Words and images on identity, belief, history, and humanity.
Friend of field and water, born to an Autumn earth...
Marie-Louise Plum, b.1981 | Interdisciplinary artist, writer and mudlark. I work with museums, arts organisations and institutions including Royal Museums Greenwich, National Maritime Museum, Thames Festival Trust, London's Roman Amphitheatre, St. Paul's Cathedral, London Museum.
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As an artist, writer, and mudlark, I look to history to make sense of the present, and, possibly, guess the future.
My artistic practice is so enmeshed with my work as a river-scavenging mudlark that it is impossible to treat them as separate entities. One informs the other. Writing dances with both.
I'm an all-rounder; I paint, print, collage and draw, I write, make videos and collect. I enjoy blurring boundaries between traditional and contemporary methods, creating provocative works representative of the human condition, social history and sense of place.
Through my images and words I invite audiences to engage with a world they might be familiar with, but are yet to identify. Most importantly, I am asking the viewer to see, think, and consider - what looks different here?
I am particularly interested in signs, symbols and subconscious narratives. My works usually incorporate found items, such as artefacts, digital images and field recordings.
Most of my projects develop into long term, conceptual bodies of work, taking an initial idea across disciplines, to find resolution in an organic way through process.
Selected Exhibitions
2021 - 2025
Hands on History
Producing and curating exhibitions, events, walks and talks in the heritage and arts sector for national museums and institutions including London Museum, National Maritime Museum, Cutty Sark/Royal Museums Greenwich, City of London Livery Guilds, Emery Walker House, London's Roman Amphitheatre.
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2020
#VirtualVisions / William Blake Festival
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2019
Foragers of the Foreshore (as Old Father Thames)
Group exhibition, curated by Florence Evans
OXO Barge House London, UK
2018
Moore Plum - Paintings, Music & Things
Stash Gallery London, UK
Imitation Solero
Group exhibition, curated by Broken Grey Wires
The Soup Kitchen Manchester, UK
2016
Silver Linings
Group exhibition, curated by The Unseen Emporium/Victoria Tischler
The Koppel Project, London, UK
One Bare Foot Square
Group exhibition, curated by Uncooked Culture
Van Den Geest Hermitage Museum Amsterdam, The Netherlands
What Goes On In the Mind (as Mental Spaghetti)
Mental Spaghetti/AIMS group exhibition
Town Hall Gallery & Museum Oxford, UK
The Mind Machine (as Mental Spaghetti)
Group exhibition
Menier Gallery London, UK
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2012 - 14
Once Upon Again (as Pack of Wolves Collective)
New Folk Visionaries (as Pack of Wolves Collective)
Group exhibitions
Winns Gallery London Milkwood Gallery Cardiff, UK
2011
H A P P Y L A N D
Postcards Festival
Jacksons Lane Theatre, London, UK
2010
Space Made Live
Group exhibition curated by Small Media Large for West End Festival
The ArtHouse Glasgow, Glasgow, UK
Published Work (images and words)
2022/3
The Idler Magazine Issue
Mudlarks, Jason Sandy
The Searcher
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The Caterpillar Magazine with John Hegley Issue 7 Winter
2014
Thrill Murray Colouring Book for Belly Kids
Forest Fringe Newspaper for Forest Fringe
Big Team Scribble Colouring Book for The Scribble Project
2006
Le Monstre
Selected Performances
2017
Suburban English Magick
Durational live painting, poetry and audio installation
CCCA, Coventry
2015-2016
Roving Diagnostic Unit (as Mental Spaghetti)
Performance tour with Bobby Baker and Daily Life Ltd
Wellcome Collection, Shuffle Festival and William Morris Gallery, London, UK
2014
The Lights Are On
Durational live painting, poetry and audio installation
Fox Court, London, UK
2014
Running With Wolves (as Pack of Wolves Collective)
Masked performance tour Pack of Wolves
Stockholm Fringe Festival
2010
Mask!
Masked performances, site specific installations, UK tour
The Old Police Station, Deptford, London
Forest Fringe, Edinburgh
The Arthouse, Glasgow
Selected Teaching & Public Engagement
2021 - 2025
Artist Educator and Speaker
Working in heritage and arts sector, various venues including Cutty Sark, National Maritime Museum, St. Paul's Cathedral.
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2021
Greenwich in 50 Objects
Mudlarking and social history seminar
National Maritime Museum London, UK
2020
Freedom to Express
Series of workshops aimed at SEND children
Free Space Project London, UK
2018
'Fr-iction'
Guest lecturer, Visual Comms PHD group
Royal College of Art London, UK
Guest lecturer, Creative Arts & Mental Health
Queen Mary University London, UK
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2016
Diagnostic Portraiture
Drawing workshop for Daily Life Ltd
Vestry House Museum London, UK
Mental Fight Club
Panel guest, ReThink Psychiatry
The Dragon Café London, UK
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2014
39 Hoe Street
Drawing workshops for
The Big Draw London, UK
2013
Mental Health in the Media
Guest Lecturer, Faculty of Media and Communication
Bournemouth University
2010
Scottish Mental Health Arts & Film Festival
Illustration workshop
Glasgow, UK
Producer and Curator
2021 - 2025
Hands on History
Mudlarking Exhibitions and Events at St. Paul's Cathedral, City of London Livery Guilds, London Museum, National Maritime Museum, Cutty Sark, London's Roman Amphitheatre, Guildhall, Emery Walker House.
2017
Scratch The Surface: Dialogue (as Mental Spaghetti)
Arts Festival Curated by Collective//Pod, co-curating/producing London elements of this Coventry-based arts festival.
Herbert Gallery, CCCA, Fargo Village Coventry, UK
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Inside Out : Outside In
Exhibition of work from Medium Secure Unit residents
The Dragon Café London, UK
Press
The Idler
The Telegraph
NBC
London Live
BBC Radio 4
BBC Radio London
Beachcombing Magazine
The Seacher
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Painting of the Month | Chris Tosic/ Harry Pye, Le Document
Interview with Marie-Louise Plum | Juliana Vannucchi
Obras De Arte
'Creating Happy': About Mental Spaghetti | Laura Barton
The Guardian
The Mind Machine, exhibition Review | Judith McNicol, Raw Vision
The Mind Machine, exhibition Review | Colin Hambrook, DAO
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AIMS and Mental Spaghetti | Deborah Caulfield, DAO
What Goes On In the Mind, exhibition Preview | Oxford Mail
What Goes On In the Mind, exhibition Review | The Oxford Times
© marielouiseplum.com 2022