art project questioning reoccurrence and ritual as a distraction to the uncertainties of tomorrow
I have reached a point of saturation. The composition is dynamic and vibrant, ambiguous and full of intriguing detail. The painted and drawn over-layers focus on revealing light in order to increase drama in the work. The driver becomes almost secondary. The bustling components have totally overwhelmed his importance. Nothing ever changes.
I spent the entire morning exploring possibilities for development. The idea was to establish a meaningful plan and introduce a range of quality improvements to the colour arrangement and the overall scheme.
The image needed something warmer, perhaps contrasting, in order to introduce a source of soft light within the composition. I wanted to achieve this through continuous printing on top of a semi wet surface of existing colour and sponging of the excess of patterns.
This seems to have an impact on how the colour behave with reference to my creative intentions. The drive is totally suspended in vacuum and oblivious to his surroundings. He is focused on a tedious task of sorting bits and bobs, which may be useful in case of an unexpected breakdown.
I feel that the composition, at this stage, has more impact through layering and the use of watered down transparencies.
The final stage will involve careful highlighting and building up detail using water soluble pastels.
I have initiated a process of overprinting the already established under image. To reflect the overwhelming presence of insects in the South of Myanmar, I continued to work with the screen portraying a swarm of bees. The printing started with a number of layers in rich and vibrant blues. This imagery was subsequently washed off with sponges and a powerful water jet. Due to the hight temperature in the workshop, I had to aid this with robbing off the ink with hard brushes.
The second layer involved a range of strokes using a dynamic crimson alizarin based colour. I used both the screen and just a squeegee to drag the ink across. A careful process of removing the glaze followed in preparation for the next stage of partial overprinting and glazing.
Following a completion of this stage, I plan to return to painting with small brushes and using water solvable crayons in order to refresh some important elements of the composition and introduce highlights to liven the entire colour scheme.
The refinement process continuous.
I have move forward with my project. This is just a preview of the first stage of my new piece. It portrays a coach driver in preparation for leaving Kawthoung for a 20 hour long journey to Myiek. The road is terrible and unpredictable. His old coach must be in a top condition before the passengers are allowed to board.
The driver looks very tired and substantially overweight. He spends his life driving his coach between those two distant cities in Myanmar.
In response to my discussions concerned with a range of ethical issues in my previous work, I have decided to select a rear view composition, my intention is to capture the character of the person but avoid direct recognition.
The next steps of the painting process will include glazing and overprinting. More developments are due to come soon.
I have reflected on the slow process of the development and refinement of this piece. Subsequently, I have made a decision to darken the overall image through the use of glazes and tonal overlays. This has increased the element of drama and reinforced tiredness of the painting. The colour scheme has become richer and more vibrant. The intention is to echo the gloominess and monotony of daily rituals of waiting and the suspended entrapment in this cycle. Nothing will ever change. There is no escape. The best result is to survive until tomorrow.
I will gradually, through careful highlighting, bring a spark of colour and light into this image. I would like to reveal some very important details and, therefore, enhance the narrative content of this piece.
In response to my previous ethical considerations, the main character on this piece is totally anonymous.
Some of my thinking for this piece was inspired by learning from overpowering photographs of manufacturing by Edward Burtynsky. My attention was particularly drawn to images of miners.
I have just started to work on a new portrait of a young woman. She is a local worker at a market in Myiek, Myanmar. The bazaar is based next to famous hot springs. This increases the attractiveness of this placement and maximises potential sale opportunities. She is a snakes vendor. She spends all her days crouching down on her knees, while waiting for prospective customers. Although she works outdoors, her individual stall can be seen through a window-like hole in a sheet of graffitied metal. The contrast between brown and ochre colouring of the facade, raw redness of her T-shirt and the dynamic green of the grass make an illusion of quite dramatic and full colour compositional arrangement.
Her head is decorated with a traditional Burmese turban. She is very serious, almost contemplative and very tense. She looks down, perhaps away, and tries to kill time by organising one of her snakes neatly in a plastic bag, always in readiness for the next sale.
