My work, in context of the First Year Exhibition

First Year Exhibition Images

First year exhibition

So this was a painful experience. 50 people negotiating space and work, attempting to be objective. With work we all really cared about.
First time I didn’t want to be in college.

However, the question begs, what did I learn?

I write this post private view, pre crit, so there will undeniably be more, but the issue that has shouted loudly in my face is scale.

My work has pleased me as it has evolved, right up til the moment I walked into the triangle space. The relative enormity of the building in proportion to the relative miniscule nature of my pieces led to a whole new reality for them. I had not planned for them to be so relatively tiny. It changed something about them.

It put me in mind of Phyllida Barlow whose work I have been considering lately. She makes work for the space. Considering the space, I needed to show them differently, or make them differently. Their tiny size overshadowed the ‘one in many’ that I was looking to evoke.

In the scale of the studio, their scale was interesting an relevant. So the question follows, do you make work, then create a solution to show in light of the space, or make work in response to the space? Next exhibition opportunity may afford a chance to consider this practically again.

Form

This I the work of an artist in my studio, although I first saw the work in the ceramics room. The melting glass oozing from the form caught my eye and since encountering it I have not been able to escape it. The bulbous form caught and frozen in the moment of melting, the surface of the melted glass peppered with creamy flecks and the rigid stiffness of the concrete surround had me spellbound. The artist is Marmette Kaus, and her intention is quite different, an exploration equally valid, but somewhat less interesting to me. From the encounter with this wonderful work, I am reminded again how important form is to me, the curve, the rigidity, and the simplicity of form in space.

Sasnal @ white chapel

At last,an exhibition that made me want to stay all day, while simultaneously making me want to rush home and paint straight away.

I think a key piece of magic for me is the absolute respect he gives to the liquidity of paint.

In Sasnal’s paintings, there is no hiding from the reality that his paint was once liquid, that has dried. The movement of his brush across the canvas creates a trail that becomes something rather wonderful.

The other inspiration came from Sasnal’s colour palette. He has chosen the colours that he has chosen. A restricted palette of sorts, a palette of his choice for his purpose.

I have been thinking a lot about painting recently.

Richter and Sasnal have together reminded me how much i love the physical act of paint on surface. Both exhibitions have enchanted me with their use of figuration and abstraction, but I honestly could have feasted forever on the surface, image and sense of presence created by Sasnal’s paintings. The journey continues.

Polaroids

I love the magic of a Polaroid camera. I never tire of the anticipation waiting for the image to reveal itself. Of the eight images taken with the impossible black an white film, I have chosen four to put in the exhibition. These are mounted on reclaimed floorboards and rough timber from a palette.
In these two images, some Polaroid serendipitous happenings occurred, allowing accident to intervene in the creation of the image. The one on the left was not covered quickly enough so two thirds of it have been over exposed compared to the other third. The photo on the right has a mysterious bright spot in the top left quarter, created by some item pressing onto the fi, and a touch of over exposure in the bottom left corner.
These fantastic images have been mounted on reclaimed floorboards, hinting at the nostalgia in the image. Presence and absence are in the images, the forms taking on a mysterious narrative, suggestive of their past life.
In the exhibition these images will be mounted away from the forms, along with two more images.

Reject

This floorboard has been rejected from being in the exhibition. I love it’s suggestion of where the form has been, but think the Polaroids give enough, and more. This floorboard doesn’t bring anything new to the table, so ruthlessly is evicted from the collection.

More projects, perhaps Christmas fever??

Today me n the kids have been making gingerbread houses. The photo is not mine, but it’s the first 3 dimensional work that has allowed for colour on it. The dust is icing sugar not plaster dust, but I can see some influences from my work arriving in my home life!!!

Newsflash: Test clay out of kiln

So here it is. The first clay vessel from the kiln. After lengthy and tricky decisions over the glaze, I am pleased with the outcome. Echoes and speaks to the plaster ones brilliantly. And the Polaroid photos- could be either plaster or clay. A sense of history, presence and uniqueness. Sculpture still wins in the stakes of expressing myself with the greatest clarity, but I continue to work with both paint and materials, in the hope of finding my way.

First exhibition shows itself

It seems the first years exhibition has had an extraordinary effect on me. Or perhaps it’s not that extraordinary, maybe I’m just always impressed by the experience of learning.
You see, because of the looming reality of needing to provide work to be shown has helped my work pull together in a more coherent way. Surprise! Well, it was to me! I’m still shocked by the things that shape my work.

If the exhibition had. Of been there, the plaster forms would now be put away. The photographs might have stayed in my studio for a little longer, the. The ceramics would come out of their final firing and be a stand alone piece. However, because the plaster forms are still in the studio, when I brought my test ceramic back to my space, I noticed immediately how they reLated. They began speaking of each other, and to each other. They literally showed me their potential, and the rest was a matter of course.

So today I will write my exhibition proposal!