or a specific project as much as id like to, I don’t have the focus for it. I think my brain limits itself when it comes to ideas and being practical, like if I get any crazy ideas I just kind of put them to bed because I don’t think I’ll have the means to do them, or the confidence to pull them off. I would like to do a residency in a non-traditional setting, maybe in a shop or takeaway. I would really like to give myself some things to work towards.
