Current Artist in Residence

Husband-and-wife artist duo Amy Shackleton and Julian Brown will be in the studio from July 3rd to August 26th, 2024. The Canadian artist duo will engage in their first collaborative residency experience to combine their individual strengths and contribute to the dynamic art scene in London.

During their residency, Amy and Julian aim to immerse viewers in an experience that prompts critical reflection on the future of our urban landscape amidst the ongoing threat of global warming. Drawing inspiration from the architecture and natural scenery within the Southbank area, they plan to integrate local geographies into their work and leverage site-specific research to increase awareness and foster sustainability.

Utilising Amy’s traditional painting techniques and Julian’s expertise in Augmented Reality (AR) technology, the artist duo will combine their respective disciplines to create a new body of work that aims to immerse and engage viewers in climate change through a hybrid physical and digital approach. This installation will feature a large mural and several paintings on canvas, with AR environments that extend the imagery to fill the studio space. Additional AR components will be viewable 24/7 to guests and community members, encouraging reflection and interactivity.

Whilst in the studio, Amy and Julian will provide community engagement and participation opportunities, inviting visitors to observe their painting and AR processes on site. Committed to fostering a meaningful discussion and learning space, they also plan to give talks that offer an in-depth look at their techniques and inspiration. In addition to in-person engagement, Amy and Julian will take over the Contemporary Collective Instagram to reach larger audiences and share regular updates, progress videos, and
images of their work.

More about Amy and Julian

Visual artist Amy Shackleton and digital artist Julian Brown are a Canadian husband and wife team. After a decade of individual professional growth, they started collaborating on self-directed art projects. The birth of their children was the catalyst that pushed them to think about the future and inspired them to collaborate on work investigating climate change.

Shackleton and Brown combine painting with augmented reality to transport viewers into imagined urban futurescapes where cities and nature have become entangled. The scenes depicted walk the line between a utopian vision and a full-blown apocalypse. Humans are conspicuously absent, creating a tension that provokes thought for viewers.

Shackleton applies paint with squeeze bottles, manipulating the falling drips with water spritzers and rotating the canvas. Natural forms emerge out of this organic paint application, which mimics how gravity and rain erosion actually create environments. In contrast, her urban imagery is built with architectural precision. Dripping paint creates straight lines that are meticulously pre-planned using rulers and levels.

Brown uses AR to superimpose digitally rendered sculptural elements into the real world. This results in illusions of three dimensions that viewers can traverse and explore using a mobile device. As such, audiences can enter the artwork and, in doing so, introduce the missing human presence into the scenes. Some viewers feel the urge to play and interact within the digital world, while others become anxious when faced with the climate emergency.

Visit them in the studio from 3rd July to 26th August 2024

Open House

Art Yard Maker’s Studio has an open-house policy, so if you‘re visiting our neighbourhood’s major art galleries, Southbank Centre, Tate Modern or Hayward Gallery why not stop by to see an artist at work.