Tag: Chinagirl Tile

2675. Cheltenham 2019 (24)

Consistently creative, hugely talented and generally just brilliant, Chinagirl Tile keeps on turning out the most incredible ceramic installation pieces time and time again. This clever combination piece for the Cheltenham Paint Festival 2019 features a ceramic tile girl spray painting a child-like horse with blue spots. I was lucky enough to catch up with Chinagirl Tile when she was putting this piece together – it was all a little tense as she was running low on the bonding material for glueing the tiles to the wall. While we chatted I managed to sneak a picture of her plan for the piece, and I have to say it all turned out pretty much as she had imagined it.

Chinagirl Tile, Paint Festival 2019, Cheltenham, September 2019
Chinagirl Tile, Paint Festival 2019, Cheltenham, September 2019

I think that Chinagirl Tile is unique amongst street artists in that I don’t know of any others who make such elaborate and artistic original tiles of this type. There are many installation artists, but none who do anything like this.

Chinagirl Tile, Paint Festival 2019, Cheltenham, September 2019
Chinagirl Tile, Paint Festival 2019, Cheltenham, September 2019

The girl is made up of about fifteen or more separate tiles, each perfectly crafted, glazed and fired and pieced together seamlessly. It is a painstaking process but one that yeilds such fabulous results. And… you’ve got to love that monkey on her shoulder.

Chinagirl Tile, Paint Festival 2019, Cheltenham, September 2019
Chinagirl Tile, Paint Festival 2019, Cheltenham, September 2019

At festivals, Chinagirl Tile consistently remains one of my favourite artists and any town anywhere in the world would be uplifted by one of her beautiful tile installations. The best part is that they tend to remain intact for several years, for people to enjoy.

2453. Cheltenham 2018 (2)

Whether it is a large piece or a small one, Chinagirl Tile never ceases to amaze with her imaginative and often slightly subversive ceramic tiles. I think this must be one of my favourites and I loved it from the first second I saw it. Created for the Cheltenham Paint Festival 2018 this striking dinosaur piece takes centre stage in one of the town’s car parks.

Chinagirl Tile, Paint festival 2018, Cheltenham, September 2019
Chinagirl Tile, Paint festival 2018, Cheltenham, September 2019

The dinosaur is enormous and one of the larger pieces I have seen by Chinagirl Tile. It is genuinely a fabulous work of art and Cheltenham are lucky to have it as a piece of public artwork. I cannot imagine how long this might have taken Chinagirl to design, fashion, glaze and fire, let alone bringing it over here from Austria where she is based, but it was definitely worth it.

Chinagirl Tile, Paint festival 2018, Cheltenham, September 2019
Chinagirl Tile, Paint festival 2018, Cheltenham, September 2019

An additional part of the overall piece is a ceramic listing of ‘rules for girls who want to become street artists’ with the words ‘BRING A DINOSAUR’ written over the top of it. Skill, charm, wit, placement, patience, dedication… this piece has it all. Bravo.

1762. Upfest 2018 (56)

One of the more unusual pieces at Upfest 2018 was this absolutely wonderful tile installation on the gates of the Tobacco Factory by Chinagirl Tile. As the years go by, her work becomes more and more ambitious, and this ceramic Giraffe is certainly the largest work I have seen from this Austrian (international) artist.

Chinagirl Tile, Upfest, Bristol, July 2018
Chinagirl Tile, Upfest, Bristol, July 2018

The incredible giraffe is entitled ‘it’s a zoo up there’ was funded by the Austrian Cultural Forum London and BMEIA, and that got me thinking that her work must be rather expensive to produce and that funding and sponsorship must be an important factor in her ability to work. spray can artists probably don’t have the same kind of overheads.

Chinagirl Tile, Upfest, Bristol, July 2018
Chinagirl Tile, Upfest, Bristol, July 2018

Unfortunately I don’t think I have been able to do this piece justice, mainly because when I took the pictures, the sun was directly behind it. I think this is a wall that needs photographing early in the morning or in the evening. If you look closely, you can see the individual tile sections that are placed together to make the whole. I guess this is for ease of modelling and firing as well as transportation.

Another unusual feature of this piece is that the head of the giraffe is 3 dimensional, not a flat tile that one expects from Chinagirl Tile. I really love her work and am proud that she has chosen Bristol to play host to several of her pieces over recent years.

1231. Leake Street tunnel, London (5)

One of the pleasures of writing about street/graffiti art and seeking out new sites is finding something there that you recognise. Feeling knowledgeable about something is very empowering and comforting, and we could all do with a bit of empowering and comfort from time to time.  For me this happened when I saw this Chinagirl Tile piece in Leake Street just before Christmas.

