Our Term 2 review ended with us filling out an exhibitor form with a view to writing a statement about our work with our new understanding or ideas, presumably. I struggled to write mine but in the end managed to do a decent job I feel, however the crit showed me that I don’t always understand my work so outside perspective can sometimes be very helpful.
| My self-directed study explores play, space, and limitations with a sensitivity to materials and the curative process. Composition is a core element of my work as well as interaction, not just between the components of the work but also between the work and the individual. I focus on intrigue and intuition when starting and try to let autonomy guide me through combination and experiment with getting the right effect from a material or a motif. I like to also play with colour to highlight or create a relationship as I see it between things, connections have been a concept central to my work as well as modularity or unity; the sense of the whole being just as valuable as the sum of each of its parts. I have also tried to adopt a playful approach to experimentation and failure to stop fear from limiting my work, in addition to current situation and limits. There is a clear contrast in the forms of the objects I have made; the yellow and blue tones, the harsh squares and soft circles, vibrant colours and muted tones, domestic materials displayed (in theory in) natural environments. Most of the forms are also balanced or suspended as opposed to fixed or deliberately grounded, they’re held together with tenuous bonds in precarious ways. They are also unspecific in that there is no clear or concrete definition of what is going on with each thing or why. I think this contrast is intended to play with tensions and relationships between things, I also wanted to communicate a sense of naturalness, in the sense that they’ve been made authentically and you can understand how they have been put together. I have also had feedback that this is the case, and although the work is not specific, the thought process is visible and feels familiar. Perhaps the work speaks to the shared sense of ‘searching through confusion’ we’re all experiencing at this time. The work seems to reflect a conversation, with different individual parts communing with each other to convey a meaning, which for me can sometimes only be understood after they have been made. Corey Archangel has a similar practice in which he is sometimes the last one to know the connection or context of his work. I feel this level of unconscious or passive engagement is helpful to allow honest communication to flow, which can then be altered to suit a need for the artist, viewer or community etc. Daniel Buren’s Within and Beyond the Frame and Ugo Rondinone’s 52 windows were both suggested as contextual references for me. Rondinone’s use of vibrant colour and surface are similar to my work, perhaps I could emulate his large scale & installation style. Buren’s concept of taking art outside the studio is definitely something I want to continue to explore further, by taking materials to a site and making a specific piece or installation. I was also influenced by Eric Bainbridge and his process; he takes a curative approach in some ways and is more concerned with the overall relationships rather than specific details. I also want to carry forward David Medalla’s methodology of having work be directly informed by personal experiences, for me this could be using materials I find myself or taking silhouettes and themes from interactions or moments that happen to me. |