Tag: Photography

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Reflections on the Final Show

I have researched and tested a great number of possible platforms for the final show. Unfortunately, I have found them quite disappointing. The most common concept is to based on echoing a feeling of a physical gallery. Frequently, the software is very slow and clumsy in operation. Additionally, the overall effect is more focused on the look of the space rather than the work itself. Art becomes somehow secondary to the meaningless decorations and textures of walls, ceiling and the lighting.

The most popular online gallery is artsteps.com and https://www.furioos.com/ is best for streaming 3D work.

Other options, which are worth investigating are:

https://www.capterra.com/art-gallery-software/

https://www.3dvas.com/

http://omeka.org/

http://openexhibits.org/

http://collectiveaccess.org/

http://pachyderm.nmc.org

5 Free and Open Source Tools for Creating Digital Exhibitions

Alternatively, I have considered using a website, which is similar in design to behance.net.

I really like the simplicity, effectiveness and freshness of the front page. There is a grid of large block images, which is inviting and very clear. This website is able to accommodate a broad range of artefacts, including gifs files and video work. Photography on display is relatively high resolution and organised with order and structure.

Our group meets in Zoom on a regular bases to discuss possibilities for arranging the exhibition. All students are very proud and would like to present their research projects to the best of the abilities. Likely, Aristotle, who is one of our students, has offered to help everyone and donated both, his time and the use of his original software.

In preparation for my exhibition, I have carefully considered a range of ideas. My main intention is to make sure that the way, in which my work is displays reinforces its meaning. I would like to avoid using any unnecessary gimmicks and distractions.

In these unprecedented times, it is quite strange for a painter to accept that the final exhibition will not have a physical dimension. Frankly, I am saddened and overwhelmed by a lack of reality it terms of the experience of true colour, texture and painterly mastery of strokes. However, an artist and creative individual needs to seek opportunities in overcoming obstacles. Therefore, my intention is to excel myself and make the online exhibition even better, more refined and sophisticated. I would like for this to be a new learning curve full of controlled happy accidents, experimentation and deep reflection of what is appropriate in term of visual communication – my chosen language of expression.

The digital approach creates a new chance to experiment with a ‘space’, which supports and reinforces my messages in cohesion to deliver a holistic poetry about my painterly and video work.

Currently, I am planing for a long wall with three parallel and simultaneous video projections. This number can be possibly extended to four. I am in the process of working on a painting titled ‘Ravens and Crows Will Peck Us to Pieces’. It is quite likely that I will make sufficient progress to video another washing cycle. This image is different to portraiture. Therefore, I was relatively hesitant to include this image. However, on reflection, it summarises my overall responses to my research findings in a time of lockdown and social isolation. We are all subjected to mortality, vulnerable and fragile. The end of our journey is the only certainty in our lives. Death is the culmination of our waiting, while being suspended in the vacuum of hypnotic repetition.

The side walls of the gallery will be dedicated to the display of the actual paintings. I should be able to exhibit between 8 and 10 canvasses.

It is all very exciting!

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Ravens and Crows Will Peck Us to Pieces – Painting Progress

I have gone through a long journey Exploration, trial and error with this piece. Initial observational and crude sketches of crows in hard pencil, were gradually transformed into dynamic and terrifying black silhouettes of individual birds in a herd. There is definitely something raw about this piece, which portrays a bizarre world with no source of light nor gravity. The mood is overpowering and depressing, perhaps overwhelmed by dirty browns and broken yellows. My painting echoes achievements of strange yet famous Munich grave painters, who limited their palette to the use of dirty colours and broken chroma. This was the main discovery of and I have decided to refer to their learning on the composition on my experimental composition.

Initially, I collaged a self portrait into the painterly space. I have carefully chosen this photo to make sure that it was personal Ly significant. Subsequently, I immersed myself in the creation of an arrangement, which contained energy and drama. Through scraping, glazing and overlaying, I managed to increase the element of a secret atmosphere, mood and, therefore, forced a reflection on a viewer.

The sipping light through the colour layers will later become subdued. I will use an overall glaze of a mixture of crimson Alizarin and Prussian blue. I will also consider using an oil based coat in order to ensure that there is an appropriate translucency and depth of the overlaying colour.

