"Connections"
34 x 36cm
Jo Beattie: figures drawn using a sewing machine & mounted to watercolour paper
Mark Beattie: love knot made from aluminium wire with hand painted details
This piece explores those connections we've been missing; perhaps you'll recognise or relate to some of the people? An old friend you've been unable to visit, a mother and daughter separated by distance or perhaps a friend you miss talking to?
Why Did We Collaborate?
During the first national lockdown I was based in Nottingham, helping my parents and extended family to shield. After 4 months my wife and I returned to London which meant we were out of the family 'bubble'. It was another 4 months until I was able to visit my childhood home and that separation from my parents made the third national lockdown by far the hardest.
After creating the idea for this Love Knot collaborative project, my Mum was of course the first artist I spoke to. I've always admired Mum's work and I've been lucky enough to have a front row seat to how her work has developed over the years. She's been a mentor, a friend and a cheerleader ever since she first encouraged me to be creative and I know I wouldn't be where I am today without her support.
Working on this piece together has been cathartic and refreshing. It gave us something positive to focus on and talk about. We were FaceTiming from my studio in London to her studio in Nottingham to exchange ideas and explore the final composition of the piece.
More on Jo Beattie - www.jobeattie.com
Jo's work looks at the memories of people we love and how we associate them with what they wear; their patterns and colours are embedded into our memory and become inseparable from our image of them. Those patterns and colours determine not only our character and how we want to be perceived by others but also define us in a time, place and culture.