June 2014 Review

 I have managed to stay on track with my time planning chart.
I have found that I am actually working longer than the suggested 17 hours each week, as I have finished my own teaching. But I have found it important to take some time out regularly to do something completely different. This re-energises me to have fresh ideas. The pin hole photography that I did for fun is an example of this. ( Post: Pause for Thought 29.05.14)
I have found that the 'project control' time originallylset out in weekly slots seems to happen almost every day. I am glad that I put in a 'margin for error' which has given me breathing space.

More Feedback

I posted the image below on Facebook with some explanation,  and asked for some feedback. Some of the comments were:

'Love it /Hate it!' I hate snails too!'

'Beautiful Decay'

'Beauty in Detritus'

' I love the overall effect and the 3D element, but is that meat? Yuck!!'

'You feel pulled in to the image, but then you want to get out again!'

These comments show that I am now moving in the right direction as I aim to draw in the viewer with a seductive, colourful image; then 'hit them' with nasty things!

This image contains:

Rotten fruit= illness, deterioration

Snails= Attack on my garden

Meat and bones= Mortality

Grey hair= My ageing

I realise that until the viewer is aware of the objects in the image and their meanings, which are very personal to me, they will not understand the message contained in it.

So for my final exhibition, I will have to think about how to inform the viewer of the subject of each image. I think this could be in the form of a catalogue, or samples of each element with an explanation. But I will have to think very carefully about how I present this information,  as I do not want to distract from the image itself and I want the right message to be read.

All my Shit!

The subject of my final Major Project seems to be evolving into 'All the Shit in My Life'
I have chosen objects that symbolise hurt, irritation, anxieties I experience and manipulated them into calm symmetry. Perhaps like Louise Bourgeois I am using my art as personal therapy. By controlling my vexations and trapping them forever into conformity in my image, maybe I will gain more control in the real world??? So this image could be called 'My irritants' or 'All My Shit'

The objects in this image are:

Bottle tops, cork wire= Alcohol addiction

Cigarette butts= Nicotine addiction

Glass bead= Loss of loved ones and friendships ( once a string of beads is broken, it is rarely fixed)

Tablets=Mental health issues

snails= My plants being eaten( sounds less important but annoys me every day!)

meat, bones= Mortality and physical decay, pain.

WWII plane broach= Death of my great uncle in his 20s in a Spitfire

Doily= Trying to make everything O.K, Presentable, normal

This image is not as perfect as I would like as when I selected and cut a section to multiply , the two sides were unbalanced. But by repeating the same processes, I will make it perfect in the end. Either that, or I branch off in a new direction.

Printing onto Silk

I like the idea of pushing the theme of my work a bit further whilst learning a completely new process.
If my images were printed onto the soft and delicate surface of shimmering silk fabric, the seduction and attraction element would be exaggerated further. The fact that the fabric is so touchable and alluring also has the effect of drawing the viewer towards it. This would then contrast abruptly with the discovery of the objects and realisation of their meaning.
I went to visit Lisa Hill in the 2D studio and she gave me a thorough and detailed introduction to the processes involved. Although she gave me a printed sheet of instructions, she was patient enough to sit with me at my laptop and advise me on how to prepare the image for printing.

When learning a new skill, if I was just handed a sheet of information like this, I would be disinterested and not inclined to read it. But as Lisa gave me step by step instructions, I have learnt the process perfectly and will be able to do it again in the future, using the written information as back up.

I had to make sure my image was in the form of a TIFF file in RGB maximum 8 bit.

I set the resolution at 300 dpi.

The printer can handle a piece of fabric up to 150 c.m in width, but you have to allow for a 3c.m border on both sides. So I sized my images to 130 in width. The length is not an issue, as you feed a continuous roll of fabric in.

There were further instructions about the overall process of printing onto fabric using reactive dyes.

But instead of just leaving me to read and try to follow the instructions, Lisa got me to go through the different stages myself while she instructed me. This is the best way for me to learn new skills as I definitely learn by doing-kinaesthetic learner.

Once the fabric had been printed,it has to be wrapped in calico and put into the steamer for about 45 minutes. This reminded me of the fish smoking huts on Hastings beach!

When it came out of the steamer, the pattern still looked quite 'orange' in tone, but that was because there was excess dye in it.

After steaming to fix the dye, the fabric is washed at 40 degrees. I felt very nervous at this stage; it is hard to believe that such seemingly delicate fabric can be so robust! 

Out of the washing machine, and the fabric felt lighter and more fluid-I started believing this was going to work!

I left it to dry over night, came back the next day and ironed it flat. I was so nervous of using the iron on the silky fabric, but again it didn't seem to mind!
I laid the fabric on the workbench and cut the two images apart using a steel ruler and magic pen markers which fade to nothing in about 10 minutes, so you have to work fast.
 I really enjoy practical tasks like this. I like the sense of putting my own physical effort into it.

Walter Benjamin in 'Art in the Age of Mass productionXXX talked about how an original work of art possessed an 'Aura' from having been touched by the hands of the artist. I felt that I was creating an aura for my pieces by carefully smoothing, caressing, and ironing...

Once the fabric had been ironed, it was slippery and quite difficult to handle-quite fluid. This worked well with the theme, being hard to control and get in order.

The next task was to hem the top edge, leaving a space to pass a wire through it for hanging on display.

