I have submitted my current manipulation of a portrait titled ‘Plecestpe’ for the Ashurst Emerging Artist Prize 2019.
I am very excited to see my work being promoted on social media, which are associated with this competition.
Low Res – Seeing Collaboration Project. Day 1
This was a true ice breaking exercise, which allowed to erase boundaries between the online group and London based students. The other benefits included integration of year 1 and 2 students, and most importantly, the project gave everyone an opportunity to expand their horizons and become much more experimental in the development of ideas and discussions of alternatives. Ultimately, we all become much more sensitive in terms of our observations of the Universe and the attention to fine details.
Following numerous consultations, my group settled on an in-depth investigation of our current individual practices to make the project very experimental. Our creative intention was to develop a broad range of ideas rather than focus on a visual proposal for finalisation.
This proved to work very well and everyone made a valuable contribution to the dialogue of contradictory perspectives and the element of questioning of visual possibilities and their meaning. This process was supported be appropriate enquiring discussions and evidence of critical analysis.
All collaborative participants presented their research findings at the end of the day. We were the only group to remain open minded and approached the task with a truly experimental attitude; focusing on the reflective process rather than on illustrating the narrative.
A combination of group efforts put together on Padlet.
There are some action shots from the Low Res collaborative day project – Seeing.
Visit To The Saatchi
I have created a group chat on WhatsApp and included three of my fellow students, Michelle, Friederike and Matt. My train arrived 2 hours late. Nonetheless, we have all managed to meet up and view an exhibition at the Saatchi Gallery together. It was a great pleasure to finally meet them in real life.
The current group show on display is titled:
”Black Mirror: Art As Social Satire”
The highlights of my visit are below:
Thses medium to large scale paintings on canvas were created using and addition of UV paints. The surface of them was covered with wrinkles and scabs of dried impasto in contrast to smooth and glossy backgrounds. The exhibition was displayed in controlled light conditions with spotlights pointing at each individual piece. I must say that the work was very visually appealing and quite fascinating to watch and discover intriguing and mysterious detail.
The artist made references to the degradation of nature and biological processes.
This is an exhibition of large pieces made from moulded metal with a heavy Emanuel layer, adding colour, dynamism and vibrancy. The artist is now in his 80s and is of a Russian origin.
Mid Point Review – First Draft.
My project is an attempt to create a metaphorical and exploratory portrayal of people, who are trapped in the state of waiting. This ‘suspension’ is usually associated with a bizarre uncertainty brought about by a range of discrepancies between what is expected, desired, anticipated and what actually happens. In essence, it is about HOPE!
The unpredictable character of life and its uncertain quality make our existence very delicate and fragile. Our anxieties can be camouflaged by money, entertainment and other temporary disruptions. However, waiting in the context of uncertainties of tomorrow is the foundation of what I am trying to explore and visualise in a series of painterly interpretations.
The complexity of the element of questioning in the project was increased by my experiences and observations in Haiti. I recorded memories of desperate people, who waited for something to happen, not really knowing, who and what they were actually waiting for.
This reinforces the universal value of critical analysis conveyed in the ‘Theatre of Absurd’ novel titled “Waiting for Godot” by Samuel Beckett.
“(Vladimir) Why are we here, that is the question? And we are blessed in this, that we happen to know the answer. Yes, in this immense confusion one thing alone is clear. We are waiting for Godot to come. …We are not saints, but we have kept our appointment.”
Beckett, S (1953) Waiting for Godot in
Fragile Little Dreams Turning Orange
I was on a totally overcrowded coach in Haiti. All seats were broken, ripped and absolutely filthy. I left early in the morning and with passing time, the refreshing sunrise breeze was replaced by a stinking stench of old sweat and … alcohol fumes. I was travelling from La Caye to an unpronounceable and mysterious road junction (as noted by a woman in my hotel) hoping to catch a connecting minibus to Jacmel. The day was extremely hot and humid. The bus was stuck in a traffic jam in scorching heat for over an hour. I kept looking through a dirty window to try to relax in this very claustrophobic and uncomfortable situation. My attention was drawn to the minibus on my right. There was a young girl staring at me through the window. She was expressionless, almost deadpan. The hot sun created an orange glare on the surface of the glass. Her face was somehow integrated with a number of layers of reflections of the surrounding area – mainly bustling traffic.
She was sat there, waiting with patience, stone-faced and humble. I smiled and took a quick and discrete photo of the bus and her. My fellow travelers got really disturbed by this; annoyed and angry. They did not understand my intentions. They definitely did not like seeing a tourist photographing their hardship. I realised that by displaying an expensive mobile phone to take this supposedly meaningless photograph humiliated the locals. It created an unnecessary division between them and I. It also reinforced our differences and the diametrically opposite sides of life and the world. However, all this had made no impression on the girl whatsoever. She remained untouched and unmoved, with exactly the same expression on her face. I begun to plan ideas for a painting. The same evening, I started to draw and make notes in my little pad. I really wanted to protect my memories from being forgotten before I return to my studio and translate my observations into a painterly interpretation.
