Multi-disciplinary artist Sally Anderson studied both MSc Psychology and PGCE at the University. She became interested in the UN’s plan for sustainable development during her studies and this led to taking part in Sustainable Sunderland which explores climate and ocean literacy and sustainable practice. Sally also had concerns around plastic waste from arts practice such as pen lids and paint tubes, so she began research options for small scale recycling and found Precious Plastics.
Sally then found Buinho in Portugal which is well equipped Precious Plastics lab. With the help of the Brian and Mary Archer Scholarship Sally was able to accept a place on the residency programme and the scholarship would help support the flight cost to Portugal “I was overjoyed to be accepted into this residency programme, which welcomes artists at all stages of their careers from all over the world. I arrived in mid-November, and met my fellow artists, who came from California, Belarus, Israel, and Canada, with long term programme volunteers and staff from France, Germany, and Portugal, and practices ranging from 3d modelling to bronze casting, painting, and projection mapping. My housemates were focused on climate change, natural disasters, and birds, so we had some very fruitful if sombre conversations about the environment and the overlaps in our work,” said Sally.
“Working with the plastics was difficult in many ways. The Buinho staff gave me an induction but in the spirit of exploration and learning by doing, I was mainly on my own to learn and make mistakes. My first attempt at working with the extruder machine ended with a rather ugly blob, but I quickly found myself experimenting with using forms. I deliberately didn’t bring many arts materials with me to try to move away from my usual ways of working, and I found myself rooting through a scrap heap behind the studio looking for shapes to use as forms, whereas at home or in a city I would have been tempted to order something online. One piece I found was a terracotta plant pot with a large chip out of it. I used this as a form but also decided it deserved a second chance, so I painted it with an image inspired by the lovely church at the top of the hill in Messejana, and the cacti that grow in the surrounding hills, and gave it to the project volunteers as a gift”.
Sally went on to say, “I would like to sincerely thank the Development Team and the Archer Fund for funding the travel expenses for this residency. With out this funding I would have relied on credit cards for my travel, which as a sole trader on a variable income would have been quite stressful. As well as the financial impact it is also incredibly validating and inspiring to have others consider my ideas and avenues of research to be worthwhile, which is invaluable in keeping me motivated and accountable.”