Defragment: To reorganize separated fragments of related data into a contiguous arrangement.

5th Base presents an exhibition of 7 artists exploring contemporary, mixed media bricolage.

Lizz Brady . My work was founded due to a mistake when taking a standard photograph, it is important to concentrate on that mistake because it is an integral part of my practice, with failure, errors, and disappointments being typical to my life This particular mistake could be turned on its head and used to produce art. The outcome is damaged and flawed, reflecting views towards myself. The photographs portray my existence and the mundane moments that go together, whether they are of beauty, irritation, misery or pure elation, they are captured to document that those mistakes and failures we make can be turned into something intriguing, and needed.

Sandra Chung is interested in the use of colour to create textural patterns with paper. Her works require many hours of repetitive physical action while remaining highly focused, a skill that she has developed as a practicing ballet dancer. Chung shapes the paper using a technique that physically traces the Couru (a ballet step) with her hands. “The Couru reflects the physical space between form and discipline through a robotic repetition of tearing and weaving-like movement. The physicality of paper has been transformed into a 3-dimensional pattern.”

Luis Elvira depicts scenes from everyday life on furniture from everyday life. Using doors as the base surface for his current series of paintings, his works perch on the borders between what is real, what is not, what is created and the potential of what can be imagined. Other works utilize fridges, appliances and other fixtures as surfaces on which the artist paints domestic scenes which themselves feature the painted item, reinforcing the link between subject and media.

Kerr McKilwraith ’s current practise is based primarily on his recent experiences of Nordic landscapes, and influenced by the floral decorative designs of William Morris & Co. Aesthetically, the works aim to create idyllic locations from the mind of the artist, “for me the piecing together of various Icelandic and Norwegian backdrops creates a perfect spectacle.” Kerr McIlwraith is a British artist currently living and working in Kingston Upon Thames.

Neus Torres Tamarit . In a world full of information coming from diverse media, a world in which our private lives seem to disappear into the public realm of the internet and facebook, Neus Torres Tamarit’s artwork tries to reflect the small details that make our lives different. Working in a style sometimes likened to that of the Arte Povera movement in the early 1970’s, the finished works have an intentionally nostalgic appearance through which the artist expresses the need for an unrestricted, personal space.

Ben Wynne-Simmons ’ work blends surreal and supernatural imagery with everyday events and objects to create visions and spectres of magic realism. The works employ the tools of fictional stories, personas and landscapes to infer a context that is broader than the transient moment shown. The visual cues provided allow the viewer to superimpose their own meanings, connections and narratives onto the captured instant. The works use the fidelity implied by photographic documentation to cloak alien or fantastical subjects with a sense of believability. Wynne-Simmons balances the implausibility of the image with the faithfulness of the medium. The scenes are presented on rough-edged textured surfaces to further emphasise a sense of viewing altered states detached from the surrounding reality.

Jess de Zilva paints symbolic images of emotional conditions. Her figures are placed in raw, empty spaces, abandoned derelict buildings and ruined streetscapes, all of which hint at former liveliness and history. Tragic heroines are often drawn in symbolic poses with their outlines expressively distorted, the artist emphasises that her subject matter is rarely anything physical. De Zilva’s more recent works focus on the power of mental and/or emotional dependency in relationships, our interconnections with fellow people and our environment, aiming to capture the clashes or voids between these personal worlds.