MARILYN J FONTAINE - ARTIST IN RESIDENCE - BLACK HISTORY MONTH 2024
Newham Based Artist Marilyn Fountaine
To mark Black History Month 2024, we invited artists and creative practitioners from the local and wider community to apply to be part of our artist-in-residency programme in October. We received a number of exceptional candidates, from which we shortlisted a selection and organised meetings to decide on our guest artist.
The open call culminated with Newham-based artist, Marilyn J Fontaine taking up the 10 day paid residency. The residency included time for the artist to use the project space to develop her own practice and to create outputs to contribute to the speculative archive.
We received a number of exceptional candidates, which were shortlisted and meetings organised, the open call culminated with with Newham-based artist, Marilyn F Fountaine taking up the 10 day paid residency. The residency included time for the artist to use the project space to develop their own practice and to create outputs to contribute to the speculative archive.
About Marilyn J Fontaine
Marilyn J Fontaine is an East London-based mixed-media artist who creates magical, intense and witty narratives with mystical overtones. The theme of her work documents the feminine aspects integral to her journey and are heavily influenced by the rituals and practices of Indigenous cultures and the connection of healing using storytelling and nature.
Included in the residency, Marilyn hosted a Sunday workshop to journey participants through a transcendent two-hours of storytelling and mark-making on maps of the local area, where participants are encouraged to weave connective threads that plot their personal cartographies in relation to their connections to the Newham area. This include a walk to Stratford Park and using crafts, including yarn, markers and paper, and storytelling to explore and talk through their personal and ancestral archives and family legacies with roots in Newham.
One participant said:
“I loved being part of it such a community spirited day”
Marilyn said about residency;
“The residency has been so beneficial to my development as an artist because it has given me the time and space to focus on my art without having to worry about money which is now a consideration being a full-time artist.
The residency has also afforded me the time to create a practice that was centred around my energy levels, stress levels and emotional wellness. This time to create and research was very important because the context of the work I produced often had triggering subjects such as racism, economic instability and classism.”
From the residency and workshops, audio and visual work was collected to share in the Speculative Archive, which will be available from this website from January 2025.
The Speculative Archive project is led by artist and programme facilitator, Sandra Falase, part of a year-long engagement programme at Alice Billing House, supported by the Creative Land Trust and Heritage Lottery Fund.
