Category: Critical Analysis

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Tutorial with Lois Rowe – Day 2

Hypnotic Repetition

Art project questioning reoccurrence and ritual as a distraction to the uncertainties of tomorrow.

Tutorial with Lois Rowe, Matt and Betty

Learning Centre – 10-12.30

I presented my work as the third person, after Matt and Betty.

Following a brief outline of my ideas, we started to discuss the essence of my conceptual framework and supporting thinking.

It become apparent that all recipients were fascinated by my stories and observations from my travels. The outcome of this tutorial has reinforced previous suggestions by Jonathan to include a background narrative, which gives an insight into my relationship with my models and their story.

Lois was extremely helpful and guided me carefully until I was in a position to refine my plans for the final exhibition. The vital questions remain unchanged:

What is my work all about?

What am I trying to communicate?

What is the element of questioning in my work?

How am I using the visual language in order to communicate complex ideas?

Finally, including self in the research process.

I am very grateful for that. I need to focus more on the holistic use of my language in the final exhibition.

The tutorial was recorded by Betty and I am waiting for a copy of this file.

Thanks to Betty, I have pasted a link to sound recordings of all three tutorials. My session is last.

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Cyanotype Workshop – Day 1

This year’s Low Res programme started with a cyanotype workshop run by Matt from the British Library.

Following an introduction to the process and a range of discussions of possibilities, we proceeded with practical experimentation. Most participants collaged photocopies on acetate of sources from the British Library. With Jonathan’s help, I managed to download and print two copies of my paintings.

During the coating stage, my intention was to contradict smoothness and eve was of the chemical film on the surface. I wanted to achieve a more uncertain and unpredictable effect. I used sponge brushes in a spontaneous and dynamic way, trying to create a layered and broken effect.

Unfortunately, the light from the strip lights was powerful enough to begin exposing the paper before it had a chance to dry. I resulted to aiding this process with a hair dryer and protected the pieces from further damage by storing them in a black plastic bag.



The next stage was based on preparation and further enhancement of the acetate photocopies. I used permanent black pens to refine the images and emphasise both the shapes as well as stains and textures. Here again, my intention was to create images with are non visually descriptive. I wanted to achieve effects of ambiguity leading to curiosity and a range of possible interpretations.

Subsequently, after exposing my work in UV light boxes for 15 to 20 minutes, the results have exceeded my expectations. The work is mysterious and has poetic and spiritual resemblances.
I will definitely experiment further with this images to refine them further using a digital process, perhaps even moving image trials and animations.




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Thai Masseur – Recent Progress

I have made some progress with my recent piece.  The key focus was to start gradually building up a range of colour layers with sensitivity.  I tried to avoid loosing a diversity of previously created marks and accidental stains.  However, due to the fact that my spin paintings were executed using diluted gloss paints, the saturation of the background composition was very low.  I did not have enough paint to achieve a deeper and richer colour compositions on the circular patches.  Subsequently, I have created a distinct rectangular window within my canvas. This is an obvious problem and I am faced with a disjointed and incohesive piece.

In order to solve this, I have identified a dynamic part of the background composition and isolated a section from the bottom, right hand corner.  The idea was to open this image in Photoshop and manipulate it sufficiently to develop a strong and contrasting idea for a new silk screen.  This pattern like ‘splash’ will be used  for partial overprinting of the background painting , hopefully achieving a greater sense of a holistic flow.  I will also try to pick up vibrant crimsons and Prussian blues to increase the overall energy of the piece and, therefore, its impact.

Additionally, I will need to work much more carefully and precisely on the painting itself to bring out more detail to the hands of the masseur and the feet of the model. They too flat and appear to have lost some of their form.

The Thai masseur would also benefit from a more pictorial description of her face.  However, this will happen at a later stage.

I am considering glazing the piece with a diluted solution of a medium and allowing it to dry before returning to the printing process next week. I also need more time to develop my ideas for the screen further.

Black and white proposal for a transfer onto screen.

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Dynamic section isolated from the background.

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Thai Masseur

In result of reviewing sign paintings by Hirst, I have experimented with a range of simple spin paintings.  I attached circles of unprimed canvas to an electric wheel in ceramics. I immersed myself in a child-like play pouring diluted gloss paints onto the spinning surface, regulating the speed with a foot pedal.

