Luci Gorell Barnes

Luci Gorell Barnes
14 Hopetoun Road
St Werburghs
Bristol BS2 9YL
0117 9427580
www.lucigorellbarnes.co.uk
LuciGB@talktalk.net
I began my professional life in the world of physical theatre and gradually migrated, via
devising and directing performance, to the realm of visual arts. Issues of access and
engagement have been integral to my work throughout, and I see my practice contributing
to a community of disciplines that embraces family support, health services, and education.
My work revolves around themes of childhood, isolation and belonging; and academic
study has allowed me to weave a theoretical thread through this exploration. I am
particularly interested in working with people who find themselves on the margins for one
reason or another, developing flexible and responsive processes that allow us to think
imaginatively with ourselves, and each other. I find ways of supporting people to represent
their personal perspectives as part of a shared purpose, and I write, make maps, drawings,
artists’ books and animations working with these ideas, sometimes collaborating with
performers to show my work in theatrical contexts.
I am named Governor for Child Protection and Looked After Children at Speedwell Nursery
School and Children’s Centre’s, and their Governor representative on the combined
Children’s Centre Advisory Group in East Central Bristol.
Education
2012-2014
2001-2004
Pg Dip, Research and Professional Studies in Education, University of Bristol
MA, Fine Art in Context, University of the West of England
Examples of work
Participatory work
2014
The Atlas of Human Kindness
The Atlas is a project formed to encompass the growing collection of maps I
have co-created with groups and individuals, telling of where and when
people have experienced acts of kindness. Partners working with on the Atlas
include the community group Creative Muslim Mothers, and the Milestones
Trust whose services include residential homes, and supported living for
people with complex mental health needs.
2004-14
Speedwell Nursery School and Children’s Centre, Bristol
I have worked as Artist in Residence at Speedwell for 10 years. In the
nursery my work involves modelling creative practice, making learning visible,
2014
2012-2014
2012
2011-2012
2005-2006
and closing the gap in self-esteem between BME boys and the overall cohort.
In the Children’s Centre, I run Branching Out, a weekly group for some of the
more vulnerable families, including refugees and asylum seekers. I offer
participation in creative projects with the aim of building confidence and a
sense of belonging, as well as acting as a bridge to other family support
services.
Bristol Museums, Galleries and Archives
Mapping workshop inspired by M Shed’s Places Gallery Big Map. Families
created their own version of the Big Map based on experiences, stories, and
feelings in relation to their locality.
English Heritage
Ongoing workshops in Bristol schools as part of the Heritage Schools project,
supporting young people to map their own geographies. Exploring personal
landmarks and places of significance, students find ways to represent their
own narratives within the landscape. Parents and carers are often invited to
participate in some of the sessions.
Starletta and other Outlaws
Exhibition of narrative paintings made on old maps, alongside community
mapping workshops in St Werburghs City Farm’s community garden, Bristol.
HMP Eastwood Park
A project across the Mother and Baby Unit, Juvenile Unit, and main estate, in
which inmates used sketchbooks to express themselves and take time for
their own reflections. Women from the MBU also participated in a drawing
exchange with women from Branching Out.
European Social Fund
Three participatory arts projects funded by the ESF in which I was Lead Artist
on both The Hope Project, a performance, writing and visual art project with
young women at HMP Eastwood Park, and the Travellers’ Art Project where
residents of the Winterbourne Travellers’ site created environmental art
works. I also worked as a facilitating artist on Express Yourself, running visual
arts workshops with young adults with learning difficulties.
Published work
2014
Poem accepted for anthology, Teaching as a Human Experience. Expected
publisher is Cambridge Scholars Publishing, target publishing date circa April
2015.
2013
Gorell Barnes, L. (2014) Writing from the margins of myself, International
Journal of Qualitative Methods 13, 237-254.
2007
Bookshed and Books in Bodman, S. (Ed) Artist’s Book Yearbook 2008-2009
Impact Press at The Centre for Fine Print Research, UWE: Bristol.
Mentoring and lecturing
2014
University of Bristol
Demonstrating visual methods of documentation, and presentation on visual
ethics on the Visual Inquiry module of the Education Doctorate.
2014
East Central Training Network
I am a mentor on the East Central Training Network, supporting practitioners
working in PVI settings to conduct their own research into children’s creative
2011
2010
2009-2010
2009
2008-2009
2006-2008
learning.
