Black, Colin - VM - Colin Black

Colin Black: In-Between

We have Chosen a One-way Road

by Colin Black

‘We have chosen a one-way road.’ This title for my recent exhibition came from the words spoken by a refugee fleeing the Middle East, taken from a television series called ‘Exodus-Our Journey to Europe’, which was broadcast in August 2016 on BBC2. A number of individuals of different ages were given mobiles to document their journeys from various locations including Syria.

The work in the exhibition was about borders, boundaries and restrictions. The works were called ‘landscapes’, because it was there that events were acted out. I used the physical shape and structure of a folding paper map as one of the collaged materials because it already has an established and recognisable visual language of landscape. The physical collage construction of picture-making, such as planes, edges, overlaps, underlaps and margins become equivalents to the tensions and dynamics that are played out when a population is on the move and confronted by an existing structure of obstacles.

The works were a combination of printed map, screen shots from the Exodus series, internet images, holiday brochures and printed ephemera. They were a response to Britain’s dilemma about Brexit, hard or soft, independence and interdependence, Trump’s wall. We seem to become insular in our thinking as a fearful means of self-preservation. How do we square our fears of invasion with humanitarian aid?

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Colin Black: In-Between, 2016/2017, mixed-media, 9 x 19 inches. 

Colin Black: Vision, 2016/2017, mixed-media, 7 x 15 inches.

Colin Black works and teaches in York. He and his wife Sallie run Seek Art School in York, www.seekartschool.co.uk. He has recently been interviewed by ‘York Creatives’ about teaching, the importance of the creative process and ‘serious play’ as a way of developing ideas. 

ArtWay Visual Meditation August 12, 2018