Alun acted as artist-in-residence for York Explore from September 2017 - December 2018. As well as producing two major, large-scale pieces (Let Us Satisfy Our Eyes, and Archival Activists), Alun gave lectures, many workshops to children and adults, and consulted on a range of artistic projects related to the library.
Working with the archivists at York Explore Library and Archive, the residency aimed to highlight the work and content of the archive through visual storytelling. The archive acts as a 'memory box' for the city of York. What is remembered in the archive becomes what happened in the city. You may search the Archive here.
The archive contains a significant collection deposited by the Knowles family. Three generations of Knowles family members were among the greatest of stained glass painters, working in the city for over 100 years until the mid 20th Century.
The first project of the residency utilized glass plate negatives, personal notebooks, and public documents as source material to create a new 'stained glass window'.
