Florence Peake (UK, 1973)
Residency period: July-September 2020
During the residency I created a new body of work that included 15 paintings in acrylic and oil. I used methodology I have been using for a few years. At la Becque I was able to develop it to incorporate fantasy and fictional perceptions of the body portrayed in the paintings.
With dancers that I invited to the residency, we made two large-scale paintings that will double as a set for future performances (commissioned by the National Gallery London 2021). With the dancers I also experimented with research around kinaesthetic empathy and emotional states/range as telepathic technology.
I then started on two short films, the making of which is still in progress. One film was spontaneous and worked with the site of La Becque, specifically the willow tree on a stormy night on Switzerland’s National Day. The second film I created with a text written during lockdown in London, developing it into a 9-minute film.
I also developed a live solo performance piece (still a work in progress) that relates to working in an atmosphere/context of grief in times of Covid-19 and a performative lecture called The Breaking Spell that was performed over Zoom at an RCA symposium and for a workshop at the London Contemporary Dance school.
Florence Peake is a London-based artist active since 1995. In solo or with a group, she creates radical performances, often using sculptures and paintings that document the experience and the links created between the dancers, the audience and the place. The body, as a space and vehicle for protest, is at the heart of her work – along with political issues of freedom, anthropocene and the commodification of art. Her work was recently featured at the 58th Venice Biennale and at CRAC Occitanie in Sète in collaboration with Eve Stainton, as well as at the Palais de Tokyo in Paris, the Whitechapel Gallery and the ICA in London.
Photo credit: ©Julien Gremaud