Joanne Tatham and Tom O’Sullivan
No, this is the thing that has reached the limit conditions of its own rhetoric, 2003. Pen and ink drawing in a hand-made frame constructed from plywood and covered in artex, hay and black gloss paint. The Judith Rothschild Foundation Contemporary Drawings Collection, The Museum of Modern Art, New York. ©Joanne Tatham and Tom O’Sullivan
2003 was an important and defining year for me and my arts practice.
Early that year, at a seminar and workshop for development in visual arts practice, artist Joanne Tatham leafed through my portfolio. Joanne was my mentor. A month or so later I began what was to become an ongoing collaboration with Joanne and her partner Tom O’Sullivan. Our first collaboration was No, this is the thing that has reached the limit conditions of its own rhetoric.
An Indirect Exchange of Uncertain Value – I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m so, so, so, sorry! 2011. Etching, screenprint and monoprint. ©Joanne Tatham and Tom O’Sullivan
That 18 years of collaboration has helped develop my arts practice; the physical manipulation of media, the maturing of visual language, but not only that, it has led to other collaborations, with artists, designers and curators of high standing; these include Sarah Tripp, James Langdon, Jason E. Bowman, Jenny Brownrigg and a particularly exciting working relationship with musicians Georgia Mancio and Alan Broadbent.
How does an illustrator collaborate with contemporary artists?
This event held in the Mackintosh Library at Glasgow School of Art in 2010 was linked to my exhibition Lines of Memory at the school’s Atrium Gallery, and Tatham and O’Sullivan’s solo CCA exhibition Direct serious action is therefore necessary.