I have worked on this image for quite a while now. Following a long process of change and manipulation, I have just blasted the red layer off and started to over-print the surface with a range of hot and creamy oranges. These new layers have been also partially washed off to reveal little parts of the under image. My intention was to create an ultimate superimposure of the many components and elements of this composition.
We are all waiting for something to happen, from little and insignificant things to big and pivotal changes. As a matter of fact, we spend our entire lives waiting for the end of a journey – the final stop. Our destination is unknown and unpredictable. This causes a lot of uncertainty. We are all subjected to mortality after all.
Little Fragile Dreams.
Memories from a horrific bus journey between La Caye and Jacmel have given me ideas for another painting in this series. Perhaps, I will reveal the background story for this piece, when I am closer to its completion.
I have initiated the process by working on an under image. This was then combined with a range of over layers and an ambiguous reflection of a little girl seen through a bus window. For this type of experimentation, I have recycled an old display board, which was covered with green felt. Subsequently, I started with some expressive colour application to the underpainting. This has been in turn over-printed with an A1 size screen of a $16 milk bottle. This is used metaphorically and symbolises how unobtainable this everyday food product is. I just cannot imagine never tasting milk!
The current tonation of the piece is vibrant and dramatic. My creative intention was to create a clash between the background composition and a suggested image of a distant and emotionless child.
The next phase will involve layers of overprints, which are subsequently blasted off with a powerful water jet. I would like to achieve a greater degree of mixing of layers and blending of individual colour ranges to increase the overall visual complexity of this piece.
What is distracting me at the moment is the purity of colour, which stands out too much and disturbs the overall mood of the image. I would also like to develop a greater sensitivity of colour. This should help to make the painting more holistic and melancholic. Perhaps, I should initiate a further experimentation with glazing and staining the image to increase the role of elements of aging and broken textures.
The image of the girl needs to behave as a distant reflection in the surface, almost with qualities of al fresco. For some strange reason, ‘The Little Girl’ has some resemblance to Mona Lisa. This similarity is not intentional though.
Da Vinci, (1503) “Mona Lisa” in The Independent, Farrell, J. (2017)
Ideally, I would like to develop this piece further before the start of Low Residency.
The plan is to proceed with overprinting the existing composition with a range of oranges. This is to age and patinate the piece and, more importantly, represent powerful and distorting reflections of the hot sun in the translucent glass.
This is what I recorded in my original observations in Haiti.
Preparing for the Low Residency in London.
I am really excited about preparing for the first Low Residency in London.
The programme looks very good and is packed with a wide range of activities, visits, lectures and collaborative projects. I feel quite disappointed with the fact that I will I miss the second week of this residency due to work commitments.
I have already booked my train tickets and accommodation.
What Are You Waiting For?
I have done some research with a group of my Foundation Art students. Their ages, backgrounds and life experiences vary substantially. Following a group introduction and a talk, which outlined the necessity to deeply analyse ‘self’ in the context of the broader needs before formulating and recording key ideas on a slip of paper, which was provided and supported with a number of prompts.
Students’ responses were very original. They varied from trivial to sophisticated, reflective and meaningful. I have experimented with the organisation of their responses by combining individual pieces of paper to create a long and vertical format of continuous answers. This was less effective than the proposal with a looped animation.
I have also tried to explore possibilities for animating their responses using Photoshop. Initially, all litte slips of paper were scanned and than displayed as a stop frame animation.
Identity Art Competition
I have Completed my submission for the Identity competition.
The supporting blurb is as follows:
The three Haitian girls have Polish surnames and heritage. I have also learned that they are the descendants of Polish legionaries, who were sent to Haiti by Napoleon to suppress the uprising of slaves. When the Poles realised the extent of suffering by the locals, they switched sides to fight in support of the oppressed Haitians. Subsequently, some 4000 out of 5000 were slaughtered. The remaining 1000 of the Polish soldiers escaped to the islands and dispersed around the country. Until now, the Poles are celebrated as the greatest friends, supporters and freedom fighters in Haiti.
The Batsford Prize 2019
TI have completed my submission for the Batsword Prize 2019.
Supporting statements:
I have extensively travelled throughout Haiti. This was an extension to my exploration of the he world in order to investigate uncertainties, which are deeply embedded into anxieties associated with the human existence and being.
I have witnessed total poverty before, including areas of gang infested la Mosquitia in Honduras, the Barrios in El Salvador and many other countries in South America and Asia. However, Cite Soleil, just outside Port-au-Prince, was very different. It left me numb, speechless and overwhelmed. My reflections initiated a range of experimentations for my current research project.
There was something unreal about talking with people there while trying to to establish a form of connection with them.
All my thoughts and feelings in response to those dramatic and totally overpowering moments are echoed in the multi-layered process of painting and printing, which is, subsequently, brutally blasted with a powerful jet of water.
What survives this “torture” is unique, uncontrollable and fully uncertain.
https://www.zealous.co/?s_event_submit_work?id=5164319924289536&f_submission=5447310638579712
Waiting for Birthday
HYPNOTIC REPETITION 