I have done a lot of sewing in the past, making clothes for myself and my children. It was very therapeutic to sit quietly sewing, adding more of myself to the piece.

Once tacked in place, I hemmed the edge on the sewing machine.

Again, this experience re-kindled old skills I thought I had forgotten, but it was rewarding to realise that it came back to me quite  quickly. In fact, this was quite a positive experience as I have felt pretty stupid trying to learn digital skills so slowly since the start of the M.A. This was more empowering and satisfying,  as I was doing something I am better at.

Once completed, I rolled the pieces and packed them into a carrier bag. 

the song came into my head…"Pack up your troubles in your old kit bag and smile boys, smile…'

That WWI song is so full of pathos as the soldiers sang it  marching to the trenches and probable death. 

I was packing up all my shit, beautifully represented on silk and putting it away for a while. That did make me smile. I never thought I would get to the stage on this course of study where my work and my life crossed over and intertwined, but it seems to have happened. Many artists, including Louise Bourgeois and Yayio Kusama, two artists I respect, have talked about this use of personal life experience and how the process is a form of therapy. perhaps it will help me?

UH Degree Show June 2014

There was lots of inspiring work at the Degree show this year. I know that the technique of multi- faceting an image as I do is very popular at the moment. I have had to come to terms with that. I just hope that my work has my own original meaning woven in.
In the Art therapy room there was some work that has a similar message to mine. Sarah measures had taken very delicate moths' wings, arranged them like specimens on the backing paper, then sewn them down in a row with an electric machine.

In this image, slits have been made in each wing, which has then been carefully stitched up in red thread. it reminds me of Frankenstein's monster. Perhaps the comment is on man's manipulation and adaptation of nature?

There is a sense of nature being controlled and laid out for inspection; of wings that are for flight, representing freedom and escape, firmly held in place trapped on the page. The edges of the wings are battered and frayed as if they were battering against their captor in an attempt to escape. There is a powerful message of how it feels to be trapped and have to take on life's responsibilities and give up out carefree lives. That may just be me!

In my own work I am beginning to get more personal and self-analytical by including objects that have a powerful significance to what holds me prisoner or annoys me in my life.

      Snail Plate 2014

On a white tablecloth made by my grandmother, I set out a leaf full of snails collected from the garden.
Every morning I go on snail patrol, gathering the little irritants from my plants and dumping them in the woods at the end of our road. They still manage to destroy some of my favourite plants overnight!
I like the effect of the clean white cloth, the pure white orchid, which has come to represent my positive life force, then on closer inspection the snails on a leaf they are eating through. My thumb is in the image as I was pushing a snail back on who was trying to escape.
In the same way as Sarah, I am trying to control nature and in this case what irritates me. I have not physically trapped them, but I have manipulated them into my own symmetrical design where they become aesthetically pleasing and frozen into symmetrical conformity.

I take inspiration form as many sources as possible, so the degree show with all the different creative  expressions was so useful!

Amy Brook
Is a surface pattern designer who graduates from UH this year.
Her work begins with a simple sharp photograph of tree branches against a clear sky. She then manipulates the image to produce a delicate symmetrical, multi-facetted pattern.
What Amy's work has shown me is that the original image can be a simple on with only one or two elements to it. Once the manipulation is done a new intricate pattern evolves. It seems stronger for the use of one simple clean original design.

The subtle colour changes in the sky add a beautiful backdrop to the branches. I also love the way the branches intertwine, forming a mesh, a network of fine lines.

Here the pattern created by the leaves and branches against the sky look like a detailed and delicate embroidery. I have found that what  is really important is the original section of the image that you start with. That has to be strong and interesting to create a good final effect.

Sasha Balkin

This artist is an illustrator; I found her work very inspiring. Sasha has created a set of beautiful, well observed watercolours of endangered species. Her message is subtle, but powerful. Depending on the degree of danger of extinction, Sasha has shown the skeleton more exposed. So the Rhino, and Tiger for example, is almost completely bone.

                                             Sasha Balkin(2014) Endangered

What I find inspiring is the hard hitting, stark message encapsulated in her beautiful, delicate watercolour studies. They have powerful impact.

It would be great to produce work with a lasting impact like Sasha's. That is why I need to look at simplicity and direct  impact.

Zhenyu Lim

This graphic designer made a series of pattern designs based on 'Britishness'.

The symmetry and sense of order in this work appeals to me.The central image is based on the British breakfast, with the component parts stylised and arranged into a repeat pattern. You can see the fried egg in the centre design and perhaps fried tomato and bacon too. I love the sense of humour in Zhenyu's work; it makes me smile as I recognise individual components in the pattern.
This is similar to the experience I want people to have of my work. I want there to be a slow realisation of the individual components hidden in the overall pattern. Once the eye has separated out cigarette butts, for example, the images becomes a mass of different symbols rather than a coherent whole.

On first glance you might see an attractive balanced, repeat pattern. But on closer inspection, you might pick out meat, blood a fly and some golden hair? Once these components have been isolated by the eye and brain, it is difficult to fuse them back into the amorphous whole. This is irritating and perhaps unsettling-which are the kind of responses I am aiming to evoke.

Art Psychotherapist
You have to go on tiptoes to peep in to the scene that has been created inside.
These mini dioramas create a sense of anticipation and wonder. With the use of light and perhaps a different way of presenting my images, I would like to evoke a similar sense of joy and wonder.