CuratorSpace Artist Bursary #11: Jonathon Beaver

Jonathon Beaver is an animator, embroiderer and arts educator based in Liverpool. He uses traditional crafts, particularly textiles used to mark family occasions and decorate homes, to evoke diverse family units. His practice often stitches and blends language, words and motifs that connect, root and bind us to places and to memories.

"Recently, my work and current projects have taken on a new line of enquiry - perception - what society’s viewpoint of the LGBTQIA+ community is. In this ongoing series of 'Perception' I challenge the notions and stigma of what it is to be an acceptable 'gay'. Whether, to survive day-to-day, we perform and mould ourselves in our jobs, to our families, friends, lovers and the general public. Am I being me? Are we there for camp, comedy value, to entertain; a safe distance from heteronormative society?

I am exploring this through the creation of large scale Meccano pieces to address the idea of gender roles in relation to materials. These works and their methods of construction reflect growing up in the early 90s with toys that perpetuated perceptions of what it is to be 'male'. I have investigated these ideas previously through a number of works, blending textiles and embroidery with plastics, clay, wood, and more recently Lego. These materials are often cheaply sourced through upcycling, swapping, and repurposing childhood items."

You can see more of Jonathon's work here

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