She spends most of her time waiting in anticipation for a successful transaction and making a profit. All her days are alike, full of repetition, boredom and sameness. However, competition is tough. Sales are limited. This makes her existence very uncertain and fills her daily life with misery and anxiety.
I am hoping to overprint this piece with a repetitive pattern to increase the power and the overall impact. This process will be documented in stages.
I have continued with the process of overprinting the underage. The screen composition contains a sworn of exotic flies, which surrounded the boat during a long period of waiting in the port. Following a process of robbing and washing, the captain has started to appear in the window of dynamic insects. These create an almost decorative motif framing the figure and the umbrella. The heat of the red is juxtaposed with the coldness the vibrant blues and rich violets. The violet tonation appears to be neutral in temperature, not hot nor cold, therefore making the overall piece much more ‘full colour’ and with a greater impact on the viewer. The narrative has also become more ambiguous and the image gained a new element, which helps to build curiosity.
When fully dry, I plan to the cloth with damar varnish before proceeding to machine wash it on the hottest setting.
I am hoping for at least a partial disintegration of the image and substantial bleaching of the colour layers. Ideally, there will be nothing left – just an eroded and exhausted surface. If the first wash is insufficient in achieving this effect, I will persevere with repeating this process while echoing the journey made by the Burmese Captain and his longboat between Ranong and Kawthoung.
The Captain appears to be oblivious to both his social predicament and his surroundings. This is what he does every day. The same journey, non-communication with his passengers and trapped in his own world. He not not necessarily looking for escape. He embraces the banal repetition of his job, routine and existence.
This reflection has given me new ideas. The focus of my investigation has slightly evolved from superficial repetition on one hand and uncertainty of existence at all on the other. He appears to cling to that routine as it gives him a sense of certainty and security. He believes that he knows what to expect yet works in a relatively unpredictable environment while operating an old longboat in a very uncertain territory . His real existence is very fragile and temporary. He cannot even imagine that one day, he will not be able to do it again and may not survive without an income.
I have also started to experiment by drawing into the existing image with water soluble pastels. I have found this new to me medium flexible, refreshing and expressive.
I have started to work on a long process of glazing the already existing underpainting. Every wash of colour was subsequently cleaned of with a sponge and cloth. The objective was to make the painting more moody and dramatic. This technique has also allowed me to reveal individual areas of the glaze while allowing some of the original colour to get through the layers.
This painstaking process has already taken its toll on integrity of the surface. The chips and cracks of the underage have become more and more apparent. When the work is completely dry, I intend to reinstate the machine intervention process.
I plan to video record a long and hot machine cycle. Whatever is remaining after will constitute the beginning of the next stage of the painting process.
It has taken me a long time to sort out and organise a broad range of images for further development. Despite contracting Chickungunya, my research trip to Myanmar, Thailand and Cambodia, has proven to be very successful in terms of both: life-changing experiences and gathering primary sources.
I have started working on a new piece. The work portrays a Burmese captain in charge of a long boat. His job is to transport people and cargo from Ranong in Thailand to Kawthoung at the furthest southern point of Myanmar. His main clientele are poor illegal workers from Burma trying to earn a few baht in Thailand.
Following a long conversation with him, I become one of his passengers. To maximise income, he accepts as many people as possible. He even travels on the very front of the boat to save valuable space. This place is very uncomfortable and rocky. He is also fully exposed there to the power of the tropical sun. He tries to get some relief from the burning heat by hiding under a colourful umbrella.
The image is very clashing in colour – very kitsch. This is further enhanced by his crude and cramped body position.
His ankle reveals a massive tumour.
There is a gigantic growth on his leg, perhaps caused by prolonged exposure to the sun and continued contact with polluted water in the port.
My creative intention was to portray him in his usual setting, while crossing the same water many times every day.
The focus is on him. The beautiful surroundings no longer matter. He cannot see the landscape. He is trapped in his daily routine.
The colour of his shirt blends in with the orange stripes of paint on the boat.
The umbrella is feminine and looks absolutely ridiculous.
HYPNOTIC REPETITION 