OCA MA Fine Art: In conversation with Blair Maule

The OCA MA Fine Art team have been working with their students to undertake some student led peer interviews about their work at MA level.  The focus of this was for students to construct the questions and answers and select work that they want to discuss and show.

Hear from Blair Maule below;

How do you reach your audience and how do they reach you?

I am currently in the process of designing my website, and I think it is important to take some time to research how established artists help the audience engage in a more direct way.

I use various different social media platforms, including Instagram, X, and TikTok. These platforms, due to their high popularity, tend to reach a larger audience, although Instagram, since its takeover by Facebook, has changed its algorithm, making it harder to disseminate and engage.

I think it’s also important to have the same user name across platforms to keep everything consistent, @blair_maule_art.

Do you belong to any artists’ collective or collaborate with other artists?

I have had the pleasure of collaborating with the painter Barbara Hulme, who painted me sitting nude at a piano for a series that explored the effects of mental health for a local exhibition in South Manchester.

I have helped to support OCA Creative Arts student Rachael Barns with her recent 4 elements project, submitting a poem that she has used in one of the sculptures that will be exhibited at the Raveningham Sculpture Trail in Norfolk from July to September.

What have you found to be the most valuable asset to combining research/theory and practice? How has this benefited you and how do you feel it can potentially benefit your audience?

The use of contextual and theoretical research allows for greater meaning and understanding of not just materials but also practice and brings with it an increased awareness of current trends and political views.

This benefits the audience and allows the narrative to disseminate and engage within its context and surroundings.

Since studying for your Masters Degree has your practice changed direction, and if so how and why?

My practice and focus have shifted quite dramatically, in fact. I started out researching the historical importance of Lancashire’s cotton industry and applying brutalist form through concrete sculpture to convey a message of degradation and erosion and the importance of conservation.

Through research and theory, it became clear to me that I was adding to the environmental discourse by using concrete. I needed to change direction and focus on using more natural materials such as wool and clay to explore and create a link to the current climate devastation and engage the audience.

What does your day in the studio look like?

I like to plan out my day to combine my practice with my current study time. Being organised and diligent helps focus the mind. I always have a sculpture to work on, and if I don’t effectively time plan, I find the day goes by far too quickly.