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Having had a few goes playing around with painting as a medium this is the first piece I have done with a set goal in mind. I wanted a light hearted look at the romantic interplay between fantasy and reality, of depicting dreams of escape and beauty. Really enjoyed doing this and I definitely think I will be using painting as a tool in the future. I am excited about combining it with other mediums as I think that it adds to the feeling of layering that I enjoy so much. By the way the dress in the self portrait is a vintage, lace wedding dress (1940’s) that you will no doubt be seeing more of – it’s a beautiful thing!
Glass Slipper (2008). Acrylic, colour photocopy, and glitter on canvas. 14x11 inches
detail from painting - photocopied self portrait with glitter
Self taught artist Joseph Cornell (1903-1972) is famous for his exquisite boxed works. His work makes me think of carefully preserved memory boxes, each referring to an experience, a person or a thing that had captivated him.
Untitled (Paul & Virginia), c1947-1948; J.Cornell
I find the poetry and Victorian sensibility of Cornell’s works very visually appealing. Robert Motherwell said of him, “his work forces you to use the word “beautiful”, what more do you want?”
a coffee cup - i think about you
i talk to friends - i think about you
the evening ends - i think about you
i dim the lights - i think about you
Last week I submitted an application to Axis Art - if you haven’t seen their website you must check it out, it’s a fantastic place to view current contemporary art. Putting together a statement describing the themes and influences on my work was a really valuable exercise. Its helped to solidify ideas about what is important to me and identify the role of narratives/storytelling in what I produce.
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Bargate Monument Gallery
The second thing I have been working on is a joint exhibition proposal with Dean Melbourne. We have applied to exhibit at The Bargate Monument Gallery - a great space in Southampton city centre. When making a telephone enquiry about the application process on Friday we were told they had nearly completed the allocation process for the six 2009 exhibition slots. The final decisions will be reached this Tuesday so we had a tight 24 hour deadline to get a proposal together! We did, its good, and it was delivered to them yesterday so we shall see!
Our proposal is for a show entitled “7Stories” and will provide the viewer with opportunity to engage with narratives suggested through the interaction of assemblage, painting, and installation. It will be an exciting way to combine my work that has feelings of romance and nostalgia with Dean’s paintings/drawings that explore drama and intensity.
In putting together these two applications I have surprised myself at just much all this means to me and how badly I want these opportunities. I will find out about both within the next two weeks and their is certainly the potential for a lot of disappointment as well as for a lot of joy. I’ll keep you posted!
Been thinking about the use of text in installations so thought I’d have a play around today with different methods of transferring text to see what variations could be achieved.
original printout
This is the original text that I printed out. The font used is a old typewriter style that I found online. I had been thinking of buying an old typewriter from ebay to get this effect which would be more authentic so i may still do that one day.
Below the text is transferred onto board using emulsion. I quite like this, especially having the textured background of the paint. This may be useful for transferring text onto old wooden objects but i think I’d want to do something to make the paint look more aged first.
transferred with emulsion
pencil and rubber, then edited in photoshop
Next I tried getting the outline of the text using carbon paper and then drawing on top in pencil, rubbed part away at the end. I liked the idea of this more than the outcome. But when I played about with the contrast of the photo in photo-shop I did like the effect of the dissapearing text.
Finally transferring text onto marbled paper using cellulose thinner. I included a photographic image of myself as well this time. Again I prefer the more dramatic effect after altering the contrasts in photo-shop but then you are back to having a printed out image, all be it an altered one, which I think I was trying to move away from lol.
transferred with cellulose thinner then contrast enhanced in photoshop
thinner transfer
The self portraits transferred well using the thinners. I quite like both effects – the first a gentle almost ghost like image using a soft tool to transfer, and the second like a scribbled sketch by using a sharper tool. Anyway fun to have a day of experimenting!
thinner transfer
Sophie Calle is one of France’s best known conceptual artists. When her lover broke up with her via an email she used it to create a fascinating piece of artwork. The work was titled Take Care of Yourself (after the boyfriend’s parting words) and filled the French Pavilion at the Venice 2007 Biennale.
Sophie enlisted 107 women to analyse the breakup letter according to their profession—so that a writer comments on its style, a justice issues judgment, a psychoanalyst studies his psychology, and so on.
The aspect that I found really interesting was the wall of video footage she displays in which different women read, sing, and act the letter out. Screens are diplayed side by side and on top of one another each and the result is incredibly impacting visually. I think what I find moving about it is the universality of the pain of rejected love being expressed by women in all their differences. Something about the uniqueness between us all and yet the common, universal threads of emotion and experiences in life that tie us all together.
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