Return to Painting

I would have always defined myself as a painter. 

What kind of art do you do? I paint people. That's me. I am fascinated by society, humans, the naked figure. But after a summer of painting nudes, very slowly, enjoying my freedom from A-levels, when I started my degree I wanted to do something completely new. 

I don't want to be defined as a painter. That was what I knew. I knew that I didn't want to paint anymore. Maybe it was because it was cold outside and I didn't want to sit in the shed I call a studio shivering as I painted, or maybe paint was just too expensive. 

So I made structures (sculptures??) from cardboard and tape, or sticks and string. They were inspired by protest structures, but almost came across as mystical tepee shapes, like the "cave" from the end of Melancholia. 

Melancholia Film Still

I loved wrapping up in my thick coat and getting covered in mud in the woods hunting for sticks. But then, the process of these sculptures almost ended. I didn't have a place to take them next. And I think that's because I didn't want to carry on making them anymore. They were inspired by resistance, by the inner activist in me, but they didn't say anything. 

And that was because I don't know what I want to say stuff about anymore. Sexism? Racism? Homophobia? The rise of the far right? Global poverty? War? Terrorism? The environment? And I realised that was what I wanted to say. 

Pencil drawing with plaster 

I want to somehow represent this confusion I feel. This mash of things in my head that I know I disagree with, but I don't know what to do about them. 

I wanted to keep part of the shapes of the original sculptures I had made, and kept the plaster material constant. But I needed to play around with how to do this. Could I mix something with the plaster to make it more attractive, or to give it a different texture? Or should I paint on top of it?

Water Mixable Oil Painting, Wooden Board with Plaster, Smashed Pot and Broken Mirror

Water Mixable Oil Painting, Wooden Board with Plaster, Smashed Pot and Broken Mirror

Water Mixable Oil Painting, Wooden Board with Plaster, Smashed Pot and Broken Mirror

 Oil Pastel and Water Mixable Oil Paint on Newspaper

I wanted to play with covering parts of the face up, pulling the newspaper from behind the face to in front of it. This obscures the face almost like the plaster did. 

 Water Mixable Oil Paint on paper with ink drawing

I then removed the writing from this, but keeping the painting almost as if unfinished. 

 Acrylic Paint, Coffee and Ink on Canvas

Acrylic Paint, Coffee and Ink on Canvas

Acrylic Paint, Coffee and Ink on Canvas

There's something about paint that's different to other materials. It seems so much more personal than sculpture to me. I love photography, film, installation, sculpture, but I love the process of painting so much more than all of the others.

I would define myself as a painter.