Painting Artist Statment

The inspiration to my works originated from the links between mental illness and creativity and the outcomes of the links between them. It was a subject that I found really interesting and wanted to bring it into my work. I started to develop the theme of obsession and the compulsion to make or control something by creating repetitive and very obsessive circle drawings with biro, on reflecting on these I decided that without realising I was controlling a situation that was developing within the drawing until I felt comfortable with it. I wanted to develop this idea and concept so I started using ink to create unpredictable shape that I could then control with the obsessive circles. I felt these worked very well, but I wanted to introduce paint and came up with the idea of provoking unpredictable marks by folding the canvas material up and then painting a series of circles on it before opening it up and controlling it with the circles.

For my final body of work I decided to build the paint circles up until they covered the whole background before making the decision on adding the circles, however the amount of circles on there balanced out the uncontrolled and I felt comfortable leaving it without adding any more to it. The terms work as all about making the work comfortable and controlled enough to leave it with me feeling confident about it. The paint allowed me to become more controlled than the ink did with my mark making which to me allowed me to take my work to the next level of development and it became a lot more successful to me.

Throughout this work I have been heavily influenced by the Japanese artist Yayoi Kusama who now lives and works in Japan with a mental illness and her use of repetitive marks was a great influence on my work. Her mental Illness makes her see Hallucinations that she then reflects in her work to ease her mind. I have looked at a great breath of artists to make sure that I get a good diversity in me work such as Kara Black, Niki de Sant Phalle and Agnes martin. My work this term has been constant developments of the last one, the each lead onto each other some didn't work as well as I hoped, but they lead me onto the next development.

When I developed my concept I wanted to create something that completely gave me peace of mind that was balanced and controlled to the point where it need to be, by creating this work it has actually made me realise how controlling I am in everyday life and what my response is when something isn't how I want it to be.

Drawing Artist Statment

The inspiration for my drawing project this term started with looking at people's movement in different situation that they didn't realise that they are being watched and photographed. I started by taking a series of photograph in busy places at the same position to track peoples movements. From these I did very quick drawings keeping something's constant in the pictures and the movement in the figures. I did these on a small scale but kept the figures constant, the drawings had a ghostly feel to them as I have drawn them on tracing paper and have then layered them on top of each other.

I have then developed and experimented with the different media such as charcoal and inks to see what worked best and to give me a spring board on what way to take my project.  I decided to go with a simple figure that always worked on the same scale in relation to the paper it because it looked quite powerful and bold, but it had no sole and feelings to it. This was something that occurred to me when I was taking the photographs even though all these people look normal, but very different I knew nothing about their lives or how they were feeling. Everyone in the photographs had a generic walking face.

This was something that I wanted to show in my work so I started shading in the figure that I had developed several times a day depending how I was feeling. This worked well so I decided to do some large scale works. For my final development I have drawn out fifty figures and have passed them around different places such as my flat, studio, work and home to get people to shade them in depending how they are feeling. The drawings that I received back where all really interesting and varied and truly reflects what people are feeling. Throughout the project I have been heavily influenced by Henri Michaux and Ellen Gallagher because of their use of tone and shape, but also the ideas behind them

Evaluation of Work and Assessment Presentstion

Assessment Presentation

I am going to present my fifty pictures on the wall because I think that is my most effective piece and it sums up my project. I am then going to present my video on a disc because i don't want to project and enlarge the image because I think that increasing the size will distort it I like the scale of it on the computer screen.

As the drawings are on the wall the rest of the work will be in piles on the floor and the disc will also be on the floor.

This is how I will present my figures

Evaluation of my work

I think that my Drawing project this term has flown quite well in terms one thing lead to another development and then the next. I think that I have managed to keep a good concept and to put it into context quite well compared to last term. I really like the way that my work looks this term and I really like my final piece because I think that the audience will find it a challenge to figure out what it happening in it.

I think that I have managed to produce a reasonable amount of work and have enjoyed doing something that I wouldn't usually do. There were many different routes that I could have taken this project, but I think that I chose the most interesting one. I have enjoyed trying out different materials to draw with and being really lose with the drawings and not having to think about it much and being really expressive with my marks. 

I liked experimenting with different people's drawings and identity, I find it really interesting subject and I would like to do more work on it next year in my main projects. This term even though I have explored quite a few different artists I think that I could have gone into more depth with my research, but at the time I preferred doing more artists and less depth, but I think that next year I should try and find a happy medium between the two as I don't feel that I have the balance quite right.

My Final work

The fifty drawings on the wall

After last week I have come up with the idea of drawing loads of figures then handing them out to people with the instruction to shade them in however they wish with Biro, marker, pencil, graphite or charcoal. So this is what I have been doing this week, I have collected all the drawing up there is 50 in total and put them up on the wall.

The idea is that every person who shaded a figure in gives the figure an identity weather they realise or not. The idea was that I wouldn't realise who had drawn each one and it would be anonymous, I have collected the drawings from different places; in the studio, at work, my family and flatmates. This was so I got a varied response from people and even if people where together when they drew them they would still be slightly different.

