Oxford’s Dionne Freeman talks about art at Cornerstone in Didcot and her exhibition there which run until Sunday

I am a freelance artist from Oxford who focuses on the constant evolvement of mark making (the different lines, dots, marks, patterns, and textures we create in an artwork), and the exploration of surfaces and space.

I approached Didcot’s Cornerstone because I wanted to put together a show that focused on the changing space there, how they all link and weave into one another. I wanted to create an all-consuming space constructed of drawings and have done for a long time.

Inside Out is the result, after a long-term residency with Cornerstone, where I observed and recorded the different spaces, their functions and how landscapes, both interior and exterior, become intertwined.

The residency has culminated in a series of works; Oxfordshire landscapes, city views, people, interiors, as well as those within Cornerstone. The work explores the need to make connections with the recognisable, using traces, fragments of places and spaces to rearrange these and formulate the familiar.

During my residency, I have observed all aspects of Cornerstone including sketching at staff meetings, show set ups, the café, workshops, performances and the building itself. I also watched how others viewed Cornerstone, during drawing workshops. I was interested in capturing the fabric of Cornerstone and the settings and experiences that I felt interwove into its scenery. The residency also included workshops where people were invited to contribute to the drawing – students from Meadowbrook College, a pupil referral unit in Marston, and an open drop-in which included children and adults.

During the project I have also had my first child, so creating a large scale work while heavily pregnant and putting together a drawing installation with a baby, has provided me with a new perspective on my work and it’s purpose. I had to work quickly and decisively!

A big part of my practice is working with others and making art accessible. I feel passionate about the power of creativity to unlock new ways of thinking, from communication to confidence. I am currently am tutoring on the artist teacher scheme at Oxford Brookes and have set up a gallery and arts centre Visionz at Meadowbrook College. More than anything I believe everyone has an inner artist waiting to be discovered.