Franko B

Katherine Hymers

Tel:	01284 763379
Email:	kathymers@hotmal.com
Date of birth:	23.07.82
Qualifications
2004	First class BA Honours Fine Art Chelsea College of Art and Design
2001	BTEC National Diploma In Foundation Studies in Art West Suffolk College
Solo Exhibitions
2005	Embodied Existence The Babylon Gallery Ely Cambridgeshire
Group Shows
2006	Suffolk Showcase Bury St Edmunds Art Gallery Dark and daring (part ii) Visual Arts Ipswich
2005	Actart 3 Central Station, London Transit Stationas part of Transmediale Berlin
2004	Werktag part of Weddinger Kultur(spat)sommer, organised by KunstRaum Berlin Minutes To Go The Triangle Gallery Spacestudios London Xhibit 04The LINST Gallery London Bridge the Gap The Concrete Basement London ACT 02 The 291 Gallery London
2003	Bodybag Candid Projection Room, Candid Arts Trust London Transit Station Stanley Picker Gallery, Kingston Rex Barscay Hall, Hungarian Fine Art Academy Budapest, The People Versus The Job Seekers Allowance Intermission London Portrait X Goethe Institute, Budapest, Hungary
Professional development
2005-06	Franko B Mentoring Scheme in association with Artsadmin, with individual funding from The Arts Council. Including week residency at Wysing Arts
2004	’40 Espontaneos’ Week long performance research workshop with la Ribot Toynbee Studios London
2003	Tihany International Residency Programme in association with Goldsmiths London and The Hunagrian Academy of Fine Art Budapest ‘Pieces of People’ Gary Stevens performance Henry Moore sculpture Park Hertfordshire ‘Live’ Elizabeth Price performance Mobile Home London

Artist's statement
It is important for me that I am within the work.
More often than not it is my real time experience, or a fragment of this that manifests itself as a scene before the viewer. The film is composed and framed, a stilled atmosphere bathed in silence, movement barely perceptible.

Little happens in the miniscule interstices between gestures. The simplicity of the scene and action give the impression of a still image. The bodily presence evokes vulnerability, and the work resonates a disconcerting intimacy.

I use a static camera and the film remains unedited.

The passing of time is a leitmotif underscoring much of my work. I am not interested in presenting a narrative,
I reveal nothing conclusive. Instead, I rely on the visual and conceptual references and interconnections that make themselves apparent in the work.

About me
I was born in Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk in 1982. I grew up in Suffolk, doing GCSE’s and A-levels and a BTEC National Diploma in Foundation Studies in Art and Design.

In 2001 I moved to London to do my BA (HONS) at Chelsea College of Art and Design, graduating in June 2004. During my degree course I spent four months in Budapest on an exchange programme with the Hungarian Academy of Fine Art, and also returned to Hungary in the summer of 2003 to do a three week residency/ course set up by Goldsmiths, London, and the Hungarian Fine Art Academy.

In 2004 I moved back to Suffolk, and am now living and working in Bury St Edmunds. I had my first solo show in May of this year at the Babylon Gallery, (Ely, Cambridgeshire) and have also been part of Minutes To Go at The Triangle Gallery, (London ) Transit Station, (Berlin),and ACTART3, (London).

I currently work for an accountant’s, doing administration work in order to support my practice as an artist.

Feedback
I felt really excited to be part of Thursday at Toynbee Studios….
Walking into a silent room felt quite daunting… being conscious of not wanting to talk about my work- looking at my feet when someone finished… but relaxing into it very soon.
Feeling quite tired when I left at the end of the evening- there was so much to take in, to watch, to listen to….but a good introduction to people- but I’m sure there s so much more, and the forum…. How valuable this will be to us all….

But it felt very mutual, open and honest. I was aware of the level of respect between everyone present and a genuine interest as each person shared a glimpse of their work. …
A unique situation in which the support we can offer each other will create a constructive dialogue… but also a network that’s based on a shared interest…I am looking forward to the contact through the forum- a continual way of communicating, responding…
I don’t think I realised how intense this next year could be… and this is a good thing for me…
There are already things in other people’s practices that I feel really excited by, that either touched me because of their immense integrity or as very beautiful and personal views of the world. Although everyone’s work is quite different, I’m really excited by particular things people said….about intuition, about losing oneself in the work…about just doing it because the experience is important…

(Self belief, confidence, not aiming for high-tech, polished, professional work, but more from integrity, belief… doing it because of a genuine passion…)

…but also visually- things that I have already seen in the small amount of work that I have seen that strike an affinity with me…

physicality, involvement, personal dialogue…

I feel like this is such a good opportunity to engage with other people’s work in order to understand my own practice more, to openly discuss similarities in the work.

Immediate feedback, instinctive responses… about other artist’s work that might interest us- artists and work that I may not be familiar with but others are, that may really interest/ excite me….Kira o’Reilly, the female artist, (whose name I’ve already forgotten) who conceals part of her body..ie has her head in a cupboard…

It was great to go out for a drink afterwards- the excitement coming from everyone involved… about the possibilities that are already opening up for us as a group of artists.
I sat speaking to one person and so many small practical things about work came up in conversation- I am slowly realising that this social aspect that already feels very much part of the scheme allows for these things to be shared, so I can benefit from other people’s experience and vice versa. … but also just to share experiences and thoughts about art as a way of living… it struck me that someone said they had never formally worked… and I spoke to one person about not living in London, about how and where I/ we wanted our work to be seen…
Things that we all experience, but don’t necessarily ever really talk about with other artists…
Also Franko’s straight talking, his very open attitude towards the next year- the openness and honesty… I feel like I don’t have this from anywhere else- unlike other situations there doesn’t feel like there’s this secretive/ competitive atmosphere. It really does feel MUTUAL, OPEN AND HONEST.

I am more aware now of how I can use this to support my practice- the forum as a way of bouncing ideas and thoughts off others..

I guess I don’t know exactly what I want to do with my work over the next year… the forum will be important and valuable to me- a space in which to discuss… to develop more of a confidence in my work, in myself as an artist.. I’m not sure that there are specific things that I want to do though- not that I can bring to mind right now…

I’m really excited… there was mention from some people that maybe we could meet to talk more about our work… the forum… meeting for a week long ‘session’ in 2006, meeting one to one with Franko…