the perks of being

Friday, 17 April 2015

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

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

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.

Wednesday, 11 March 2015

Barcelona Travel Photography

Sagrada Familia

Park Guell

Semester Two: Resistance

At the end of my first semester of university, I went on a city break to Barcelona. This city is clearly one of architectural beauty, everything here is art. But one of the things that really struck me there was the political resistance throughout the city. Whether this was graffiti on a wall about capitalism, announcements of debates, or the symbol of anarchy scratched onto the door of a toilet in the basement of a restaurant, the city is full of politics.

This idea of resistance is really interesting to me, and to my current work- both politically and physically. I may be an activist at heart, I might have set out on an art degree with the plan to change the world. I get excited whens someone gives me a leaflet about a march that's happening, and I share petitions across my social media accounts.

I've started making small sculptures, about the size of my hand, inspired by political protests and the idea of resistance. But I want to see how much these can resist- what if I hit them with a hammer, will they still hold together?

Can I mix the plaster with wire wool? Will it still stay on the wooden structures?

I'm playing around with these shapes, materials, ideas.

Monday, 24 November 2014

Sheffield Institute of Arts- Semester One

In my Fine Art practice I have begun to look into the political situation affecting my hometown- the Rotherham Sex Abuse Scandal. This hit national headlines over the summer with the release of the Jay Report and since their have been numerous protests from far right extremist groups.

I began simply by asking questions, leaving the scribbles in.

During my streams workshops I was set a never ending drawing, where I wanted to look at other peoples thoughts about Rotherham. This was overwhelmingly positive, with people defending the town. This is something I have noticed within the town, particularly in events such as love comes first.

From this I created another piece, building upon what people have written with drawings. I aim to continue this piece, building it up and up and up.

Photograph: Rotherham Town Centre

Photograph: Rotherham Town Hall

Photograph: Rotherham Town Centre

I have now begun looking into political protests more generally, looking at the structures used in more radical protests. During my sculpture induction I created this cardboard sculpture, inspired by photographs in the book Disobedient Objects from the V&A show.