Clutter!

Clutter! Clutter! Clutter! I was confused for ages on what to do in accordance with this project. At first I had the idea of doing my bedroom which was rather messy and covered in countless strips of white paper from cutting and contextual work. That seemed rather boring to do a print of and would probably look immaculate as a sculpture. So i decided just to check up clutter on the internet and research the meaning. Bingo! I came across a definition that suited me down to the ground:  Cluttered speech is a common term for speech that becomes broken down, cluttered, or unintelligible due to a variety of reasons. Cluttered speech is often described as hurried, nervous and broken down. Cluttered speech happens extensively with the speech disorder of cluttering, but is more commonly found in various disorders and especially in normal speech not associated with the disorder of cluttering.

An image immediately popped into my head. I decided to go with it and let it develop naturally. I used the white paper and placed strips in my mouth and took some photographs. These symbolized stammering or stuttering relating to public speaking and expressing oneself. I also sensed that it was almost a metaphor for the slang term 'Word Vomit,' which is defined as basically uncontrollably saying something you wish you had not. I looked in the mirror so as to see the camera reflected. This allowed me too have some control over composition. I was lucky that one of the four photographs taken was perfect! 

I edited it slightly on my computer to make it easier to translate as a drypoint etching and give me an idea of its appearance in its final stage. I did such things as heightened the brightness, contrast and deepened the shadows. I also played with the colour temperature. These are basic things that you do not even need Photoshop to accomplish. 

The resulting image reminded me of this infamous album and its rather striking cover: Madonna's Erotica. This was supposedly inspired by the work of Andy Warhol.

I also found this image which I like a lot. Just infusing some rather ultramarine tones can do an immense amount for an image.

Tracey Emin

I am a great admirer of Tracey Emin. Her art is brimful of substance and rather unstylist; it has a gritty, spirited nature. The only comparison that seems to do it justice is the following: It is similar to the misshapen objects ( I distinctly remember making my mother an ashtray) that a child would make for a parent in primary school but it is all the more special in its uniqueness.  

Here's an interview; Emin always provides interesting food for thought.

Käthe Kollwitz

I have become fascinated with this person's work. It is brimful of feeling and compassion. I am a particular admirer of artists who use their work as a means of trying to create social change or expose injustice; Kollwitz does this in such an honest and affecting manner that it is difficult to ignore. I love how in many of her prints she uses very violent and graphic lines that read as very basic but have an immense visual power. Her figures swim in complete darkness and seem to emerge like ghostly effigies. She uses chiaroscuro dramatically but her images don't seem like heightened, deformed comments on the human condition. They just seem truthful and candid.

Animal Farm!

These images play on the idea of the silhouette. They refer predominantly to traditional silhouette portraiture. This stemmed from my interest in shadow play and such. They depict the profile of a female; I distorted her to give her the unmistakable features of a pig. I was inspired to do this by reading a the text of Eretica: The Transcendent and the Profane in Contemporary Art. The text of the book commented on a piece by Jenny Saville entitled Suspension. It depicts the bloodied carcass of a boar. 

What i found engrossing was the comment the author made on our appalling attitude towards pigs (and perhaps animals in general). He denoted how we used the word 'Pig' as an insult yet we are willing to use their organs as a means to keeping us alive through transplants. This enlivened my imagination and the image just appeared; it regards how their in a space between the animal and human world, between species. By giving the girl the physical components of a pig I am bridging that gap, I am playing with space and denoting its negative aspects. 

I quite like the colours used. The sky blue and strong pink bounce brilliantly off each other but give a rather synthetic feel to the prints. These colours do not normally collide in nature so they create a rather dreamlike effect whose success depends on the eye and taste of the beholder. I always like to thing they represent opposites in a sense; Blue denotes a boy at birth, pink indicate a girl. Space between the sexes? Perhaps, Perhaps not. I did not spent ages deciding on the colours. I just randomly chose them in a quick manner. I wanted to see how they correspond to each other. The use of green works surprisingly well also. Pink and green complement each other (just about) so they heighten their impact when placed together. The blue induces a sense of coolness into pieces seemingly predominated by warm tones. 

I think the image itself is rather weak. In retrospect, I feel I could of done more with it. It is too basic too be visual engrossing as a print. Its flat nature seems rather graphic and almost intrusive on one or two of the prints. It seems like too images cobbled together in many respects. I sense that I should of taken a more realistic treatment and perhaps prepared a drypoint etching. I could of easily used multiple and complex versions of the pink to describe a pig's skin and made an effort to describe texture. I could of even printed on a flattened football as early soccer balls were made from inflated big bladders. 

More of mine!

I paint self-portraits because I am so often alone, because I am the person I know best.

Frida Kahlo

This image is the result of about six different printing processes. I kept places colour on the plate at random using a cloth to make interesting strokes and streaks. I am liking how i used darker hues for shading. The background works surprisingly well in  my belief. The colours seems to integrate to create an harmonious yet somewhat gritty, repulsive air. I really feel experimentaion with colour had an integral part in this project for me.

This is a print on 3D graph paper that I happened to buy on a whim in HMV some time ago. I am glad that it came in handy. 

