This film ‘Links’ (2023) was made from a virtual painting that was created collaboratively with a group of young people during my stint as Digital Participatory Artist in Residence at QUAD Gallery in May. We used Quest 2 headsets and Multibrush software. This allowed us to paint virtually in three dimensions within the same virtual space. During this residency I set out to explore the possibilities of virtual collaborative abstract painting, first experimenting and finding our individual aesthetic, and then following simple painting instructions that I call ‘painting scores’. For ‘Links’ we collaboratively chose to paint with the ‘Toon’ brush, and then the simple instruction was to create hoop-like marks, in whatever colour and size you prefer, and to link your hoops with that of your fellow painters. Then once back in my studio I experimented with background colours and different film paths and film speeds in Open Brush software to create the ‘Links’ film.

Alison Goodyear is an artist, independent researcher (PhD 2017, UAL), and freelance educator based in Bedfordshire in the UK. Initially, her art practice involved working as an abstract painter, using physical paint on canvas. This practice has evolved to include what can be better described as working on painting and drawing in the expanded field, testing what it is we understand as painting and drawing today. Her works have been screened, exhibited and installed both nationally and internationally. More recently, her virtual 360° film ‘Painted Space: The Rose Palette Expanse No.1’ (2022) has been selected for the Montreal International Animation Festival in September 2023.

Further information and works can be found on instagram @alison.goodyear or: www.alisongoodyear.co.uk