The next stage was concerned with arranging a suitable composition using a variety circular spin paintings.  I thought that the circular motion resembled a rotating image in a bull-eye window of a washing machine.  When I achieved an appropriate layout, I pasted the entire thing together using a solution of diluted PVA glue.

The underage was dramatic, dynamic and vibrant.  Simultaneously, it contained a diverse range of colours, textures and expressive smudges.  This created a perfect environment for the painting stage.  I focused an an ambiguous portrayal of a foot masseur from Pattaya, entrapped in a repetitive routine and bored with the activity.

There is a number of holes in the painted surface, through which, the background is visible.  I felt that this blending and effect of superimposure, enhanced an overwhelming character and feel of the composition.

The next stage of work will include bringing the image out by very gradual process of building colour on top of the surface with water soluble pastels.  Hopefully, the impasto will become sufficiently thick to increase a sensation of weight in this piece.

Although, I would like to achieve a sense of openness to interpretation, I would like create more focus on the hands and their smoothing function and symbolic meaning of, which is associated with a touch.

I am really excited to have started to explore a new possibility while extending on my current development of both: conceptual thinking and technical methodology.

Additionally, this painting is on a very large scale stretched canvas, perhaps the biggest piece I have approached since starting this project.

Dimensions:

115 X 184 cm

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Spin!

I came across the first series of spin paintings by Damien Hirst in the early 90s. I learned about this experiments, when he first started to explore a range of possibilities using this technique in 1992 and extending on alternatives by employing the idea of a stencil.

In addition to their powerful colours, patterns and textures, they were frequently composed on circular formats. I was touched by a great similarity between the look and feel of these works and my ideas concerned with recording the spinning cycle through a bullseye circular window of a washing machine.

On reflection, I came to a conclusion that his famous spin paintings were very influential in forming my new ideas for a series of images.

The spinning motion is monotonous, repetitive and echoes the nature of what I am trying to portray and question in my project.

I include a collage based on his various work below:

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Relationship With My Own Work

As a part of preparation for presentations of research, I received an email form Alexis with a request. He was asking for a considered response to the following question:

What is the nature of your relationship with one of your art pieces?

This prompted a long process of reflection on the essence of my current practice.  I looked at my original artist statement and reviewed various versions of my project proposals.  My objective was to create a map of progress, while questioning what I was trying to achieve in my visual work.  It was a bizarre form of self-appraisal of own creative intentions with references to the use of formal elements and the overall visual language.   I have also tried to interrogate the nature of relationship with my paintings.  Subsequently, I have learned that my bond with my work depends on the impact of an emotional rapport with people, who I met during my travels.  It very much depends on my reflections on encounters with humans, who are trapped in vacuum of their overwhelming routines and repetitive environments.  These experiences resulted these people becoming the main characters in my paintings.

 

My reply was as follows:

Through my projects I feel that I discover my inner fears, longings and re-evaluate my uncertainties. My work seems to be an attempt to explore and question by metaphorical presentation my response to the hidden truths of the world. The essence of the value of these works is in their inherent meaning and an atmosphere, which manifests itself in the dusk of the space portrayed, thus the light may appear, where the hue of colour fulfils clarity and sounds with harmonious melody.

I paint people, who I have met during my travels. They are always of a special significance to me. Therefore, my work is an emotional appraisal of my encounters with them.

 

Alexis responded with a thought-provoking and intriguing statement:

“Thank you so much for your response and insight into your work. It is very interesting and I shall think on it. What you say opens out onto a world of ideas and questions.”

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Morning Coffee – The Process Begins

I have started working on a new idea for a painting.

Critical analysis:

Following my practical experiment with a repetitive activity, I came to the following conclusions:

My composition should focus on the essence of this exercise – the coffee, glass with ice and lemon, and a bottle of sparkling water. This still life setting is a constant in my experiment and in the foreground of the overall image. It never changes and there are no visible modifications and adjustments to the position of all items on the table.

The view with people and arm chairs in the background is the variable of the image. This part of the composition is dynamic and frequently altered by randomly passing visitors, slow morning business or just emptiness of the space. Interestingly, the focus in my work is reversed from people onto objects. The underpinning narrative of action in the background, behind the centre, is out of focus and less important than a simple still life like setting in the foreground. The same cup of latte, the same slice of yellowish lemon and the bubbles of gas in the glass.

