Rhiannon Windred

Hey! I'm an self taught artist who has been obsessed with turning junk into works of art. My practice really took off when I suddenly started collecting mannequins, or rather they would appear in my apartment mysteriously. One day when my partner walked into the bathroom and found a full bodied mannequin in our bath, he decided to have an intervention on the growing amount of mannequins in our home. So now, I have a studio and I paint them! Using what I learnt from studying graphic design and a life time of using art as a coping mechanism, I'm half way through my body of work called 'Discarded Bodies'. I paint, collage and stick things to thr mannequins and suddenly they have new life, new purpose and are less likely to be abandoned on the side of the road again (I hope!).I really love to share the passion of creating things, art is for everyone regardless of your skill level. To enjoy colour, texture and the creative process. With using mannequins as our canvas it opens up a different experience, as your canvas comes with its own shapes and unique potential. This raises questions on what you may envision, be it keeping in line with the form of the body in front of you or using lines and textures to turn it into something else.I love painting with my fingers, often I start with a couple of brushes but by the end my hands and fingers are in the pot. Unless I have other instruments to experiment with, like some dried flowers left over from my studio mate. There are no rules in how to make art, use fingers, flowers, brushes or a stick. Experimenting is so much fun and with a few basic fundamentals so many amazing things can happen!