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Swing__Project is an ongoing dialogue through painting between two painters, @josiejenkinsartist and @ulafungstudio

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‘Two Minutes’ is a Q&A exchange in which we we ’swing‘ between the roles of asking and answering. The two-minute limit grew out of a conversation about how much you can actually say in two minutes, and became the framework for the project. by @swing__project

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15 days ago

We are pleased to announce that we will be having a joint exhibition at the Williamson Art Gallery @williamsonart_ in Spring 2027.

The exhibition will bring together new paintings and related works by Josie Jenkins @josiejenkinsartist and Ula Fung @ulafungstudio developed alongside a period of regular discussion, shared studio visits and ongoing exchange in the lead-up to the exhibition.

More details to follow.

Credit to @garethmorton.portraits for the third photograph taken in Williamson Art Gallery & Museum by @swing__project

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5 months ago

Swing__Project is an ongoing dialogue through painting between two painters, Josie Jenkins (@josiejenkinsartist )and Ula Fung (@ulafungstudio ). The project unfolds as a series of exchanges in which painting becomes a form of conversation.

Its process includes collaborative works, responding to each other through paintings, living and working together during artist residencies, sharing studio space, engaging in real conversations, and exchanging letters.

Through both painting and sharing on social media, the project also explores a series of questions and reflections around painting.

From May to July 2027, these works will be presented in an exhibition, accompanied by additional extended readings. Please stay tuned. by @swing__project

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7 months ago

Ula asks:

During your artist residency in my studio, we talked a lot about whether beauty is subjective or objective. I completely disagreed with you at first, but now I think we’ve reached a solid middle ground. Could you share your perspective on this again? by @swing__project

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2 months ago

Last week I undertook a one-week residency with my artist friend Ula Fung @ulaula129 in her studio at Spinners Mill in Leigh, staying at Ula’s house also. @spinnersmillleigh is an extraordinary place — well worth visiting if you are not already familiar with it.

Ula and I have known each other for around eight years, during which time we have informally exchanged ideas, shared work and had all sorts of conversations about art and the art world. But each time we spent together never felt long enough to get deep into the topics we loved touching on. Our @swing__project is the formalisation of the process we already started and this residency marked the beginning that deeper exchange of ideas.

During the residency we talked at length about how our work relates and differs and about concepts in painting that we both agree on and partially disagree on. Our agreement gives a strong basis of shared understanding, so that we can really drill down into the places where we differ and then stress test each other’s ideas. I found this whole process with Ula incredibly worthwhile.

Alongside this, there were ongoing conversations with other artists based in the mill, usually inspired by the ideas Ula and I were thrashing out.

As we move forward, part of the @swing_project will take the form of a structured written conversation shaped by agreed constraints - responding to one another in turn within set parameters and over a defined number of iterations. More on this to follow.

During the residency we worked on printmaking together. Ula shared her press and introduced techniques that have opened up new possibilities for how I might develop this work towards resolved pieces. We also made an initial collaborative print - an idea we expect to return to and develop further. Ula worked on compositional ideas for a large painting that she was about to start work on.

So now it’s my job to reciprocate with an organised visit for Ula to Liverpool. by @swing__project

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7 months ago

Josie Jenkins | Artist Statement for
Swing__Project

I work primarily in oil, acrylic, and ink, on canvas or paper, choosing the support and medium according to what best suits each individual artwork.

I have always sought a sense of visual harmony in my work and pursued forms of beauty that seem to correspond to human intuition — the kinds of visual relationships that people have long responded to instinctively — balance, elegance of composition, colour relationships and spatial harmony. My paintings are grounded in that framework, even when they introduce moments of disruption. At times I allow shifts in scale, spatial inconsistencies, or elements that slightly disturb the internal logic of the image, but these never push the painting so far that it loses its overall sense of unity.

Like many contemporary figurative painters, I’ve continued to work with painting, drawing and figuration since leaving art school, maintaining this commitment despite the strong emphasis on conceptual practices and abstraction that has dominated much of the art world in recent decades. However, I have inevitably been shaped by the expectations and pressures of the period in which I was trained and have lived, and my paintings reflect that reality. I’ve always felt that my work was a quest of discovery — asking which subjects are worth painting and drawing attention to. As a result, it has varied quite widely over time.

My attention has more recently expanded to a broader search: what makes art meaningful and what makes it great? My current emphasis is on exploring human themes that endure, while remaining attentive to the ways these themes are expressed and experienced in contemporary culture. by @swing__project

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7 months ago

‘Two Minutes’ is a Q&A exchange in which we ‘swing’ between the roles of asking and answering. The two-minute limit grew out of a conversation about how much you can actually say in two minutes, and became the framework for the project.

Josie asks
Ula answers by @swing__project

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3 months ago

‘Two Minutes’ is a Q&A exchange in which we ‘swing’ between the roles of asking and answering. The two-minute limit grew out of a conversation about how much you can actually say in two minutes, and became the framework for the project.

Ula asks
Josie answers by @swing__project

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3 months ago

Ula Fung | Artist Statement for Swing__Project

I primarily use Expressionist oil painting as my creative method, with printmaking and sketching as auxiliary tools for comtemplation. My work often drifts between the semi-figurative and abstraction.

My recent works have led me to rethink what the language of painting truly means to me.

In the era we live in, we are accustomed to breaking everything down into fragments. This state, instead of providing clarity, feels even colder and more isolating than a single absolute centre; we find neither answers nor hope.

Art has become secondary and “functional,” and consequently, the traditional value of painting has been diminished.

I intend to re-explore the uniqueness of painting specifically as its own language. This does not mean I am ignoring Postmodernism as a whole. On the contrary, I plan to start from Postmodern texts to explore the hope and various possibilities extending from them – including emotion, love, and body language – combining the multifaceted nature of these symbols. by @swing__project

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7 months ago