Pippa Blake - artist
STATEMENT.
D309 – Light box installations
My work for the ocean project stems from a sea-voyage I made in August/September 2006 on the NOCS research vessel Discovery between Newfoundland and Iceland incorporating the southern tip of Greenland, Cape Farewell.
I spent three weeks with scientists from the UK, Germany, Holland and France all with the common aim of research into how the ocean affects the climate of the planet and the particular affects of the currents of the North Atlantic ocean on the changing climate of Europe.
The work onboard involved the deployment and recovery of measuring instruments to the seabed on miles of conducting cable, leaving installations such as current meter moorings to take measurements in the scientist’s absence.
Predominantly a two-dimensional visual artist I felt challenged to combine art and science in the making of my piece of work and decided to make four light box installations. They comprise layers of Perspex each printed with digital images taken from working studies, photographs, charts and graphs all stemming from Discovery voyage D309. The layers work on metaphorical and physical levels as well as creating aesthetic experience. As an artist I feel strongly the need to highlight through my own visual experience some of the concerns of the environmental changes to our planet.
bio
Pippa Blake was born in Portsmouth UK and studied Fine Art at Camberwell School of Art from 1972-1976 where she gained BA Hons in Painting (First Class). In 2005 she completed a Postgraduate Diploma in Visual Art (Distinction) at West Dean College, West Sussex. She has exhibited nationally and internationally in solo and group shows.
