I have spent the last couple of days deliberating on how to proceed with my work. Since I finished the painting that I had been working on for the past year, I have been left in a rut of not knowing what to do and feeling rather lost.
After doing a little research, I have found that my work, particularly my sculptures, have strong ties with Arte Povera. This realisation has thankfully helped to kick me back into gear and I have decided to do some more work involving cement.
I have also been pondering on my glass work – last year, the majority of my work revolved around fusing and slumping glass. While the outcomes were striking and quite charming, I felt they lacked conceptual links and were overly decorative. Thus, I felt they were more in the field of craft than fine art and so the art/craft can of worms was opened leaving me struggling to know how to develop these pieces further. The more I thought about this dilema, the more I began to realise that the key in them being seen in a more ‘fine art’ light, as opposed to ‘craft’, lay in their presentation.
Take Sue Collis for example, an artist who I am very much influenced by. She mainly works with precious gems and inlaying mother of peal into things – these materials would usually be associated with craft. The actual pieces and installations she creates however, are firmly rooted in the area of fine art and hence the secret is in the presentation of the work and materials.