The final stage will be concerned with scrapping of the glaze and, perhaps, imprinting further textures into the existing layers to reveal a mysterious illusions of secrets underneath.

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Ravens and Crows Will Peck Us to Pieces

During my exercise yesterday, I managed to take this disturbing photograph. On the one hand, it reminded me of my primary source for Three Burmese Monks piece. On the other, the black crows drew references to a novel by a Polish writer Stefan Zeromski.

Ravens and Crows Will Peck Us to Pieces – is a relatively short book by a literature Nobel Price winner . It consists of three parts and has references to the atrocities of the partitions of Poland between Germany, Russia and Austria. These birds have also other common connotations. It is usually believed that that the crow is a symbol of bad luck and death. I am not superstitious, but this seen has terrified me.

Subsequently, I have developed an idea of using the crows as an overprinted pattern on my next piece. The idea is to compose a twin image to Three Burmese Monks and use our current pandemic predicament to create a painting about myself, while responding to the broader contexts of the crisis. I am waiting while working in isolation in front of my window.

Optimistically attempting to contradict Zeromski while waiting in a hope that ravens and crows will not peck us to pieces!

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Only Waiting, Not Working…

Following a period of stagnation I have moved ahead with full steam. I have developed a new screen. The images comes from a repetitive Royal Thai pattern. It is of cultural significance and has resemblance to the glory of this country. I managed to wash out the light sensitive filler with great precision to reveal all sensitivities of detail.

However, my creative intention was to use the screen in a much more spontaneous way. I overprinted the colourful frame around the masseur. I tried to echo the existing colour scheme in order to achieve a sense of cohesion, unity and flow. To destroy an effect of a decorative motif, I used a wet sponge to work into the prints and make them bleed.

I continued with using rich alizarin crimson based colours and royal blues. Ultimately, the painting reached a very gloomy and dark stage. The central section with masseur begun to shrink and partially disappeared. The peaceful and relaxing interior of the salon was overwhelmed by the aggressive background , which had watery qualities and resembled an angry and powerful waves of an ocean. The collage of spin paintings has been lost under a build up of new layers of colour and strokes of a sponge and imprints of a towel.

I have reached a stage, where I can do nothing more but let the canvas dry.

The only question in my mind is – when will I see my work again. A repeatedly ringing thought, which is brought about by the current predicament.

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Bye Bye Burmese Monks

I have made some real progress today. I set up a video recording session of the washing of the Three Burmese Monks piece. Everything was arranged in the print room. As the DLSR run out of power, I had to result to using my iPhone XSMax with a tripod.

Following a discussion of details included in my storyboard, Georgie, our technician, agreed to help with the washing performance.

My picture frame was purposely wanky and crocked. I wanted to include a glimpse of a fire extinguisher and PVC pipes in the view. I also thought that bleeding stains on dirty floor make a valuable contribution to the overall impact of captured images, their meaning and the recording.

The raw footage is relatively long and full of accidental disruptions. They will all need to be edited out in order to create a cohesive video piece. The details of my plan will emerge soon, and continue to evolve and grow.

I enclose the final washed up image of the Three Burmese Monks piece and some raw and culminate footage below:

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New Face

Following a long period of consideration and reflection, I have restarted work today on the Thai Masseur piece.

The main issue was to complete painting the face. On the one hand, I wanted for the portrait to be recognisable, on the other, I have struggled with solving a number of ethical issues regarding a possible reaction and rejection of my work by the model. I experienced this kind of a situation with one of the former pieces. Subsequently, this unpleasant episode had let to the destruction of my own work and several alterations to other experiments.

