ARTIST STATEMENT

My practice deals with the interaction between artist and audience and the space in which this reciprocal exchange takes place. Working primarily in performance, there is an obvious interrogation into the physicality of this relationship, and my work values the live encounters and communication that it generates.   

Assuming the role of director, I often choose to work with a variety of cross disciplinary performers, including actors, dancers, sports commentators, singers and fortune tellers; all of whom become co-authors to the final product. This collaborative process is as important as the end result and allows my work to embrace the gap between intention and interpretation. 

My interest in theatricality and staging assimilates the exhibition framework and I often regard the private view as a metaphorical stage.  Drawing influence from Erving Goffman’s theory on individual performance in a social context, my practice explores the role of audience as actor and the consideration of all performance as a meta-performance. 

Through the meticulous choreography of a live event, my practice is simultaneously controlled and spontaneous, creating an experience that is all at once real and simulated and exploring the notion of contingency. 

BIOGRAPHY

Naomi Fitzsimmons (b.1989 London) is an artist whose practice explores the role of the audience and of staging in the live event.  She completed a BA in Fine Art with a first class honours from Chelsea College of Art and Design in 2013 and is currently half way through a yearlong residency as recipient of the 2013/2014 Chelsea Acme Studio Award.  Her previous education includes a year’s study at Universitat der Kunste, Berlin in 2012 (1st)  and a foundation diploma in Art and Design from Central Saint Martins in 2009 (distinction).  She has exhibited throughout the UK including Picture This Gallery, Bristol (2012) and at Camden Arts Centre (2012), as well as internationally in Berlin and Vienna.