Artists Statement & Bio
My work investigates loss, distance and intimacy. This is done through the means of soft-sculpture, theatrical film and digital image manipulation. This exploration also often features a story-telling poetic narrative, pastel colour and the aesthetical involvement of domestic space.
Within theatrical performance, character development, setting and tragic comedy are focus points. Music from the 1950s and 60’s has begun to merge itself into poetic narrative. Lyrics and poetry combined introduce life and emotion into inanimate objects.
From the screen, loneliness of a character brings to light the weight of intimacy.
Mavis appears playing the harmonica with smudged blue lipstick, her hands and feet are donned with marigold gloves.
From what she wears down to the action of the harmonica playing itself, she begins to represent what it means to dysfunction; to sing out of tune, to be in the wrong time, or to be entirely uninhibited.
Misfunction continues. Soft, felt hands are limbless and marigold gloves are embroidered into stillness, used as salad toppers. Cardboard cut-outs have lost their three-dimensional bodies and become signposts for nonsensical endings.
The presence of the femme-fatale questions the role of the housewife and natures of motherhood and manual labor. These themes are mirrored with a broken reality that does not exist beyond the blue background.
Mavis performs to us from behind a washing machine door. As the film loops, she spins. Following the tragically waltzing sound of the harmonica she applauds herself, showing no need for an audience. Within current circumstances, my materials have adapted and changed. Larger and heavier materials such as cardboard and Mdf are replaced with weightlessness and intricacy: embroidery, needle punch, and digital drawings.
Loss as a theme brings about recognition that very little from here can be the same. A soft-sculpture and ultimate falseness fall out of the fridge, the audience stare into the blank screen, dumbfounded with tragic comedy. Despondently, once again, Mavis begins to play.
Jodie Whitchurch is a sculptor, textile artist and poet working between Nottingham and Brighton. Whitchurch uses soft sculpture, theatrics and digital image manipulation to follow a story-telling narrative. Her work follows the pattern of an investigation, her introspective route exploring the themes of loss, distance and intimacy.
Whitchurch was one of the last three years to study Fine Art Sculpture as a BA at Brighton university. Her work is often unconventional, with inanimate objects coming to life to tell stories. Wherever or however the work presents itself, the viewer can often roam the artists psyche.
The artist has intermediate building skills but also enjoys knitting, embroidery and needle punch. She has a variety of digital skills and experience with film and sound editing software.
Whitchurch as shown work with WANK Collective, Blobby Boys and Bad Art Presents in 2019-2020, exhibiting in South Tottenham, Peckham, Oxford, at Coachwerks Gallery in Brighton and Tess Fest, Nottingham. Whitchurch has also taken part in a residency as part of the LungA festival in Iceland and is a previous member of Nottingham poetry collective, Mouthy Poets.
After taking a year out of education, practicing tattooistry at apprentice level and working as a florist, Whitchurch hopes to study Fine Art as an MA. She continues to write poetry and as ever, when it comes to art, let pleasure be her guide.