Window of opportunity

If you’ve ever wondered what really goes on inside an artist’s studio, The Hoxton Window project gives you the perfect excuse to unashamedly unleash your inner peeping Tom.

The project is a collaboration between Unit 9 studios and a series of visual artists who they have invited to use the windows of their Hoxton Square space in East London as a very public canvas for their creations.

Ryding at work
Paul Ryding’s window

The rationale is that not only will the artists get a brilliant platform on which to showcase their work; but it will also provide inspiration for the local creative community and, hopefully, amusement for the causal passer by.

Paul Ryding was recently selected to take part in the project, and follows in the footsteps of Jon Burgerman, the previous artist taking part in the project.

Jon Burgerman
Jon Burgerman

Burgerman says, ‘I had no plan, I had no thought, I had a pen and decided to take it for a walk. My brain is a mess, my mind a ball of spaghetti charged with tiny electrical pulses being generated by a team of termites on a treadmill. I put it all up against the glass, I hope it will delight and intrigue and not leave anyone aghast.’

Ryding adds, ‘This project was quite an undertaking at first. I’m normally used to the privacy of my drawing desk and working on cartridge paper. The busy location of the window was almost like a live performance on a scale and surface that I was completely unfamiliar with.’

Jon Burgerman's window
Jon Burgerman’s window

Ryding overcame his initial shyness, he says, through listening to ‘very distracting music and just focusing entirely on the nib of the pen.’

He explains, ‘It took me right out of my comfort zone, which was exactly what I was needed to get going. The fear then became excitement and I think I just ran with that.’

Ryding’s window dressing was a natural evolution: originally, the artist had intended to depict a figure in each window, but later decided a bold, abstract creation would be more eye-catching.

Ryding at work
Paul Ryding at work

‘It was a bit of a gamble using 10-foot windows as sketchbooks but it paid off’, he says. ‘Toward the end I realised the face on the left looked a bit miserable so I decided to do a big smiley face to balance things out a bit.’

The project welcomes all different types of art from illustration and graphic design to projections, paper craft or interactive pieces.

Ryding at work
Ryding at work

The Hoxton Window Project takes place at the Unit 9 studios in Hoxton Square, East London. For more information see http://thehoxtonwindowproject.com.

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