I think the experiment worked well and when you see them all up on the wall together you can see that there are some similarities with some of the drawing, but everyone is different in some way. I find them really interesting because it's hard to see what people where thinking when they were doing it and if they realised what they were doing. I have been looking at Ancient Egypt art and Atsushi Tawa to help me create this last part of my project and my film.

I have then made a stop motion film of all the drawings which worked really well. I think that I am happy with my project now and I just need to decide what I'm going to present for my final assessment.

my stopmotion film can be found at

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RVYjIjkS4Wo

Evaluation of my work and Assesment Plan

How I plan to present my work

Presentation for assessment

I have been looking at how I'm going to present my work for assessment, I have selected the works that I like best and I am conscious of overcrowding the walls which is what I have been known to do, but I don't want to go to much the other way and have not enough on there. I have practised this in the space that I am having for assessment the only difference is that the walls will be 8ft rather that 6ft tall so I will just have to re centre what I am presenting so it's at eye level and in the middle.

I have selected these works for two reasons the first is there my most recent, but the second is I feel they are my most successful as well. I think they all look good together and work as a series that they were made in. Obviously they two large canvases are a pair and they will be in one section and then the paint sculpture will be spilt over two boards and then the last board will be the three small paintings that run in a column downwards in series. I think by presenting these three you can see the development, but also you can clearly see which one is the final piece.

Evaluation of my work

I think that my work this term has flowed quite well and you can see quite clearly where it has come from, it has come a long way from my initial research on different types of mental illness and the links between mental illness and creativity. I have developed my work a lot and have pushed it to go further, I have created several bodies of work that you can clearly see the developments from.

I think that I have done well to try out different ways of working and different methods in my experimenting. My work had got progressively better throughout the project. I have done a substantial amount of artist research to help both support my work and to further develop my ideas throughout my project.

However I think that I could have maybe done a bit more in depth artist research, the research that I have done it just a summary of the parts of that artist that I am initially interested in. I think that also in the start of my project my ideas where a bit ropey and I could have used the three weeks at the start of term in a better way than I did and then I would have been more on my way when teaching started. I think I have learnt a lot this term about putting my work into context because I didn't do that last term and I got marked down for it so hopefully that is something that I have defiantly improved on this term.

What has been important to me this term is realising what my work is about and playing around with it and finding different ways that I can put my ideas across through different methods and ways. I have developed a process which my work is made in and have kept it consistent. It is exciting that I still have many ideas and I can take them forward into next year.

My Final Body of Work

Gloss on Netting- 60 X 50 X 20 Cm

This week I have also been looking that the artist Karla Black who uses material and everyday objects to create these really interesting sculptures, I find them interesting because of their simplicity and they look really elegant as well. As my paintings I did last week are just on material I thought that I might as well have a go at controlling the use of line and shape by taking it back to how the painting began with the folding. I have just taken some of the visible creases and refolded them while they are fixed to the wall. It creates a really pleasing effect and I really like the way it comes off the wall, it takes it back to the uncontrolled process, but with the lines painted on it balances out.

Acrylic on canvas- 100 X 50 X 30 Cm

Acrylic on canvas- 150 X 100 X 30 Cm

I really liked this idea and thought that it worked really well with my project and I think that if I present these pieces for assessment I will present them like this. However this week I have created two more canvas' that are very large as a pair in the same way that I have been starting all my work with the folding process. I'm have to stuck to colours that will complement each other but have one light canvas and one dark so when they are sat next to each other they should balance against each other.

After I got to the point where the paint was ready to be controlled I stepped back from them and looked at them as a pair and I decided that the lines wouldn't really bring what I wanted them to bring to it and I looked back at my research into Dadaism and Fauvism and decided that the way that I was going to get it looking like how I want it to look is if I just added in small patched of colour in areas where it need to be controlled with a brush.

 I started to do this and it all started to fall into place how I wanted it and when they are placed together they balance each other out.

Acrylic on Canvas- Both 210 X 120 Cm

Karla Black

Karla Black

I wanted to look at Karla Blacks work because I have been thinking about turning my paintings into sculptures and I have been looking at the ways that I can present my work. Black uses everyday materials in her work, but also keeps traditional methods and values in the work. These are paints and natural forms that are created with the rest of the sculptures. The work has a great amount of aethstetic appeal to them.

The materials that she uses because they are things that are used in everyday life they are scented which when viewing the sculptures promotes certain feelings that occur in a normal day. These can trigger emotions and past experiences that the viewer has felt. Black wants the viewer to consider what the sculpture triggers make the view reflect on their past and how this has impacted them and how it continues to change their lives.

Her approach is said to be very holistic, the way the sculptures are put together is a very physical and expressive way. She has been very much influenced but the artist Josef Beuys which is very clear in her work. I'm very glad that I have looked at her work and I think that I will experiment with my painted material sheets to create forms to control the paint in a much more controlled way.

http://www.saatchigallery.com/artists/karla_black.htm?section_name=new_britannia