Subsequently, my plan is to remove the constant and the obvious – the expected. The place in the sub-light, the focus of the composition will become empty and covered by the background colours and textures.

I plan to use paint and, step-by-step, over-paint all foreground objects, while recording this process digitally, perhaps as a video or a photographic timeline. Editing will follow to further refine and emphasise my creative intentions. I want to divert attention from the foreground to the background. A jet of water, or a cleansing power of a washing machine and powerful detergents will be replaced with a hand painted background.

The Three Burmese Monks are gone and disintegrated now. The time has come up to erase my morning coffee experiences.

All really important issues always take place behind the scenes, in the distant and seemingly unimportant vacuum of background void.

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Morning Coffee – Constant Versus Variable. Thanks

I have spent a lot of time considering differences between constant and variable within my new composition.

The constant is the known, predictable and expected. All of these feelings are associated with safety and security, with certainty and control. On the contrary, the variable is the dynamic, unknown and unpredictable. It makes us uncertain and anxious. It reminds us that we have little or no control over our destination and associated events. It makes us realise that we are walking in darkness with no sense of a real direction. All we do is to assume that we are in charge.

Although this piece has some potential, it would benefit from a further development. I need to question the relationship between certainty and uncertainty in the context of repetition and monotony.

Following a range of discussions with my colleagues and students, I have come to conclusion that the next step will be to remove certainty from the work and emphasise the variable part of the composition.

Until know, I have managed to explore possibilities and discuss alternatives with the following experimentation using light and digital manipulations:

 

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Unexpected Change

I plan to progress to working with a new theme titled ‘Coffee Routine”.  This idea was generated during my recent research trip to Costa Adeje.  I am still in a phase of reflecting on this bizarre experiment.  In the meantime, I have decided to introduce a radical change to the Three Monks piece.

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Through overprinting, I have created a cloud-like impression of a school of birds overwhelming the monks.  The next step will be to bring some detail into this colour layer by using delicate patches of blue.  Their main function will be to reinforce the structure of the birds and, therefore, make them more recognisable yet not illustrative of visually descriptive.

The canvas has also been stretched.  This created a natural boundary and boarder between the image and surrounding real world.  The sharp edge and 90 degree corners formalise the piece.

I am very exciting to start mapping the new composition onto unprimed canvas.  This will move me partially away from portraiture and possibly allow me to experiment with an alternative.  The focus is on a still life and the participating characters and the narrative are in the depth of filed.  They have a purely supporting role and function, while revealing and giving a glimpse of the underpinning story.

Coffee Routine

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Eureka Moment

It has taken me a long time to realise that I am fascinated by erosion and destruction. This is what transforms a surface to make it exciting and more evolved. I am actively engaged in observing and recording this magic and rapid transition. Superficial new becomes old and worn almost instantly, practically overnight.

Memories implanted by transience and the patina of time leave their stunning traces on everything, while staining, crumbling, disintegrating, glazing with dirt and human interventions.

I have spent the whole day exploring some rough parts of Gran Canaria’s rotting buildings and places. I was shocked to learn how mesmerising they all were! I have experimented with these ideas, while searching for effects of destruction in my own project through blasting my paintings with water jets and spinning my work in washing machines. Paradoxically, both art and life are about turning something special, into dust and nothing. New becomes old; young ages and wrinkles, swish and desirable turns into shameful and unwanted rubbish.

Vive la destruction!

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New Developments

I have continued with experimentation, while working on my two recent pieces. The photographs below show both, an overview of the work on unprimed canvas and a cropped view to show the actual composition, when the canvases are stretched.

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Wheel of Fortune Seller

I spent a considerable amount of time following and observing a street seller. This remarkable man works extremely long and hard for little reward. He pushes a massive, rusty and clanky trolley. The main product he tries to sell is chunks of octopus submerged in shots of rum. The weather is hot and humid, well in the mid 30s. He walks up and down the famous 19th street in Chinatown in Yangon. To attract potential customers, he offers a chance of winning a lucky shot by spinning a wheel of fortune. His days are monotonous and exhausting.

Despite many efforts, he sold nothing during a long afternoon. Sheer desperation appeared on his face, especially in his eyes.

I asked him for a permission to take a photograph to use it as a source for my project.

The reward of 10 USD put a wonderful smile on his face and exposed his rotten teeth.

We exchanged greetings and, suddenly, became strangely close, like old good friends. We are all on this planet together and the destination is death.

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