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Photography (MA)

Rosie Plunkett

film contact sheet with annotations in red marker and images of the artist drawing with chalk in circles.

Rosie Plunkett was born in Newcastle UK, She graduated with a 1st class hons degree in Photography from Manchester Metropolitan University and currently lives and works in London. 




Degree Details

School of Arts & HumanitiesPhotography (MA)RCA2023 at Battersea and Kensington

RCA Battersea, Dyson Building, First floor

Black and white image focused on one tree in a forest, from the camera to beyond the tree there runs a cable release shutter.

“Touch is the most intimate sense of all. The whole sensitive skin is played upon, the whole body, braced, resistant, poised, relaxed, answers to the thrust of forces incomparably stronger than itself.”

“The hands have an infinity of pleasure in them… The feel of things, textures, surfaces, rough things like cones and bark, smooth things like stalks and feathers and pebbles rounded by water, the teasing of gossamers… the scratchiness of lichen, the warmth of the sun, the sting of hail, the blunt blow of tumbling water, the flow of the wind – nothing that I can touch or that touches me but has its own identity for the hand as much for the eye”

Nan Shepard – The Living Mountain.


Land is the axis of my practice. I am interested in how haptic interactions and indexical mediums can be used to represent different geological, topographical and ideological spaces. 

The use of analogue techniques and labour intensive processes emphasises the importance of being in touch with my subject and materials. This way of working is motivated by a belief that haptic making fosters ‘knowing hands’ which create a deeper connection between myself, artwork and subject. It is also a meditation on the increasing distance developing between ourselves and our natural spaces due to the rapid growths in technology within the last century.

My most recent body of work 'Perfidious Albion' explores the geological and historical foundations of land. Through methods of embodiment, action and tactility, I utilise chalk as a creative tool whilst also questioning the visual association it has with British identity.


Image of a large darkroom print hanging on a stone wall. The Print is of a chalk cliff face.
image showing a section of a circular drawing made with chalk on a black board. in the middle sits a lump of chalk.
high contrast image showing a circular drawing made with chalk on a black board.
Installation image showing a triangle section of a large darkroom print and a triangle section of a chalk markings on stone
section of chalk drawing on a dark stone floor.
Image of a large darkroom print hanging on a stone wall. The Print is of a chalk cliff face.
high contrast image showing a section of a circular drawing made with chalk on a black board.
chalk marks on a stone floor
hand written instruction that reads 'As you make a mark you must also wipe it away'
image of the bottom half of the artists body making a sweeping motion with her are I order to draw a mark with chalk.
Image of hands making marks on a blackboard with chalk, while one had draw with the chalk the other follows and wipes it away.
Image of hands making marks on a blackboard with chalk, while one had draw with the chalk the other follows and wipes it away.
Image of hands making marks on a blackboard with chalk, while one had draw with the chalk the other follows and wipes it away.
Image of hands making marks on a blackboard with chalk, while one had draw with the chalk the other follows and wipes it away.

In Collaboration with:

A collaboration between Yoichi Ishida and Rosie Plunkett.

Medium:

Gelatin silver prints. Chalk, chalkboard paint, plywood
actionschalkcollaborationdocumentationdurationfilm-photographygestureinstructionperformanceperformative-actionsseries
hand written text that reads "Draw only in circular motions until all the chalk is worn away"
black and white image of the artist, taken from above, shows the artist drawing circles that get progressively bigger
black and white image of the artist, taken from above, shows the artist drawing circles that get progressively bigger
black and white image of the artist, taken from above, shows the artist drawing circles that get progressively bigger
black and white image of the artist, taken from above, shows the artist drawing circles that get progressively bigger
black and white image of the artist, taken from above, shows the artist drawing circles that get progressively bigger
black and white image of the artist, taken from above, shows the artist drawing circles that get progressively bigger

In Collaboration with:

a collaboration between Yoichi Ishida and Rosie Plunkett

Medium:

Gelatin silver prints. Chalk, chalkboard paint, plywood
chalkembodimentgesturehappeningshapticinstructionlive-interactionmaterialityperformanceperformative-actionsphotographytraces
scan of sketchbook page, 4 images of chalk pressed into black paper, 2 images of thumbs and hands with chalk imprinted on them.
Sketchbook picture showing a contact sheet with red annotation, images of a cable release being pressed with hands and feet
Black and white photogram of chalk being crushed into 5x4 Negative
Black and white photogram of chalk being crushed into 5x4 Negative
Black and white photogram of chalk being crushed into 5x4 Negative
Large darkroom print folded into a sculptural form and re-photographed using expired Ilford F.P.3 Film
Large darkroom print folded into a sculptural form and re-photographed using expired Ilford F.P.3 Film
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Royal College of Art

Registered Office: Royal College of Art,
Kensington Gore, South Kensington,
London SW7 2EU