Bath Spa University
Visiting lecturer with film students examining research journals and reflective
documentation.
City of Bristol College
Visiting lecturer supporting devised theatre work with Theatre Media
Performance students.
University of the West of England
Visiting lecturer on the Professional Skills Programme for Community
Arts/Media & Creative Education Practitioners.
Creative Advisors Scheme
Mentor on a bespoke service for artists, curators, producers and arts
managers in the South West. I mentored a writer who was developing a
creative approach to delivering disability awareness training.
‘acta
Mentoring key community artists in which we explored how they might
integrate more of their independent creative practice into their work with
others.
Creative Partnerships
Arts mentoring programme for young people, culminating in a residency and
exhibition at Spike Island, Bristol.
Performance projects
2009-2010 The Tragic and Disturbing Tale of Little Lupin
Conception, animation, design and direction of The Tragic and Disturbing
Tale of Little Lupin which was co-commissioned by Theatre Bristol and Bristol
Old Vic and funded by Arts Council England. With its roots in the dark, rich
soil of fairy tales, this show was for people who have ever strayed off the path
and into the woods…
Management of UK tour, which included performances at the National
Theatre, and for the Without Walls outdoor festivals consortium. Screenings
of my animated film at Bournemouth Festival, Encounters Film Festival, and a
BAFTA nomination.
2004-2009 Bookshed
Development and production of Bookshed, an interactive installation that
housed a collection of my artist's books in a mobile parlour. This was the final
piece for my MA, and went on to tour nationally with partners including
Midland Arts Centre, Stour Valley Arts, National Theatre, the National Trust,
Bristol City Council and local schools. The performance was often
accompanied by workshops exploring bookmaking, charcoal making, and
tree planting. Funded by Arts Council England and The Forest of Avon.
2006/7
No Direction Home
Arts Council England funded research and development project looking at
issues of home, belonging and dislocation. The research included delivering
sessions for the Refugee Awareness Project and producing illustrations for
Islington Council’s leaflet for failed asylum seekers.
2009
SLEM
2003
Contributing artist for WindNomaden. a large-scale land installation first
shown at Oerolfestival, Terschelling and then at New Island Festival, New
York.
Moonwalk
Development, design and production of guided moonlit tour through Penpole
Woods to explore the social production of fear through metaphors of fairy
tales. Commissioned by the Forest of Avon as part of their Marking the Ways
environmental art programme.
Commissions
2013
The Story of the Yard: Building a Community
Hand drawn map for the cover of Carrie Hitchcock’s book, which tells the
story of a community-led, self-build housing development in inner city Bristol,
published by Tangent Books.
2012
Salisbury Playhouse
Creating four hand drawn animations featuring indigenous British wildlife for
an installation, The Frozen Forest.
2012
Speedwell Nursery School and Children’s Centre
Working alongside staff and children to create pyrograph drawings on built
wooden structures. Illustrating key elements from a range of traditional
stories, the drawings contributed towards the development of the outdoor
learning environment and the children’s narrative skills.
2010
Speedwell Nursery School and Children’s Centre
Drawings commissioned for the doors and windows in the new Children’s
Centre, to create a narrative trail through the building.
2000-2001 National Cycle Network
As part of South Gloucestershire Council’s Public Art Features Programme, I
collaborated with metal sculptor Kevin Hughes to create a wayside shrine
incorporating a votive table and text from Ben Okri’s novel The Famished
Road.
Work in permanent collections
Bristol Art Library
Holburne Museum of Art, Bath
Mr Pin (Artists’ book)
Advent Calendar: Mother and Child
Solo exhibitions
2009 Books at Bower
2008 Domestic Animals
2007 No Direction Home
2001 Immaculate Conceptions
Artists books, Bower Ashton, UWE
Octagon Visual Arts Centre, Thornbury
Islington Town Hall, London, Refugee Week
Paintings at the Victoria Art Gallery in Bath
Group exhibitions
2009 The Lay of the Land
2008 Journeys
2007 A flight of ideas
2007 Homecoming
2007 Rich and Strange
Visual Arts Centre, Scunthorpe
Pierian Centre, Bristol, Refugee Week
Early Years practice, Centrespace, Bristol
Grant Bradley Gallery, Bristol
Altered books, University of Wales, Newport