I printed this image in paper I had used in semester one. I had applied bleach to the paper by using a sponge and also by throwing it vigorously on it. This caused this pale yellow stains that are surrounded by an ethereal green glow.  I particularly like how the application by sponge makes a mark that seems like bacteria seen through a microscope. I decided to print on this just to see how it looks. The line that seems to divide the face reminds me of Henri Matisse's The Green Line. 

Modigliani as Muse!

I produced these images today. The idea stems from the notion of space in relation to human relationships. The print depicts me staring directly out to the viewer, It is very uncommon for a person to glare at another person. People tend to find this ignorant, intimidating and uncomfortable. I found this concept fascinating. It seems Western people seem to shy away from certain contact that may breach the outer ego they display.  We shy away and are mistrusting of intimacy in many respects. The human seems to be in a constant performance, we are actors in a play. However, I have noticed that children do not do this. They seem naive to the notion of reputation and appearance; they simply do as they please. They are more open.

The red print is a monoprint. The image was transferred from a photograph with permanent marker. I edited the photograph to make the light and dark contrast more dramatic and the image more graphic. I applied opaque red ink using a roller and crafted the image using cotton swabs and a cloth soaked in white spirits.

This was done is a similar manner. However, I added medium to the ink to make it more translucent and ghostly.

I applied ink on this with an object similar to a knife to examine the effect of thick coats of ink when compressed and printed. The result reminded me immensely of working with a palette knife. I love using the materials in such a lose manner. It is very intuitive and reductive. I feels almost like the creation of my subconscious. It feels strangely confessional.

The cotton swabs I was using became stained from my using them each time I inked my plate in dissimilar colours. They had become stained from using a red hue and so created this organic brown to appear on this print. However, I really liked the result. It seems rather three-dimensional and the lines it creates are very descriptive. 

Also, I must mention why the eyes are darkened. I was studying a lot of portraits by Amedeo Modigliani and noticed how he tended to not include the contents of the eyes in his portraits. I found this highly unusual and rather disturbing. Max Beerbohm cites that "I do not need a book of quotations to know that the eyes are the windows to the soul." Yet Modigliani does not give us the pleasure of seeing these characters' eyes. Rather strange I say.

Printing!

The last few days basically consisted of me generating some ideas and playing around with ink. I have really gotten into printing, I find you can get some very painterly results and ink as a medium allows for endless fun. It is very similar to oil paint except that its less fluid but can be controlled in a similar manner. Both use white spirits as a means to dilute and create a more wash effect. If you have some groundwork in painting then printing will be no problem to you. You can even create really loose, sketch-like effects with drypoint etching. I absolutely fell in love with this as its results reminded me of Raymond Pettibon for some reason.

I am trying not go into it with an exact idea of what I want to do; I just want to play around and see what happens. I like the idea of the unexpected. I am trying to experiment and grab a foothold of how materials can be manipulated. I love the manner in which you cannot be certain what your print will look like until you have it printed. Printing also seems more immediate and less expendable than painting. Images can be reprinted time and time again and edited and affected in many abstract ways. I find my thought processes work in a more creative manner and seem less anxious regarding the result. I feel I need this as I am the kind of person who is sometimes afraid to attempt anything mindlessly. I needed this immensely because I felt very upset and drained after the two weeks previous. It was a sort of exorcism of the manner in which I previously worked and an effort to try be more basic and unlearned in my approach.

What is my project about?

I am approaching the project from a strange angle. I have decided to not choose a particular theme and just to go with the random ideas and images that appear in my head. This gives me a chance to take many more approaches which I find exciting and more in tune with my artistic character and the manner in which I work. However, this might not impel a sense of development that would appear with one basic theme but I am willing to see how it goes and take a chance. I hope this helps make my work a little more personal. I have this urge to make everything I do relate somehow to me and my experiences. I feel it has more honestly as a result. Infact, one of my favourite quotes is "The only purpose of painting today is the discovery of lost secrets." This was said by Derain and had a profound impact on Balthus, one of my favourite painters. This signifies a lot about the art I make. If i cannot feel the connection then I simply disregard it. Strangely enough, a lot of the art I made in the first semester which I hated I have know grown to love. I find by living with it for a while I grow accustomed to it and gain an understanding of its abstract nature. I discern that art is something that one must not just look at but live with. So much can be left unsaid if you just view a work for five minutes and then never look again.

Space!

Our project is based on our reaction to the term Space and its relationship to the things around us! For some reason I was drawn to the idea of an item in a three-dimensional space becoming two-dimensional. I have a feeling this may have generated from me looking at geometry in the first semester; I spend ages researching polygons and polyhedrons. What are these you ask? I find all of this fascinating in regards to art and composition. I feel print could possibly be a perfect outlet to express my attraction and need for understanding of this.

I also am looking at the idea of imaginary space. This probably generates from me reading a book on consciousness which is baffling yet invigorating stuff. The realisation that I use my hands as tools to create such a space under visual terms has produced a few images. I printed blue latex gloves to see the effect it produces. I was pleasantly surprised at the results. I think they are very simple yet very poetic in a sense. I find the fact that there are two hands in some of the prints strangely poignant. I love when I have this sort of reaction to the work I produce. I will upload some images soon of them.

These are the gloves I used! Completely covered in ink at the moment!