My new idea is inspired by deeply glazed and moody flemish paintings. I am especially inspired by Metsu and his self portrait. He positioned himself inside a window arch. This implies a composition within a composition. I am also using a double rectangular. My creative intention is to achieve a sense of ambiguity while drawing all attention to the centre – on the masseur. I want to rely on a visual suggestion of portraiture rather than a descriptive portrayal of a woman. The plan is to leave her facial features undefined, like a ghostly outline of what is really there.

https://www.rct.uk/collection/405943/a-self-portrait

GABRIEL METSU (LEIDEN 1629-AMSTERDAM 1667)

A Self-Portrait c.1655-8 Oil on panel | 37.7 x 31.4 cm (support, canvas/panel/str external) | RCIN 405943

To give the surface more vibrancy, I used water solvable oil pastels. ‘Dancing’ with a crayon on top of the painting allows me to achieve a sense of mystery – secret light, which brings out parts of the skull and the jaw – all in the dusk of the space portrayed.

The next stage of the painting process will be to glaze the overall piece with a variety of transparent layers of an acrylic medium, perhaps combined with some watered down PVA glue. This is to prepare the surface for the overprinting stage using the silk screen technique and enhance a feeling of unity between the different formal elements and parts of the composition.

I have already prepared a new pattern based on decorative elements, which I have isolated from the interior of the massage salon. I will use this design to create a random over-image. This, in turn, will have a dual function. The first is to help to engage the centre in the overall painterly illusion. The second aim is to increase the amount of detail and enhance holistic and expressive qualities of my piece.

At this stage, I am considering using a range of gold and crimson tones. This initial plan might be subsequently altered in favour of a more spontaneous and instinctive decisions and reflections in action.

I am enclosing photographs of the final stages of work today and a close up of the ‘New Face’

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Verity Wyn Evans

I have just visited fascinating glass and light exhibition at the White Cube Gallery in Bermondsey. Her pieces are full of reflections and transparency, incorporating visitors to participate in the overall scene. The work has poetic, reflective qualities and astonished with precision of execution and bizarre aesthetics of broken shards. The artefacts are suspended in the air, somehow interacting with each other while populating empty spaces. The inclusion of Chinese writing in one of the rooms contextualises her ideas while making references to both the Great Wall and a metaphorical open doorway in it.

The viewing is quite an emotional experience.

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Time-lapse & Hyper-lapse with Colour Grading Workshop.

This has been a very intensive and exciting day. Matt Edwards, who run this workshop is an expert with a fast knowledge in this area. The purpose was to initiate experimentation with filming and editing footage in an intentional and meaningful way. A strong focus on the overall idea is very important in order to develop a holistic and professional piece.

In order to ensure consistency between individual workshops and experimentation, I have decided to create and record a mini pop-up show of my screen prints.

I used a Nikon D90 camera and a tripod. The idea was to capture a broad view of an art studio. All work in progress provides the frame with detail and sets the seen, while contextualising the video. I practiced with recording myself, while continuously displaying prints on a white wall to form a large rectangular composition. Subsequently, the pieces were removed one by one. White wall as a start and the same white wall as the end. This concept has provided my with the boundaries for my action and narrative.

I have experimented with a range of possibilities and considered a number of unassuming angles for shooting. My creative intention was to ‘go’ beyond a simple use of a documentary or media approach. I wanted to create a short art film.

Simultaneously, this provided me with an excellent opportunity to photograph my prints using a digital SLR.

As soon as all images and video footage are processed, I will include them and other visual material in this post.

Premier Pro is an advanced piece of sophisticated video editing software, which allows for a superb level of control, manipulation and intervention.

To aid my memory, I made a number of notes. I hope to use them as guidance in further experimentation. I am excited about taking my current ideas further and this process will begin shortly.

I feel that I have learned a lot about the impact of colour changes on video and the way in which it is perceived and understood by an audience.

Surprisingly, there is a similarity to how this applies to traditionally developed imagery.

I created a number of clips and sequences and experimented with additional effects including the use of alteration layers.

All in all, the day was very successful and demanding. I have benefitted from being challenged, especially in the context of experimentation and risk-taking leading to the development of new ideas and discussions of alternatives.

I am looking forward to the next stage of refinement of the work, which I have started to produce today.

A screen shot of my notes is below:

Raw Footage for Editing during the workshop
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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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New Screen

Following a long process of digital manipulation, I have finally developed a satisfactory image. It portrays a form of a spin painted splash. This echoes the flow of marks in the background.

Subsequently, a new screen has been exposed, processed and washed. I am very excited about a range of new possibilities for overprinting using this device next week.

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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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