BARE | 2023
BARE COLLABORATORS
Amy Eyre
Artist, Producer
Amy Eyre is an artist, performer, producer, and dramaturg based in Leeds. Amy is currently studying for an MA in Creative Writing, exploring visual arts and poetry. Over her university study, she has gained both student and professional experience within the arts sector. Amy was Co-producer of The Lincoln Company from 2021-2022, and this year she co-assistant directed the company’s newest show RECRUIT alongside LaPelle’s Factory’s Ollie Smith. The show performed at Lincoln Arts Centre in June and toured to Nottingham’s Nonsuch Studios in July this year. She is an avid coffee drinker and music lover.
Eyre’s work mediates a personal event by using a digital form to explore the complex topic of ‘distance’. Using Tv screens from the 2000s paired with modern Bluetooth headphones, the work creates a temporal distance and contemplative space for the audience. There is no particular order to watch the films. The audio and films are looped so the audience is free to rewatch and traverse amongst the work as they please. The audience can create their own way of navigating the material. Nonetheless, a great sense of distance, uncertainty, and longing stalk Eyre’s work. This exhibit is both laying Eyre’s memories BARE and laying them to rest.
Influenced by artists such as Philip Ridley, Michael Pinchbeck, the vacuum cleaner, and Stephen Emmerson, the work invites the audience to have a close moment with the material exhibited to find possible connections and associations. Much like a detective in a serial drama, the audience is on the hunt for ‘clues.’ In the middle of the work is a red box filled with old photographs and documents, which the audience is welcome to sort through as ‘evidence.’
With a background in drama and theatre, Amy Eyre is a multidisciplinary artist who is currently experimenting with making and developing visual work surrounding grief. Her current piece, Behind the Baby Gate, combines digital, audio, and found material to investigate how processes of grief are formed. Autobiographical themes are often explored in Eyre’s practice through different mediums such as performance, visual art, and object poetry.
BARE COLLABORATORS
Ben Wright
Artist
Benji Wright does not hide from questioning harmful, yet widely accepted thoughts, provoking any negative preconstructed ideals through open dialogue which is generated by his work. By exploring taboo issues such as queer identity and mental disorders, he aims for the audience to consider the struggles of those different from the social norm.
​
Wright adopts a multidisciplinary approach but takes inspiration from artists such as Nan Goldin and Robert Mapplethorpe, who show an unfiltered realness within their work. Naturally, this influences his desire to produce honest work that does not shy away from showing the truth, critiquing the social norms surrounding him. He asks the viewer to not only reflect upon their own experiences but also consider others,’ creating an environment upon which the audience and communities can build.
Wright’s current project aims to spotlight the male experience of eating disorders, a condition traditionally only associated with the female gender under the mainstream eye; this has led to many men being denied support for their condition. This impact has led to many developing an unhealthy relationship with food and those who have chosen to stay close to them. Wright is experimenting with using biographical accounts and his own experiences, which has led to candid and open dialogues between himself and the audience. Using this method, he hopes to generate honest conversation with the public to help break the silence on a heavily stigmatised condition and to build better support around the people it affects.
BARE COLLABORATORS
Burcu Güney
Musician, Artist, Writer
Burcu Güney is a multi-disciplinary artist whose practice involves performance, writing, and music. With a background in musical theatre, she passionately weaves songs, plays, and poems together, constantly exploring the boundaries of interdisciplinary storytelling.
​
A distinctive aspect of her work is her speciality in voice, which infuses her writing with a rhythmic and performative tone, creating a naturally dramatic narrative. Rooted in a profound social consciousness, Güney’s creative work often delves into political themes, seeking to convey broader social stories through the lens of personal struggles. She fuels her creative exploration with an insatiable curiosity about distinct cultural and historical elements. Fearlessly embracing exaggeration, she seeks to unveil the unorthodox, aiming to challenge norms and inspire contemplation through her art.
Her art installation for the BARE exhibition, titled Cover Letters, is a poignant exploration of the emotions entwined with the relentless pursuit of recognition during her initial year in the UK. Through this piece, Burcu Güney weaves themes of resentment towards the overwhelming burden of contemporary womanhood, challenging capitalist standards that stifle artistry and creativity, and confronting the spectre of prejudice and xenophobia.
BARE COLLABORATORS
hazyn forsythe
Poet, Artist
hazyn forsythe (they/them) is a poet and artist whose work centres around mental health, neurodivergence, and the sapphic and queer experience. their past work focused mainly on the written word; their first solo poetry collection, i think this feeling is hope, was published in august 2022 and they were featured in the student anthology, Monstera.
​
now, hazyn blends the models of poetry and art, delving into works of installation, videopoetry, and sound poetry. their piece within BARE combines the installation poem with dollhouse craft, taking inspiration from hazyn’s memories, family background of collecting and craft, and their personal interests in fairytales (particularly works by the brothers Grimm), mythology (particularly ancient Greek), and folklore
BARE COLLABORATORS
Tyler Barker
Visual Artist
Barker is a performance artist and videographer who captures glimpses of everyday life. Her work frequently explores themes of intimacy, created space, and closeness. This is fabricated with the help of her participants through storytelling. She uses her interest in sociology to explore the concept of personas, and the barriers we create regarding our perceptions of reality.
​
There is a voyeuristic thrill behind her art; her stories often draw inspiration from intimate moments in her everyday life, relying on performative action to instil a sense of belonging and trust. She uses her work as a tool to invite viewers to witness her version of reality. Priding herself on getting a true depiction of those involved, Barker sees every piece as a collaboration and an opportunity to make something beautiful and representative of those involved.
Barker is predominantly influenced by two artists, Nan Goldin and Duane Michal’s, drawing from Goldin’s ability to capture a raw and intimate atmosphere and Michal’s cinematic structure to grip her audience with ambiguous narratives. She takes pride in her ability to deconstruct a linear timeline and reconstruct a story to fit her version of events.
Barker’s current projects investigate her relationship with her parents, as a child from a working-class background, and her experience growing up in a split household. She is using her work to regain the control which was absent during this period, taking the narrative once fed to her by her parents and reconstructing it for them.