Amy Brandon (she/her, they/them)
Within my practice, I aim to explore personal and collective understanding of common human experience; such as memory and nostalgia, with accessibility and mental health as undercurrents of my work. Inspired by personal experience, I attempt to create a feeling of connection and relatability to the audience. The main drive behind my work is not about making something “aesthetically pleasing” or simply just viewable; but to create a connection with the people who encounter and experience the work.
Personally, I’ve always struggled to feel comfortable and accepted in some art spaces, and have quite an issue with things having to look expensive, clean and immaculately perfect. Whether this is something more philosophical or not – it inspires my work a lot, as I feel like my work reflects the craft and care that goes into it, and I wouldn’t like to jeopardise that for the sake of looking “professional”
My practice is structured and consistent; and greatly accommodates my needs as a neurodivergent, working class artist. I strive to make my work as accessible as possible for working class and disabled audiences, through sharing work freely and without limitation.
Still from "Elegy"
Elegy
“an elegy is a poem of serious reflection, usually a lament for the dead.”
Shot on location back home, I was able to really document my surroundings and fabricate significant memories that each location holds there. I’ve struggled with the idea of everything changing since I’ve been gone, and the format and title of ‘elegy’ was most fitting for the text piece I had written. This is not about death, but renewal. A reflection on these past experiences and fleeting moments that cease to exist; that are dead, in a sense.
I produced the written work separate to the video. When filming, I film in a somewhat serendipitous way with no pre-planning or shot-list, and very little expectations for what may arise.
Project Links
teleportation
“teleportation” is a video piece made over the winter break from 2021-2022.
This piece was the first instance of producing a written piece first, and serendipitously creating a video surrounding it. Originally, I didn’t plan to combine the two pieces together, until it became a moment of experimentation.
In it’s first exhibition, it was only viewable by QR code, and without the code it was unavailable to be viewed again. It provided a boundary for myself as the creator and the audience. I chose to present the work as an “optional viewing experience” – you can either view it or not. I intended for it to be a personal conversation between me and the audience, but not to be displayed publicly or to a whole group.
Project Links
Genesis
“Genesis” is a hand written piece, that exists alongside another text piece titled “Cessation”.
“Genesis” is all about the beginning of transitioning. ‘The Fool’ in a tarot card reading. Moving from one space to the next. Nature symbolism is used to describe feelings of displacement and trying to figure out how to acclimatise to new places. The time of when this was written is unclear, which emphasises this idea that change is inevitable and the discomfort will always be there.
Cessation
“Cessation” is a hand written piece, that exists alongside another text piece titled “Genesis”.
Just as ‘Genesis’ is about the beginning, Cessation is about the ending. Reaching the destination, the discomfort is still prevalent.
A world that I love(d)
” A World that I Love(d) – a collaborative exploration of locale” is a project focusing on community engagement, location, locale, and collective memory. Surrounding one specific site, I had 8 participants with knowledge and experience of the site, complete 3 different tasks to describe and recount their memories. Some are vastly different, and some are very similar; but they were completed with no conferring between participants. We chose to keep the participants anonymous (only recognisable by initials), and the site name + location is redacted.
The site is sacred and special. It does not deserve the treatment it has received these past few years, and this project is almost a last effort to keep it alive.
Project Links
more than one domestic time machine
“more than one domestic time machine” was originally a group of 8 paintings, each painting depicting a familiar or personally significant location.
Later on, I wanted to challenge myself to write about the pieces separately. It wasn’t until I finished that I realised the writing flowed really well with and without the paintings as context.
Project Links