Chinagirl Tile, Leake Street, London, December 2017
Chinagirl Tile, Leake Street, London, December 2017

I have always had a soft spot for her work, and this very dangerous bunny is one of my favourite tiles she has produced. There is one in Bristol that I blogged about last year. I noticed that of the numerous ‘street art tourists’ who entered the tunnel from this entrance, none that I saw stopped or appeared to notice this rabbit, such was their eagerness to descend into the bowels of Leake Street. For me, street art is not just about the blindingly obvious, it is about subtlety, style, class and placement, much of which is lost on many people. This links to a theme I have mentioned many times in Natural Adventures, and that is that many of us look, but don’t see. Look harder and you might see a rabbit clutching a grenade. Watch out!

China Girl Tile, Lime Road, Bristol, February 2017
China Girl Tile, Lime Road, Bristol, February 2017

 

1071. Upfest 2017 (77)

This is what you get when two mischievous artists collaborate, each with their own inimitable style. When Chinagirl Tile and Angus got together at Upfest this year, they produced this rather special piece which arguably was the most controversial of the festival, causing offence to some.

Chinagirl Tile and Angus, Upfest, Bristol, July 2017
Chinagirl Tile and Angus, Upfest, Bristol, July 2017

The raccoons are by Chinagirl Tile and the mosaic hand gesture is by Angus. Unfortunately the piece in its original state didn’t last too long at all before it was ‘redacted’ with some black tape.

Chinagirl Tile and Angus, Upfest, Bristol, August 2017
Chinagirl Tile and Angus, Upfest, Bristol, August 2017

Not long after that, the hand was completely replaced by yellow tiles, and the piece has really lost something. I will leave you to judge which version of this you prefer. For my part, this work challenges the ‘sanitised’ art you tend to get at festivals by being provocative and edgy, which is where most street art and graffiti art has its roots. Some really interesting perspectives being played out here.

Chinagirl Tile and Angus, Upfest, Bristol, August 2017
Chinagirl Tile and Angus, Upfest, Bristol, August 2017

I like the original, but I would wouldn’t I.

1027. Leonard Lane (12)

OK, so I know I have already posted this cheeky little rat before, but that was in North Street and this one is in my favourite Leonard Lane. I really am a bit dense sometimes…it has taken me until now to get the joke. The reference in the piece to Banksy relates to his signature rat that he used in many of his early works, and there is me thinking this was a squirrel. Thick, that’s me.

Chinagirl Tile, Leonard Lane, Bristol, August 2017
Chinagirl Tile, Leonard Lane, Bristol, August 2017

Chinagirl Tile really seems to get around Bristol when she comes for Upfest, which in my view is a pretty good thing. This rat is down the dingiest lane, the perfect spot for it, and will not have been seen or noticed by too many people. Still more to come from this brilliant ceramic specialist.

 

 

962. Jamaica Street (11)

This wonderful group of radioactive deer is another ceramic delight from Chinagirl Tile that was left here on the eve of Upfest. I have said it many times before, but one of the biggest pleasures of Upfest for me is seeing an influx of new work from ‘out of town’ artists refreshing areas all over the city.


Chinagirl Tile told me about these deer at Upfest, and she said that the orange radioactive symbols on the deer rumps matched the wall, which was good fortune rather than design.


As always from her work we have an uneasy edge between nature and humanity. Radioactive deer are threatening, where deer are endearing. The galloping movement instills a feeling of panic or fear. In my view this is a very powerful piece.


Unfortunately some scoundrels had already tagged this piece by the time I got to it with blue markings on the deer faces. Annoying, but fortunately not so destructive that the piece is ruined. This is a ‘must see’ piece for anyone visiting Bristol.

938. Upfest 2017 (12)

I love the whole idea of our beautiful wildlife being a little bit subversive, and nobody creates this edginess between cute and dangerous better than Chinagirl Tile. Her last two visits to Bristol for Upfest have seen her decorate the streets, not only in Bedminster but also in Stokes Croft with her anarchic ceramic creatures.

Chinagirl Tile, Upfest, Bristol, July 2017
Chinagirl Tile, Upfest, Bristol, July 2017

This is a rather charming little squirrel claiming to have stolen Banksy. It is nicely located on a wall surrounded with greenery. It rather blends in and will be missed by many passers by. You have to keep your eyes open.

I have several other Chinagirl pieces to post about from this year’s festival.

629. Lime Road (1)

I love surprises, and this was one hell of a surprise. I took a lunchtime stroll down North Street, because I knew there were some new pieces, but only caught sight of this one on my way back. What a find.

China Girl Tile, Lime Road, Bristol, February 2017
China Girl Tile, Lime Road, Bristol, February 2017

Of course, it is a bunny with a grenade by the amazing Chinagirl Tile – I have always wanted to find one of these, but to have one in Bristol is simply amazing. The new piece is only a street away from the amazing foxes and soup tin she installed for Upfest 2016.

China Girl Tile, Lime Road, Bristol, February 2017
China Girl Tile, Lime Road, Bristol, February 2017

Chinagirl Tile is always a very welcome visitor to Bristol, and I hope very much she will be returning soon. Let’s hear it for the wabbits.