Platform Graduate Award 2019 – Focus on Amy Richardson
6th Nov 2019
Amy Richardson is a graduate of the University of Reading and was nominated for the Platform Graduate Award 2019 by Modern Art Oxford.
“There’s nothin’ soft about hard times is my Uncle’s human story of homelessness represented in the form of nine embroidered cushions framed by a political banner and floral cardboard tiles. What started six years ago with a posted disposable camera became an insight into a life never really seen. I hoped to use intricate textile objects to tell a personal and honest narrative that would make visible a person who only ever felt invisible. Through the orchestrated discomfort of staging cushions within a cold, industrial setting I aimed to provoke a more instinctive and sentimental need for comfort which poignantly clashes with any tangible sense of ‘home’ within the space.
“It was an incredible honour to have been part of the Platform Graduate Award and to have exhibited at Modern Art Oxford. Gaining the insight of MAO staff and sharing experiences with viewers has been hugely instrumental in breathing life into the issues raised within my work. This demonstrated the importance of keeping people at the centre of my future practice and it has encouraged me to be brave in making private experiences public as a way of keeping important discussions alive and my work positively informed.
“I am really excited by the upcoming year as both an artist in development and a teacher in training. I am currently continuing my work centred around my Uncle’s homelessness as a hugely complex story which I feel deserves to be shared especially given the increasing prevalence of the issue. I am currently focussing on his relationships whilst being homeless as something so critical to survival but also intrinsically fragile. Crossing over from my previous work and into my passion for special educational needs, I am also exploring societal perceptions of dyslexia and learning disabilities within my textile based practice.
“Following a feature in the Big Issue, I will be exhibiting my work in a Church in Bristol for an
exhibition called ‘Travelling home’. Please see my blog for upcoming details.”
You can also read about the other nominated artists and the 23 artists selected for 2019.
Image: There’s nothin’ soft about hard times, Amy Richardson, University of Reading Degree Show, 2019.